Ethiopia, Sudan, and a few other countries have received a lot of media attention lately, but for the wrong reasons. There are numerous hotspots for war all over the continent. The fact is that numerous organizations have turned to violence to stir up tensions between various African states, whether through insurgencies, resource control protests, militancy, blatant terrorism, or full-fledged conflicts. Furthermore, these African states have reacted to the hostility with sheer force, which has resulted in conflicts that are slowly getting out of hand.
The top five conflict areas in Africa will be addressed in this article, emphasizing how these conflicts have impacted the local economies.
- The Ethiopian Conflict
Over the years, Ethiopia has witnessed some forms of disputes. For instance, the dispute in Tigray Region in 2021 was one bad situation that got the world talking.
You may have been aware that the confrontation started when the government decided to shift its 2020 general election during the COVID-19 era.
It was a good move because of the restriction imposed due to the pandemic, but the Tigrayans didn’t want such a move. The dispute forced nationals to send their citizens out of the danger zone. The conflict affected both the business and economic sectors of the country.
Incidentally, the headquarters of the Africa Union is situated in the country, which means that Africa was put on the map of violence when the conflict broke out.
.
2. Civil War in Cameroon
Contrary to the Ethiopian conflict, which has received considerable media attention, the civil war in Cameroon received relatively less coverage, and the main reason for that is suspected government efforts to keep the carnage hidden from the rest of the world. Despite this, we have to let you know that Southern Cameroon has not always had peace. In the midst of the constant troubles between separatists and the government, the country has experienced bloodshed, kidnapping, and other evil war vices.
3. Terrorism, banditry and secessionist agitations in Nigeria
The terrorist organization, Boko Haram has been terrorizing Northern Nigeria for years. They started by torching houses of worship, then moved on to kidnapping school children, taking over villages, and pushing people away from their homes. Within some years, they went on to take over farms or destroying farm products after harvest when they feed their animals.
Sadly, kidnapping became the order of the day. Today, the blame is on bandits and terrorists. A lot of Nigerians have suffered from the kidnapping business, including school kids. Some of these kids have not come home after their kidnapped incidents, while some end up as wives or slaves to these bandits.
However, kidnappings have been the largest problem in 2021. In the meantime, secessionists have set fire to election offices and police stations in the nation’s Eastern region as part of their agitation. Nigeria has had a particularly terrible year due to hostilities. And this has led to significant economic problems, particularly for ordinary Nigerians who have been directly harmed.
4. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been fighting for one reason or the other. When the world thought that the two civil wars could have reduced the tension in the reason, things have not been the same.
While separatists demand for many things like political power, positions, natural resources, or some trivial things, the country has suffered from constant conflicts and wars.
Most countries have gradually withdrawn their citizens from the country because of its unrest. Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the war zone areas in the world. It has never been calm in this country.
The mineral trade has aided to the constant disagreements in the country. While the world has done a lot to reduce this violence, we have witnessed more conflicts arising from different regions of the country.
5. Terrorism in Mozambique
This Southern African nation is among the hot conflict zones in Africa. Some of the triggers of these conflicts include natural disasters, terrorism, and other challenges. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes and been subjected to untold hardship.
The humanitarian crisis in Mozambique has become a global concern that different non-governmental organizations have joined forces with the United Nations to curb the human problems. In addition, a terrorist group, al-Shabaab, has contributed to the country’s unrest.
