Organized crime and instability: Mapping illicit hubs in West Africa
A Talk by Heike Thiele , Lucia Bird , Lyes Tagziria , Mouhamadou Kane and Dr Kingsley Madueke
About this Talk
Illicit economies and instability are complex and intertwining phenomena, but the dynamics of the crime-conflict nexus are often misunderstood. The deteriorating security situation across much of West Africa is underscoring the importance of better understanding the relationship between crime and conflict. Until now, there has been no systematic attempt to evaluate the impact of regional illicit economies on conflict and instability.
As part of a larger programme titled ‘Promoting stabilisation through crime sensitive interventions in West Africa’ funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, the GI-TOC has mapped out the key hubs of illicit economies in 18 countries across West Africa, and designed a new metric – the Illicit Economies and Instability Monitor (IEIM) – which assesses the degree to which specific hubs of illicit economies drive instability in the region, analysing illicit economies as vectors of instability. In this webinar, co-hosted with the German Federal Foreign Office, GI-TOC will showcase the online map and present the findings outlined in the accompanying report.
Agenda:
Opening remarks: Heike Thiele, Director for Crisis Prevention and Stabilisation, Federal Foreign Office of Germany
Presenters: Lucia Bird Ruiz-Benitez de Lugo, Director of the Observatory of Illicit Economies in West Africa, GI-TOC Lyes Tagziria, Senior Analyst, GI-TOC Mouhamadou Kane, Analyst, GI-TOC
Chair: Kingsley Madueke, Nigeria Research Coordinator, GI-TOC