Multinational Corporations and Terrorism in Africa (2015)

Undergraduate: Noam Argov

Faculty Advisor: Navin Bapat
Department: Political Science

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The African continent is a region of increasing economic opportunity and threats of terrorism. What accounts for these seemingly contradictory trends? This study argues that the recent terrorism rise is partly due to increasing investment by multinational corporations (MNCs) in Africa. I examine MNC investment in infrastructure through the mechanism of Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI). I argue that greater infrastructure investment gives African states the incentive and military capacity to reassert control over territories previously lost to violent non-state actors. MNCs introduce a third party into the bargaining between rebels and governments over resource control. Since MNC investment empowers the state, the resulting territorial contestation may induce non-state actors to respond with terrorism. I argue that African states will experience increasing terrorist attacks as PPI increases and furthers the process of state consolidation. Increasing PPI gives terrorist campaigns an initial burst of resolve to prolong their initiatives. However, I ultimately assert that if this PPI investment is allowed to appreciate through initial periods of increased violence, African states can eventually use this new power to accelerate the demise of terrorist groups. Sustained MNC investment will strengthen African governments and decrease the survivability of terrorist campaigns. I test these predictions in the period from 1990-2006.