Black Economy funds armed groups in East Africa policy

The irregular economy or what is called the “Black Economy” in East represents Africa A complex and multi -faceted phenomenon, and plays an influential and vital role in the dynamics of armed conflicts in the region, as it provides financial resources and economic structures that funded active armed and terrorist groups, which contributes to weakening the state’s authority, and perpetuates instability with all the repercussions related to it.

The President of the Consultative Forum of the Federal Government for the parallel economy Michael Shapir is defined as a set of illegal money earning activities that occur mainly “outside the records”, away from the eyes and awareness of the organizers, policy makers, officials, taxis and statistics.

Despite the absence of accurate numbers of the total size of this economy in East Africa, estimates indicate it as part of the large illegal financial flows that apply to the veins of hidden economic structures, while a portion of them is leaving outside the continent.

Funding sources for terrorist and criminal groups

Given the illegal exploitation of resources in Africa as one of the activities that branch out of this economy, it has repeated the reports of the head of the Commission. African Union Regarding the fight against terrorism, emphasizing the role of this activity as a major source of funding for terrorist groups in Africa.

A report submitted to the 1040th session of the African Peace and Security Council indicated that the armed groups in Africa funded their operations through the illegal exploitation of resources, extortion, and overfishing, among other methods.

At an international level, it has been adopted Security Council The United Nations is several decisions, including 2195, 2462 and 2482, which recognized that the illegal exploitation of natural resources is a source of financing for armed and terrorist groups as well as criminal networks.

A report issued by the United Nations Environment Program goes that the value of illegal extraction and smuggling of some resources in the eastern Democratic Congo ranges between 0.7 and 1.3 billion dollars annually, as experts estimate that between 10% and 30% of this illegal trade goes to the crime networks crossing the cross -border boundaries.

On the other hand, the profits made by armed groups stationed in the Democratic Congo managed these activities to secure the basic cost of living for at least 8,000 armed fighters annually and financing at least 25 armed groups, where defeated or abstract groups can benefit from these incomes to rebuild themselves and constantly appear and destabilize the region.

Coal life artery “youth”

A publication report in 2018 describes the “Virite Planet” -a non -profit organization Human rights Environmental Justice- Coal is that the “Life Art Movement for Youth Movement”, which established a strict tax system at all stages of the coal economic cycle, includes production taxes on coal producers, checkpoints for carriers, ports and export tax fees.

Figures published by the organization “Twitter” – an environmental organization – indicate that in the early first decade of the 21st century, the movement achieved between 8 million and 18 million dollars annually of its taxes on coal at only one barrier.

In a estimated estimate published in 2013, the total size of illegal coal exports of Somalia ranged between 360 and 384 million dollars annually.

Nations reports are estimated at the total value of this trade in 2018 between 120 million and 150 million dollars annually, and the annual return of youth, including about 7.5 million to 10 million dollars.

This illegal exploitation is not limited to minerals and coal only, as wood, forest resources, phosphates, natural gas and fishing are also illegally in different African regions -including that Horn of AfricaTo finance armed groups.

Trafficking in wildlife products and human smuggling

The illegal trafficking of wildlife products – including ivory – is an important source of income for armed groups, and the estimates of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNOC C.) that this trade alone generates about $ 400 million annually throughout Africa.

A report issued by the “East African Police Cooperation Organization” links human trafficking and smuggling migrants and terrorist groups in East Africa, as these groups impose fees on traders and smugglers in exchange for safe traffic in the lands under their control.

The report also addresses other aspects that armed groups benefit from these illegal activities, as human trafficking serves strategic diseases, such as increasing the number of members through forced recruitment and rewarding fighters to reach the victims, as well as exploiting smuggling networks to facilitate the movement of fighters and falsifying documents, which facilitates ways to carry out various illegal activities.

Although accurate numbers are not available for the gains from these activities, looking at the inclusive incomes in other areas is suitable for lighting on the amount of use of them, as the profits of smuggling gangs in Libya alone in 2015 were estimated at between 255 million and 300 million dollars, while reports indicate that the annual profit of smuggling gangs in Yemen alone is estimated at millions of dollars.

Drug smuggling

A report issued by the International Police “INTERPOL” drug trafficking as a source of revenue for armed groups in East Africa, noting that Tanzania is part of a major road to recharge the heroin inside to the region, and that Kenya is still a transit point for Hirin from Afghanistan to Europe as a final destination, mainly through the port of Mumbasa.

Armed groups in East Africa win this popular trade, taking advantage of the fragility of the border and the difficulty of controlling the security forces to control smuggling methods and guarding shipments for a fee or a percentage of profits.

A report by the American Foreign Ministry indicates the participation of Al -Shabaab in the Heroin trade by reselling it to criminal groups, and some members of the armed groups participated from Darfur In the smuggling of drugs to Libya by providing a safe corridor for drug caravans.

Although the sources lack accurate numbers of the profits of this illegal trade as a result of the secret they cover, the report participated in the “INTERPOL” in its preparation, establishing the annual financing of 7 armed and extremist groups in Africa – including young people and Boko Haram – at about one billion to 1.39 billion dollars annually from all sources, considering that the most important of which is “smuggling and drug taxes.”

Fuel and fuel smuggling

Fuel smuggling networks, foodstuffs, and cross -border consumer goods are the main income sources of armed groups in East Africa, where these groups benefit from the fragility of borders and the increasing demand for the commodities supported in countries that lack such forms of support, or from smuggling them to conflict areas where their prices are escalating due to scarcity.

Armed groups impose multiple forms of graphics on trucks and goods crossing the areas that they control in exchange for allowing their passage or providing protection, for example, checking the checkpoints created by Al -Shabaab in Somalia, tens of millions of dollars annually, from taxes imposed on transporting fuel, sugar, foodstuffs, and others.

An article posted on the “International Initiative to Combat Crime Crime Crime” is noted that “trucks from fuel from Uganda will continue to informal crossings run by armed groups in the eastern Democratic Congo even after the official ban decisions.

On the other hand, the aforementioned groups and their counterparts in southern Sudan will resell the sale of smuggled fuel shipments at higher prices in the internal markets or oversee the distribution operations within their areas of control, which raises their profits.

During the 2011, the United Nations reports show between 400 thousand and 800 thousand dollars annually of tax shipments for sugar for Kenya only, and estimated in subsequent reports of these figures to between 12 million and 18 million dollars annually.

Some reports estimate the losses of governments in East Africa from lost taxes from all illegal smuggling operations, including fuel and others at about 1.6 billion dollars annually, and a large part of which is direct profits for armed groups and organized crime networks.

Functions on the state and society

The sources of income provided by the black economy are a major reason for the prosperity of armed groups in East Africa, which in turn is an important factor in the fragility suffered by the countries of the region, in an echo of the title of a report issued by the International Peace Institute in New York called “East Africa … Security and the Heritage of Lashing”.

The ability of these groups to continue and adapts their existence as alternative regulations in their control areas through their own “coercive governance” tools that include taxes and control of trade roads, which weakens the relationship between local communities and the state in those areas and increases the latter’s legitimacy and establishes their absence and local recognition of the fait accompli.

Human rights reports link criminal activities in the black economy with serious and continuous violations of human rights.

In this context, illegal trade in minerals in the eastern Democratic Congo is used to finance armed groups that methodically practicing crimes, such as rape women, children, torture and child labor in mines, and human trafficking is used to spread terror, as victims are forced to commit terrorist acts or fighting.

The arms trade is a dangerous part of the “illegal commercial activities” of armed groups in the region, as it provides channels for a large -scale deployment of firearms, which nourishes the existing conflicts and increases the degrees of their risk, as it increases the profits of organized crime groups, which reflects negatively on the security and stability of the region.