A United Nations Development Program (UNDP) study of 2,200 men and women found that unemployment is a stronger fuel for violent extremism in sub-Saharan Africa than religious ideology.
The survey targeted 8 countries that are often prey to jihadist attacks: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, and Sudan.
It was noted that the majority of respondents are former members of extremist groups, who belonged to groups active in the region such as Shebab, Boko Haram, and Al-Qaeda.
The survey results mentioned that a quarter of the voluntary recruits stated that their joining these groups was due to the lack of job opportunities.
These findings recorded an increase of 92% compared to the findings of a similar study in 2017.
In this context, UNDP chief Achim Steiner noted that the lack of employment and income opportunities in some countries makes people vulnerable and able to seize any opportunity to earn an income.
Among the other reasons for joining, religion is the third most important, cited by 17% of people, a decrease of 57% compared to 2017.
In addition, 71% of respondents cited human rights violations committed by state security forces as a trigger for joining such groups.