With most of her countries located in the southern hemisphere, Africa is constantly demeaned by smear comments and discriminatory policies and actions on the international stage, especially by Europe and the Americas. International analysts often term Africa as one of the most dangerous continents to visit due to the security challenges bedevilling the countries in the region.
These challenges – high crime rates, terrorist acts, violent demonstrations, the high number of displaced citizens, and unstable political climate – have been well enumerated at several fora as the major problems breeding insecurity in Africa and further highlighted in the Global Peace Index (GPI), produced by the Institute for Peace and Economics (IPE)
According to the 2021 GPI, several African countries are classified as the places which are the least peaceful countries globally. Assessing 163 countries, with position one indicating the most peaceful country and position 163 indicating the least peaceful country, four African countries were placed in the low, peaceful countries segment while six countries were deemed as very low peaceful countries.
The major criteria employed to rank the countries, according to the index, were:
- The level of societal safety and security.
- The extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict.
- The degree of militarisation.
Therefore, utilising the GPI rankings, below are the 10 most dangerous places and/or countries to visit in Africa.
Ethiopia
GPI Ranking: 139
Description: Low peaceful country
Ethiopia is well revered for its historical role in the world’s civilisation and the unification of the African continent. It was the birthplace of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and hosts the headquarters of its successor – the African Union (AU).
But despite its prominent status and its incumbent President – Abiy Ahmed – being awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2019, Ethiopia is home to one of the longest and deadliest conflicts in the world: the Tigray ethnic war or the Ethiopian civil conflict. This conflict began in the mid-20th century but escalated in 2018 following political developments in the country. Its tipping point was subsequently reached in November, leading to the declaration of war between the Tigray region and the Ethiopian state.
The Tigray Defence Forces (TDF) and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have been engaged in armed fighting with the Ethiopian Defence Forces. This conflict has resulted in thousands of deaths and displaced over 100,000 people. The TPLF rebels had, in November 2021, attempted to march toward Addis Ababa from the southern region to topple and seize control of the government but were pushed back when they were less than 100 miles from the capital following a tactical manoeuvre by the military.
Aside from the Tigray region war, there have also been constant violent demonstrations and clashes, especially between people of the Oromo tribe and the government’s military force.
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Cameroon
GPI Ranking: 145
Description: Low peaceful country
Cameroon is one of the countries with the largest deterioration in the GPI ranking from 2009 to 2019, and it is not difficult to fathom why. The constant clashes between the government’s armed forces and the mainly Anglophone people of Southern Cameroon over the latter’s attempted secession and controversial creation of the “Republic of Ambazonia” in the mid-1990s have left that area completely in crisis.
The crisis intensified to a full civil war in November 2016 when the Ambazonian separatists began to wage war on the government in the North-West and South-West regions of the country. The government subsequently drafted the military to the affected areas to tackle the separatists, and the fight has been ongoing since then.
There have also been numerous terrorist attacks in the northern part of the country by the terrorist group Boko Haram, which has since 2020 extended its sphere of operations to the Central African country from neighbouring Nigeria. These attacks and alleged reprisals by the military have forced people to flee their homes. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, more than 21,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries, while the violence has internally displaced 160,000.
Nigeria
GPI Ranking: 146
Description: Low peaceful country
Situated in West Africa, Nigeria is the most populous country on the African continent, with an estimated 200 million people. It is also a multi-ethnic and diverse country, with over 500 languages spoken and large adherents of the two biggest religions in the world: Christianity and Islam.
However, its multiethnicity and diversity have been detrimental at times due to the constant ethnic and religious crisis between the people, mainly in northern Nigeria, and skirmishes in the South-West and South-Eastern regions of the country. There has also been inter-communal and religious violence occurring in various parts of the country but majorly in the North-Central states and demonstrations, which subsequently turn violent because of the high-handedness employed by security operatives to quell them.
But the country’s biggest security issues are terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and armed militia fighting. Terrorism occurs mostly in the North-East region of the country. Boko Haram had its offshoot from Borno State and has gone on to terrorise the entire region since 2009 with suicide bombings, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and attacks on transport hubs and worship centres, and schools. These incidents of terrorism have been slowly replicated in the North-West and North-Central regions of the country.
Kidnapping and banditry are more common in the North-West states, while kidnapping and armed attacks menace are evident in the country’s South-West, South-East, and South-South regions. Armed militia fighting and kidnapping take place in the coastal area of the Niger Delta and the South-East region, with the government struggling to tame the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), a South-Eastern separatist group.
On Sunday, June 5, 2022, over 50 persons were shot dead when some gunmen attacked Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State. The incident attracted condolences from across the world, underlining the insecurity in Nigeria.
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Mali
GPI Ranking: 148
Description: Low peaceful country
Mali is a landlocked country, one of the largest in Africa. It is, therefore, no surprise that a large number of illegal arms have been able to find their way into the country. Since January 2012, a rebellion has been ongoing in the country following the secession by the Tuareg, the seizure of territory in the north, and the declaration of a new state, Azawad. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) has been leading the fight for the Tuareg against the country’s central government. There have also been subsequent fighting between Tuareg and other rebel factions, including Islamist groups such as Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
There has also been inter-communal violence between the Dogon and the Bambara, two agricultural communities, since 2015 over access to land and water. The escalating insecurity in the country has also not been helped by the persistent political instability and the successive military coups in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Furthermore, the disagreement over the coup led the military junta to force out the French military, who had earlier helped fight the insurgents and reclaimed towns such as the historic Timbuktu, out of the country. This withdrawal has increased the rate of violent attacks and kidnappings in parts of Mali as the country’s armed forces are stretched.
Sudan
GPI Ranking: 153
Description: Very low peaceful country
Sudan begins the litany of countries ranked as very low peaceful countries. Violence has ravaged this North African country since the 1960s due to political instability and military intervention. The security crisis was further exacerbated due to the division between the majority Muslim northern and minority non-Arab populations for years.
There has been more trouble in the Darfur region, which has been in turmoil since 2003. The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups have been fighting government forces and the Janjaweed, a Sudanese militia group, alleging that the non-Arab population of the Darfur region has been subjected to oppression.
Following the 2019 revolution and the 2021 coup, the political instability has led to severe violent demonstrations across the country, with the security forces clashing against protesters demanding the conduct of democratic elections. A state of emergency was declared, and it was just only lifted in some parts of the country by the military junta in June 2022.
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The Central Africa Republic
GPI Ranking: 155
Description: Very low peaceful country
The Central African Republic has been plagued by violence, political instability, and coup d’états since its independence from France in 1960. After years of interregnum following military leadership, democracy was fully ushered in for the first time after independence in 2003, only to be thwarted by the civil war that began in 2003 due to political differences.
Since then, the country has been in a state of war, with the Central African Republic Bush War starting in 2004 between the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) rebels and its allies against government forces. Despite signing a peace treaty in 2007 and 2012, respectively, violence has persisted in the country. The main civil resumed in 2012, and it has remained unending to date, causing the deaths of thousands of persons and the displacement of hundreds of thousands from their homes.
In terms of human rights records, the country is deemed to be poor in its ratings as there have been documented reports of widespread and increasing abuses by various participating armed groups and government forces, such as arbitrary imprisonment, torture, and restrictions on freedom of the press and freedom of movement.
Libya
GPI Ranking: 156
Description: Very low peaceful country
Libya has virtually known no peace since the overthrow of the government and the death of its former leader, Muammar Gaddafi, during the Arab Spring in 2011. This country is still suffering from strong civil unrest and political instability.
Following the death of Gaddafi, the Libyan Civil War began. The insurgency by the former president’s loyalists went a scale higher as they battled the rebels and the newly constituted government forces, which had earlier defeated them. Battles between local militias and tribes have instigated turbulence in political leadership, with several government factions being formed and claiming authority to rule.
Despite the United Nations backing one faction, peace has not been restored to the North African country. Issues concerning arms proliferation and the increasing presence of terrorists have escalated the security situation to an all-time low. Even Tripoli, the country’s beloved capital, is not spared from the violence. It is no surprise then that Libya is one of the countries with the largest deterioration in the GPI ranking from 2009 to 2019
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The Democratic Republic of Congo
GPI Ranking: 157
Description: Very low peaceful country
Still fondly referred to as Zaire, its pre-independence name, the Democratic Republic of Congo is the second-largest country in Africa. Sadly, this country has seen an uptick in violence in decades. The DRC descended into a civil war in 1996 and has remained in a state of hostility ever since.
Ethnic tensions have simmered for a long time in the country, especially between the ethnic groups of North Kivu against the Tutsi and Hutu, some of whom immigrated from neighbouring Rwanda. Even though the civil war officially ended in 2003, the conflict in the DRC’s eastern region of Kivu has largely been ongoing since 2004. Government forces have been in battle against the predominantly Hutu-led Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels and the M23 rebellion.
Aside from the armed conflict and militia group conflict, there are also issues of civil unrest, terrorism, kidnapping, and violent demonstrations that have permeated throughout the North Kivu region and the Kasai Kasai-Oriental, Kasai-Central provinces. Also, armed robbery, armed home invasion, and assault are common phenomena in the country.
Somalia
GPI Ranking: 158
Description: Very low peaceful country
Somalia has been in a state of perpetual violence since its civil war began in 1991. According to the 2021 GPI, Somalia has had more than 20 per cent of its population displaced due to the widespread violence across the country. Decades of civil hostilities have virtually destroyed Somalia’s economy and infrastructure.
The violence has led to the lack of a stable government for years and political instability, as the citizens have been unable to elect their leaders through elections, and the political leadership continuously toppled. This has forced the country to be split into areas under the rule of various entities. For example, Somaliland declared secession and declared the Republic of Somaliland in 1991. Also, the autonomous region of Puntland (the Puntland State of Somalia) self-proclaimed itself as a state in 1998.
The majority of the violence in the country since the 2000s has been perpetrated by the terrorist group Al Shabaab. The terrorist group had seized key towns and ports and was only pushed back by a combination of Ethiopian troops and the African Union peacekeeping force. Although Al Shabaab has retreated from the major cities, the group still large parts of the rural areas. It, however, still makes its presence known in Mogadishu, the country’s capital, and other key cities through sporadic attacks, particularly targeting western-modelled hotels, mosques, travellers, and transportation hubs.
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South Sudan
GPI Ranking: 160
Description: Very low peaceful country
South Sudan tops the list of the most dangerous place to visit in Africa. It is the lowest-ranked African country on the GPI. It is the continent’s youngest country, having gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after a long period of armed violence.
The nation is the least peaceful country on the continent and one of the least peaceful countries in the world. It has, unfortunately, experienced ethnic violence and a civil war primarily due to political differences between the country’s top leaders. It has suffered exceptionally high costs of armed conflict, as the level of arms proliferation and the number of persons killed from the ensuing crisis has been astronomical.
Despite numerous ceasefire agreements between the parties involved, the violence has continued. About 400,000 people were estimated to have been killed in the war by April 2018, including notable atrocities such as the 2014 Bentiu massacre. There have also been conflicts among nomadic groups over the issue of cattle and grazing land and clashes between the Nuers and Dinkas for the control of power.
This violence has led to over 35 percent of its population being displaced.
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