NAIROBI, Aug. 22– Kenyan officials on Tuesday urged African countries to strengthen border security with state-of-the-art technologies like drones and artificial intelligence-powered surveillance to deter terrorist attacks.
Speaking at the Fourth Nairobi Caucus, a two-day regional counter-terrorism forum held in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, the officials stressed that secure borders are key to preventing radicalized militia from wreaking havoc on Africa‘s vulnerable population.
The meeting, under the theme “Enhancing Border Security to Deter and Disrupt Terrorist Movement,” brought together senior government officials, security experts, representatives of multilateral agencies, and members of civil society and academia from 15 African countries.
Raymond Omollo, principal secretary in the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, said terrorism remains a cross-border threat across Africa, necessitating enhanced coordination, surveillance, and intelligence sharing to neutralize it.
“We have a strategic opportunity to confront the growing vulnerability of our porous borders which terrorist groups and their agents continue to exploit and advance their agenda,” Omollo said, calling for a robust Pan-African mechanism to respond to terrorism, without compromising the sovereignty and diversity of cultures of individual countries.
Over 80 percent of extremist-related deaths in Africa occurred in border-adjacent regions in 2024, with West Africa experiencing a tenfold spike in cross-border attacks since 2020, while maritime trafficking along the Indian Ocean has risen by 25 percent in the same year, according to Kenya’s National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), the organizer of the forum.
NCTC Director Kibiego Kigen said that shielding Africa‘s borderlands from the menace of terrorism will require investments in biometric systems for monitoring movement of civilians, joint patrols, early warning, civic education, and sustainable livelihoods for local communities.
“The integrity and security of our borders are the first and the most critical layer of protection for our nation and our people,” Kigen said, adding that terrorist groups in Africa are exploiting porous borders, modern technology, and sophisticated travel networks to move personnel, finances, and weapons.
