Top Insights
Border Security
Harmonising Border Policies in the African Continental Free Trade Era
When African leaders signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement in Kigali in 2018, they set in motion the most ambitious...
Refugee Movements and Security Dilemmas for Border Forces
Refugee flows have long tested the resilience of African border forces. From the Horn of Africa to the Sahel and the Great Lakes...
Militarised Wildlife Protection: Linking Border Security with Conservation
Across Africa’s vast and porous frontiers, the boundaries between conservation and national security are becoming increasingly blurred. From the Sahel to Southern Africa,...
Biometric Borders: Evaluating National Rollouts Across Africa
Africa’s border management systems have travelled a long road — from the colonial-era reliance on paper documents and manual checks to the gradual...
The ECOWAS Border Strategy: Lessons for Continental Border Governance
As African regional blocs seek to address the security challenges posed by porous frontiers, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has...
Technology at the Edge: How Surveillance and Biometrics Are Transforming Border Control
African states are turning to cutting-edge surveillance tools and biometric systems to manage the growing complexity of border control. From facial recognition and...
Porous Borders and the Proliferation of Small Arms in Africa
The unchecked flow of small arms and light weapons (SALWs) across Africa’s porous borders remains one of the continent’s most persistent security threats....
Border Security in Fragile States: Balancing Sovereignty and Cooperation
Border security in African fragile states poses a complex challenge: how to uphold territorial sovereignty while fostering regional cooperation to effectively address transnational...
Beyond the Fence: Rethinking Border Security in the Age of Transnational Threats
Across Africa, national borders are increasingly porous, not just to people and goods—but to terror networks, arms traffickers, cybercriminals, and disease vectors. Traditional...
