Escalation of Islamist Insurgency in West Africa: Preventing the Spread of the Phenomenon to the Territorial Integrity of Ghana

The Islamist insurgency in West Africa has evolved into a cause for substantial alarm as the phenomenon escalates across international borders. The affiliation of the insurgent groups with global extremist organizations, including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Islamic State (IS), indicates the groups' ambition to form a caliphate in the region. This study aims to assess the possibility of Islamist insurgency in West Africa spreading to Ghana's territory and to suggest how to enhance the governments strategy for preventing the insurgency phenomenon. The study confirms that Ghana is not currently facing any form of insurgency or terrorist attacks. However, conditions that gave rise to insurgencies in other West African countries exist in Ghana. The situation could spread to Ghana since the overarching objective of the Islamist insurgents is to form a caliphate in the West African region. Additionally, the strategy being used by Ghana to prevent the spread of Islamist insurgency to its territory has some gaps such as ineffective surveillance and intelligence gathering, competition and turf war among the security agencies, and reliance on military operations at the detriment of resolving the root cause of insurgency, among others. These gaps could be exploited by the insurgents to infiltrate the country. The study recommends that the Ghanaian government strive to address the root causes of insurgency and establish a cordial relationship with the populace.