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The Perils of Drugs in West Africa: Implications on Governance, Economic Development and Transnational Terrorism

Since a 2007 United Nations report cited West Africa as the new front for cocaine trafficking by South American Drug Barons, media reports have linked several governments to the trade. Some analysts linked political instability in a few West African countries to the cocaine trade. The Proliferation of banks and the flow of excess capital from unknown horizons sounded the alarm on trafficking in drugs as fundamental driving mechanisms. In spite of regional and international efforts to confront the trade, seizures of large amounts of cocaine in Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau brought to light compelling realities of the drug trade as West Africa's newest peripheral vulnerability. The paper provides theoretical and practical inferences on challenges of the drug trade to governance, sustainable economic development and the threats of transnational terrorism. A prescriptive policy framework is provided for regional governments and international partners for the effective containment of the illicit trade.