Central Africa's escalating threats: geopolitics, crime and violence – and their policy implications
This side event during EU Crime Fighting Week showcases new research on four critical systems driving organised crime in Central Africa.
Date: 2026-06-19
Time: 09:00 to 11:00
Venue: NH Brussels EU Berlaymont, Brussels
Transnational criminal networks in Central Africa are sustained by three related factors: external powers operating through proxies and mercenaries; local elites embedded in clientelist structures; and criminal systems that circulate illicit weapons, extract resources and consolidate power beyond state control.
This side event will present the latest research from the Observatory on Organized Crime and Violence in Central Africa – an EU-funded initiative led by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC).
The event will explore four systems driving organised crime: shadow fleets and cargo aircraft sustaining trafficking and sanctions evasion, geopolitical rivalries and critical mineral supply chains, illicit financial flows, and criminal convergence across coastal and hinterland networks in the Gulf of Guinea.
Find the detailed event programme here.
Opening remarks: Mark Shaw, Executive Director, GI-TOC
Panelists:
- Nathalia Dukhan, Central Africa Director, GI-TOC
- Zobel Behalal, Senior Expert, GI-TOC
- Saibou Issa, Senior Researcher and Co-director, Observatory on Organized Crime and Violence in Central Africa, ISS
- Raoul Sumo Tayo, Senior Researcher, Observatory on Organized Crime and Violence in Central Africa, ISS
