Bin Laden and the stages of building al-Qaeda branches in Africa

Terrorist organizations have been able to build extended branches in Africa, taking advantage of the turbulent political and economic conditions in some regions. In the book “Terrorism in East and West Africa”, Nick Ridley, a lecturer in politics and security at London Metropolitan University, tries to shed light on the rise of al-Qaeda in Africa.

Ridley was interested in providing a historical insight into the beginnings of al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden’s (killed in 2011) progress in Africa and how he prepared for the organization to launch there, as well as the role of African branches in supporting al-Qaeda financially and organizationally and attracting other groups such as ISIS and others.

Building African branches of al-Qaeda

Ridley divided the historical stages of the development of al-Qaeda into four stages, the first of which was the Pakistani stage, while the second was the stage of Bin Laden’s presence in Sudan and cooperation with some militants there, followed by the third stage of Bin Laden's survival in Afghanistan, and the fourth stage of self-financing cells.

Ridley said that the second stage, in which Bin Laden was in Sudan before the implementation of the September 11, 2001 attacks, was one of the important stages for the organization in the region. From 1991 to 1996, Sudan hosted Osama bin Laden, at a time when many extremist groups were spreading in the country. He added that the strong relations that developed between Osama bin Laden and Hassan al-Turabi, the spiritual leader of the Brotherhood in Sudan at the time, opened the way for the development of the presence of al-Qaeda in the region and opened the way for the presence of regional branches of the organization that exploit the exhausting conditions of some countries of the continent.

According to Ridley, Osama bin Laden took advantage of his time in Sudan to establish economic activities such as trade in food commodities, building and construction work, shipping and transportation, in addition to millions of dollars in investments in Sudanese banks, which enabled him to spend on training camps to carry weapons and manufacture explosives in the region. The camps were also used to train members of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and rebels against the Ugandan government.

Al-Qaeda's growing home in Somalia and Mali

The camps established by Osama bin Laden in Africa during his stay in Sudan produced terrorist elements who were able to extend the strongholds of the organization to the eastern and western regions of the continent, most notably in Somalia and Mali.

Al-Shabaab is one of the most prominent strongholds of Al-Qaeda in Africa, which is exploited to generate funds to spend on the branch and other needs of the organization. It is also accused of being a tool for the major countries to reach their goals, as Al-Shabaab members profit from piracy on ships, threatening their owners, stealing their contents, and kidnapping those on board to demand a ransom or to bargain with the major governments. The United Nations also accused Al-Shabaab of extracting high-quality coal from Somalia and selling it in favor of Iran and sharing the profits.

In Mali, al-Qaeda was able to build a strong branch, represented by Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), which spreads violence in the country and imposes its control, taking advantage of the political turmoil and frequent coups. This branch also works to profit from looting gold and precious metals mines in the region.