Africa's international borders as potential sources of conflict and future threats to peace and security

This paper examines the potential of Africa's international boundaries as sources of conflict and future threats to peace and security.

This paper examines the potential of Africa’s international boundaries as sources of conflict and future threats to peace and security on the continent. It argues that although border-related inter-state conflicts have been displaced by governance-related intra-state conflict, Africa’s poorly demarcated boundaries are still potent sources of conflict, particularly as far as the spilling over of intra-state conflicts to neighbouring countries is concerned. Despite the artificial and unviable character of the borders of many African states, the continent’s governing elite has over the years stuck to a policy of maintaining the status quo of the continent’s internationally recognised borders. However, a number of persistent pressures have recently forced a rethink on the approach to be taken to the management of Africa’s boundary problems, with the focus being on the proper delineation and demarcation of borders.

About the author

Dr Francis Nguendi Ikome is currently working with the Governance and Public Administration Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. However, he wrote the first draft of this paper when he was still the Director of the Africa Programme at the institute for Global Dialogue, a South Africa-based international relations and foreign policy think tank. Prior to joining the ECA, DrIkome worked for the Institute of Security Studies in Pretoria, South Africa as head of its African Conflict Prevention Programme.