Intelligence Insight | Perfect Storm in Africa: Authoritarianism, Marginalized Youth, and the Expanding Terror Threat
How Converging Crises Threaten to Destabilize the Continent
Ujasusi Blog’s Strategic Security Desk | 01 August 2025 | 2210 BST
Executive Summary:
Africa faces a convergence of three destabilising forces – a rise in authoritarian governance, a vast and increasingly disenfranchised youth population facing chronic unemployment, and a resilient terrorist insurgency – creating a "perfect storm" with profound security and humanitarian implications. While currently concentrated in the Sahel, Nigeria, Mozambique, and Somalia, the underlying drivers are continental, suggesting a high risk of further geographical expansion. This intelligence insight dissects the interplay of these factors, analyses current hotspots, projects future trajectories, and underscores the urgent need for multifaceted, locally-owned solutions to mitigate a looming continental crisis.