Off the heels of successive coups in the region, ACLED and GI-TOC are conducting a joint series of publications profiling non-state armed groups in West Africa. The series explores the intersections of their involvement in illicit economies and attempts at governance provision. The series brings new material and updated analyses using the ACLED data, ongoing GI-TOC monitoring, and qualitative research, to examine how armed groups survive in their political and economic environment.
The first installment in this series analyzed the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) in the Sahel and the second installment examined the dynamics of armed banditry in North West Nigeria. This third report analyzes the operations and organization of Ambazonian separatist groups in the Anglophone region of Cameroon, focusing on armed actors’ engagement with illicit economies, including the extensive use of abductions for ransom.
