Organised crime in Africa: Domestic challenge or transcontinental threat?

The discussion about Africa-linked organised crime in Europe is driven by clichés and heated debates on
immigration, xenophobia and ‘reverse colonization,’1 with ethnically defined organised crime often seen as
an imported problem.

While some groups have received more attention than others, most research is limited to single-case
studies, focusing mainly on Nigerian organised crime or the so-called ‘Mocro Mafia.’ In the academic sphere,
while there are a few case studies, no comparative study on Africa-linked organised crime in Europe could
be identified.2 It is far from fully understood how groups such as the Nigerian confraternities in Italy and
Germany or North Africa-linked groups in the Netherlands or France have developed. Equally unclear is the
extent of these threats to Europe and the ways the mutually reinforcing criminal linkages between Africa
and Europe operate.

This paper seeks to provide a detailed assessment drawing on extensive field research to enhance the
understanding of these issues, including key enabling factors for Africa-linked organised crime to proliferate
in Europe, the criminal markets in which they thrive and the degree to which these are actually linked to
Africa or pose rather a domestic threat.

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