The increasing prominence of informal and illegal mining in the context of rising insecurity across West Africa raises the question of why these activities are so attractive to Islamist extremist insurgencies and other armed groups, and what regional governments should do to counteract the nexus between insecurity and mining.

Last year saw mixed developments for Africa, with good news from a better-than-expected economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic as well as creative sector success dampened by vaccine nationalism, conflict and military coups. In 2022, Africans cautiously hope to build on the successes of the previous year.