Impact of narco-trade on democratic governance in Africa

The recent coup attempt in the West African coastal state of Guinea-Bissau has brought to the surface the nefarious impact of the drugs or narco-trade on national security and overall democratic governance of states.

Guinea-Bissau is generally recognised as a narco-state where state-capture by traffickers has already occurred. It is a glaring fact that many parts of Africa, especially West Africa, are under attack from international criminal networks that are using the sub-region as a key global hub for the distribution, wholesale, and increased production of illicit drugs. Most of this drug trade involves cocaine sold in Europe, although heroin is also trafficked to the United States, and the sub-region is becoming an export base for amphetamines and their precursors, mainly for East Asian markets, Europe and, increasingly, the United States. Furthermore it is frustratingly disturbing that some of these drugs have found their way in local markets across the continent causing severe socio-economic devastation to local populations, especially the youth.