After many years on the periphery of transnational crime, Africa has become a global hub and destination point for trafficking in drugs, natural resources and weapons. Porous borders, underfunded law enforcement, government corruption and chronic instability have contributed to Africa’s increasing prominence in global transnational crime, according to researchers with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC). In the Africa Organised Crime Index 2025, GI-TOC researchers studied changes in a mix of crimes between 2019 and 2025. Following the so-called Southern Route, traffickers bring their drugs into Africa through Indian Ocean ports in Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania. With high-profile conflicts roiling Somalia and Sudan, East Africa leads the continent and the world in weapons trafficking, according to GI-TOC.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 06, 2026 19:01 UTC