Impact Of Terrorism On Economic Development In Africa: A Case Study Of Kenya Foreign Direct Investment

Abstract

The world known September, 11th 2001 that left 3,249 dead and 869 wounded, in the United States of America brought the attention of the academia research on terrorism alive. Over the years, the impact of terrorism has been felt all over the world; it has evolved from being just a US ‗problem‘ to a global ‗problem‘. Today, terrorism is a global threat. This has influenced academic research to be done in Africa. There has been a tremendous research on this issue to be specific, how terrorism has impacted Kenya‘s foreign direct investment. This research is focused on understanding the impact of terrorism in Africa, how terrorism has affected economies in Africa and Kenya economy focus on the foreign direct investment from 2010 to 2015. The continent of Africa is not left on this vice and thus, there is a well reckon with terrorist activities around and within. The East African community is also facing this major threat due to the bordering Somalia which abhors the Al- Shaabab consequently making a neighboring it country with a great pose of threat, even though they have been encountering series of setbacks. It is worth noting that in West Africa, the terrorist group called Boko Haram, interpreted as the Westernized education is a sin, is based in Northern Nigeria where is majorly inhabited by Muslims. They have resonated to killing children, raping, and kidnaping them as many as possible, and to the extension, torch down the villages. They therefore are qualified be called a jihadist group. This terrorist group has been involving itself in activities such as; cross-border strikes into neighboring Niger, Cameroon and Chad. The 2011, which was dubbed as the Arab Spring, that toppled the dictatorial rulership, came as an opportunity to the Boko Haram -Jihadist, therefore they significantly exploited the Governments because such government were 2 exposed and left weak. These governments were; Libya, Tunisia and Egypt. Consequently, posing a major security challenge in Northern Africa by the Islamic State (ISIS). There are also world known terrorist groups apart which have taken deep roots in Northern, Central and Eastern Africa apart from ISIS and al Shabab. They are therefore termed as major groups and they are not limited to; Al Qaeda which is the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The other group is known as Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). This groupe has camouflaged itself as a Christian oriented group but has been petrifying the civilians who to be specific have no ill intention but the development of the country. They are in Central Africa and have been in operation for now three decades. It emanated from Ugandan throughout the civil warfare in the 1980s. The group is known of for brutal rampages that have both internal and externally displaced 2 million people and caused the abduction of 60,000 to 100,000 children who are been military not by their consent but forced into it, or even they have been slaves. They are now hiding in remote parts of the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo1. Some of the parts of Africa as a Continent has developed as a battlefield to fighting against the vice of terrorism by both the jihadists and other extremist groups. It is observed that the breakdown of the ruling law in countries such as Libya has brought the jungle rule thus, it has thrived the Islamic State (ISIS) which is an extremist terrorist organization to attain some small territory and gain a footing on the continent. The world has become a global village and hence, any civil conflicts may cause a sprawling costs among the countries which are neighboring it, consequently, the act of terrorism in a neighboring country gags the flow of capital and thus the slowdown of the economy or even the entire region, has a high chance of losing its base with 1 Nicole Crowder, “A parent, a home, a leg — former child soldiers of the LRA tell ‘what I lost’ during years of captivity,” The Washington Post, May 20, 2015 3 regards to the vice of terrorism.