The main factor in joining extremist groups in Africa is poverty, not religion

The United Nations report states that the main reason for joining extremist groups in sub-Saharan Africa is not religion, but poverty.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) wrote that this report was based on a study of thousands of individuals in eight African countries, including Mali, Nigeria, and Somalia.

Only seventeen percent of respondents said that religion was the reason for their involvement in extremist groups, while forty percent said that poverty was the main motivation.

According to this report, education also plays a crucial role, as an additional year of schooling significantly reduces the likelihood of individuals joining an extremist group.

In 2021, nearly half of the deaths attributed to extremist groups, which regional governments label as terrorists, occurred in the southern Sahel region of Africa.