Abstract
This paper analyses the role of the arms trade in the growth and spread of transnational crime in Africa. The work shows that the proliferation and ready availability of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) on the continent is contributing in no small measure to political, economic and social insecurity in Africa. Major transnational crimes that the work identifies in Africa include drug trafficking, human and people trafficking, environmental crimes, arms trafficking and stolen vehicle trafficking. The work uses qualitative research methodology, which involves the extensive collection, collation and analysis of secondary data, to capture the essence and scope of the impacts of SALW on the growth and spread of transnational crime on the continent. A major and significant contribution of the work is the crucial connection that it establishes between the proliferation of SALW and the high incidence and recurrence of transnational crime in Africa. The work shows the destabilizing impacts of the proliferation of SALW in Africa and how these is contributing to the recurrence of conflicts and criminal activities on the continent. In its conclusion, the work recommends that in order for states on the continent to be able to proactively tackle transnational crime and the proliferation of SALW, they will have to do the following: carry-out an extensive and critical survey to create a database that will identify the nature of the different transnational crime that is carried-out in each regions; create (where it does not exist) and, strengthen and implement (where it exist) legislations and laws designed to tackle transnational crime; and encourage interagency cooperation and coordination among the affected states in the regions.
Highlights
Transnational crimes are crimes that are committed across the national boundaries of states [Sheptycki, Wardack 2005: 146]
Such crimes are sometimes committed by individuals or groups in one state across the borders of several others [Brown 2020: 1—12]. This has come to define the nature of most crimes committed across borders in Africa in the 21st century
Small arms and light weapons refer to those weapons that can be carried by one or two persons, mounted on a vehicle or lugged by an animal from one place to another [Kumar 2008: 787]
Summary
Transnational crimes are crimes that are committed across the national boundaries of states [Sheptycki, Wardack 2005: 146]. Stewart argue that the best way to tackle transnational crime is through the strengthening of the rule of law [Lloyd, Simmons, Stewart 2012] This rule of law has both domestic and international dimension, according to the authors. The authors, among other things, details the mechanism that the regional body, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has put in place to tackle and check the proliferation of illegal arms [Ayissi, Sall 2005: 31—34]. It further shows the various efforts that Nigeria has put in place to combat the proliferation of SALW in the country and the West African sub-region Such efforts include the creation of dedicated military and para-military agencies and the inclusion of civil society and the media in the fight against the proliferation of illegal arms [Ayissi, Sall 2005: 111—117].
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