ADDRESSING THE THREAT OF VIOLENT

EXTREMISM IN SOUTHERN

AFRICA27 November 2019

Protea Hotel, Pretoria, South Africa

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PROGRAMME

ADDRESSING THE THREAT OF VIOLENT EXTREMISM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA

8.30 Opening remarks

• Antonio Sánchez-Benedito Gaspar – EU Ambassador in Mozambique

• Vasu Gounden – Executive Director, ACCORD

• Giovanni Faleg – Senior Analyst, EU Institute for

Security Studies

09.00 Roundtable I - The threat of Violent Extremism in Southern Africa

The fi rst roundtable takes stock of the current threat level of violent extremism across Southern

Africa. It focuses on the main drivers and triggers behind the emergence of extremist actors and

violence in the region, including transboundary movement of extremist groups and individuals

(e.g. radical preachers). The panel situates the threat of violent extremism in Southern Africa

and in individual countries within the evolution of violent extremist groups in nearby regions

and considers the connections between different regions and countries when it comes to

mobilisation of violent groups.

Moderator: Julien Duval – EU Delegation in Kenya

Speakers:

• Alex Vines – Research Director, Chatam House

• Anneli Botha – Senior Lecturer, University of the Free State

• Martin Rupiya – Innovation and Training Manager, ACCORD

• Guy Lamb – Director of Safety and Violence Initiative,

University of Cape Town

11:00 Coffee Break

11.15 Roundtable II - Insurgency in Northern Mozambique in the regional context

This roundtable focuses on the specifi c dynamics emerged in Northern Mozambique, considering

both national and regional factors behind the emergence of violent extremism in the area.

The adopted response by the Mozambican authorities and neighbouring states will be discussed.

It will also assess the possibilities of cross-border cooperation between the states in the region

on confl ict prevention and on countering violent extremism.

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Moderator: Welile Nhlapo – Senior Political Advisor, ACCORD

Speakers:

• Brian M. Perkins – Intelligence Manager, WorldAware

• Jasmine Opperman – Independent security researcher

• Salvador Forquilha – Director, Institute for Social and Economic Studies

• Yussuf Adam – Senior Lecturer, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane

13:15 Lunch

14:15 Roundtable III - Policy responses: preventing and responding to violent extremism in Southern Africa

How can the emerged threat of violent extremism be mitigated and further spread of extremist

attacks and groups in Southern Africa prevented? The last roundtable tackles the diffi cult task

of preventing and countering violent extremism by analysing the approach deployed in different

Southern African countries and drawing lessons learned from other regions (e.g. STRIVE in the

Horn of Africa) and relevant research. The session considers possibilities for preventive actions

at the international, regional, national level, and local levels, with a focus on addressing the

importance of coordinated and integrated approach across borders.

Moderator: Katariina Mustasilta – Senior Associate Analyst, EU Institute for

Security Studies

Speakers:

• Sirpa Mäenpää – Ambassador for Peace Mediation, Finland

• Zhuldyz Akisheva – UNODC Regional Representative in Southern Africa

• Akinola Olojo – Senior Researcher, Institute for Security Studies (ISS)

• Mahdi Abdile – Director of Research, Network for Religious and

Traditional Peacemakers

16.30 Closing remarks

• Riina Kionka – EU Ambassador in South Africa

• Laura Torvinen – Finland Ambassador in Mozambique

• Seminar Wrap-up:

Giovanni Faleg – Senior Analyst, EU Institute for Security Studies

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SPEAKERS

Antonio Sánchez-Benedito Gaspar

Antonio Sánchez-Benedito Gaspar has been the European Union Ambassador to the Republic of Mozambique since September 2018 and was previously the European Union Ambassador to Madagascar since 2014.

He began his diplomatic career in 1995 at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has since represented Spain in several African countries such as Libya, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia and the Sahel region. He was also Director for Africa and Counsellor for Cooperation in Latin America at the Offi ce of the Spanish State Secretary.

Vasu Gounden

Vasu Gounden is the Executive Director of the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) which he founded in 1992. He is a lawyer, mediator, and an experienced confl ict management practitioner and trainer.

He has served on several Government commissions and independent bodies. Among numerous other roles and positions, Vasu Gounden has been involved in preparing confl icting parties across Africa for negotiations, including rebel groups in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He has provided mediation support to the facilitators of the Burundi Peace Process, which included former President Nelson Mandela, President Jacob Zuma and Minister Charles Ngcakula, and has served as an advisor on mediation strategy to former President Ketumile Masire on the InterCongolese Dialogue Peace Process. Mr. Gounden was appointed as mediation advisor to the Deputy Minister of International Relations of South Africa who facilitated the recent Madagascar mediation.

Giovanni Faleg

Giovanni Faleg is a Senior Analyst at the European Union Institute for Security Studies. He is responsible for analysis and research on sub-Saharan Africa. He focuses on the drivers of state fragility in Africa and the EU’s engagement in the region, particularly confl ict prevention and peacebuilding, the humanitarian-development-peace nexus and the integrated approach to confl icts and crises.

Before joining the EUISS, he worked at the World Bank (2014–2018) in the fragility, confl ict and violence unit; at the Centre for European Policy Studies (2011–2018) and the Istituto Affari Internazionali (2013), focusing on the EU’s foreign and security policy.

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Giovanni holds a PhD in European Studies from the London School of

Economics and Political Science (2014), with a thesis on the evolution of

security cooperation in the EU through institutional learning. He is the author

of The EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy: Learning Communities in

International Organizations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) and More Union in

European Defence (CEPS, 2015).

Julien Duval

Julien Duval is currently posted at the European Union Delegation in Kenya.

He is a Seconded National Expert from the French Ministry of Interior, where

he used to work on international counter terrorism cooperation as the head

of International Exchange Networks Division (EUROPOL, INTERPOL, as well

as direct bilateral operational cooperation) within the French Directorate of

National Police Counter Terrorism Coordination Unit.

Prior to that he started as an intelligence analyst before being recruited by

the French Maritime Affaires (Coast Guard Function) as the Head of Maritime

Surveillance and Control Unit for the North Sea and the English Channel.

Alex Vines

Alex Vines has been head of the Africa Programme at Chatham House since

2002 and became research director for risk, ethics and resilience in 2019.

He chaired the UN Panel of Experts on Côte d’Ivoire from 2005 to 2007, and

was a member of the UN Panel of Experts on Liberia from 2001 to 2003. He

was also a member of the Commonwealth Observer Group to Mozambique in

2019 (and Ghana in 2016) and a UN election offi cer in Mozambique (1994) and

Angola (1992).

He worked at Human Rights Watch as a senior researcher on its Africa, Arms

and Business and Human Rights programmes, and has served as a consultant

including for the UN Offi ce on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); JICA, DFID, USAID,

the EU and for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

He is also a director of EG Justice – an NGO focused on Equatorial Guinea and

is on the advisory board of the John & Elnora Ferguson Centre for African

Studies (JEFCAS) at the University of Bradford.

Alex was awarded an OBE in 2008 in recognition of his work including founding

and developing Chatham House’s Africa programme and holds a PhD from

Coventry University.

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Anneli Botha

Anneli Botha is a senior lecturer at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein (South Africa). She also works as a consultant on radicalisation into violent extremist organisations and strategies to prevent and counter this phenomenon within Africa.

Anneli Botha has been a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria since 2003. She is an expert on terrorism whose work focuses on counter-terrorism strategies and the underlying causes of terrorism and radicalization. She worked in the South African Police Service’s Crime Intelligence Unit between pursuing her undergraduate and graduate degrees. Botha has a master’s degree in political studies from the University of Johannesburg and a Ph.D. from the University of the Free State. Her thesis on radicalization in Kenya and Uganda received the Terrorism Research Initiative’s award for the best Ph.D. thesis in the fi eld of terrorism and counter-terrorism studies in 2014.

Martin Rupiya

Professor Martin Revayi Rupiya, PhD is the Innovation and Training Manager with ACCORD. He is also the Co-Editor of the African Journal on Confl ict Resolution after joining ACCORD from a background of teaching, research, analysis and extensive publications on Africa’s peace and security challenges. Rupiya has a PhD in History & Military Studies (University of Zimbabwe (UZ) 2001; a Masters in War & Strategic Studies, Kings College London (1989-90); a BA Honours in Economics & History (1987–89); and a (Merit) Diploma in War & Strategic Studies (UZ), 1983–4).

In his working career, has been associated with the following institutions: The Institute for African Renaissance Studies (IARS), University of South Africa (UNISA) as a Visiting Fellow and Associate Professor, (2014–2018); Visiting Professor, Institute for Peace & Security Studies, University of Addis Ababa (2012–2015); Director of Research Africa, Centre for Security Sector Management, Cranfi eld University, United Kingdom (2008–9); Senior Researcher/MILAIDS Project Manager, Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Pretoria (2003–2008); Assoc Prof, Department of International Relations, Witswatersrand University (2002–03); Director, Centre for Defence Studies & Senior Lecturer, Department of History, UZ (1990–2002).

Guy Lamb

Guy Lamb is the Director of Safety and Violence Initiative (SaVI) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa. He also convenes postgraduate courses in various academic departments at UCT, including an executive course titled ”Urban Safety Governance.” He is a member of the Western Cape Provincial

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Government’s Community Safety Improvement Partnership, and is also an

advisor to the South African Cities Network’s Urban Safety Reference Group.

Prior to joining UCT, he was a Senior Research Fellow and Programme Head at

the Institute for Security Studies.

He has undertaken research and published on arms control, violence reduction,

urban safety, policing and peace-building issues in Africa for more than 20 years.

He has served on the UN Security Council Panel of Experts on Liberia and was a

member of the UN small arms control standards expert reference group.

Dr. Lamb holds a Ph.D. in Criminology and a master’s degree in International and

Comparative Politics from UCT.

Welile Nhlapo

Welile Nhlapo joined ACCORD in 2009, as a Senior Lakes region, Political

Advisor. From 2010-2011 he was President Zuma’s National Security Advisor.

He served as South Africa’s Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region from

2011–12. In 2013, Ambassador Nhlapo served as South Africa’s representative

on the Kimberly Process (KP), specifi cally serving as the KP Chairperson. In 2018

he was appointed as an Advisor to the South African Minister of International

Relations and Cooperation.

In the early 1970’s Nhlapo was involved in the establishment of youth

organisations in South Africa. After going into exile in Botswana in 1974, Nhlapo

served as the ANC Chief Representative in Botswana. In 1982 he was appointed

as the Head of the African National Congress’ (ANC’s) Youth Section. Nhlapo

joined the South African Department of Foreign Affairs in 1994 and he was

Ambassador to Ethiopia, to the African Union (AU) Mission in Burundi, and to

the United States.

Brian M. Perkins

Brian M. Perkins is an Intelligence Manager at the risk management consultancy

WorldAware and is a former Navy Signals Intelligence Analyst. He worked

formerly as an intelligence analyst at Aon and iJET International.

Brian Perkins has published extensively in peer-reviewed and non peer-reviewed

journals and has been cited by the UNHCR, academic presses, and international

media outlets. His research primarily focuses on Yemen, though he regularly

writes about terrorism and political violence in the broader MENA region. He is

the Managing Editor of Jamestown Foundation’s Terrorism Monitor.

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Jasmine Opperman

Jasmine Opperman is an independent security researcher and the former

Senior Director to Africa for Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium

(TRAC). She got a Masters Degree at the University of Johannesburg.

She has worked for over a decade on business risk, opportunity and political information on the African continent, focusing on the ever evolving landscape and opportunity Africa offers. She currently works in both political and business intelligence.

Jasmine Opperman’s work focuses particularly in the understanding of terrorist movements in the Sahel as well as the Middle East. She closely follows Boko Haram and al Shabaab. She also follows all terror related activities on the African continent, advising policy makers as well as businessmen in countries like Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria. Currently she works mainly on analyzing militia activities in Mozambique, DRC, Tanzania, and Nigeria, as well as jihadist activity in the Middle East.

Salvador Forquilha

Salvador Forquilha is Forquilha is one of the co-founders and the director of the

Institute for Social and Economic Studies (IESE), a Mozambican independent

research institute based in Maputo. He holds a PhD in Political Science from

the University of Bordeaux, in France.

Before joining IESE research team as permanent researcher, he worked as a senior

programme offi cer for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation –

SDC, in Maputo. Salvador Forquilha is also a lecturer at the Department of Political

Science and Public Administration – Eduardo Mondlane University, in Maputo.

His research focuses on decentralization, local governance and democratization

in Mozambique.

Yussuf Adam

Yussuf Adam is an Associate Professor of Contemporary History at the

University of Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique. He started his studies

at Eduardo Mondlane University and holds a PhD degree in History and

Development Studies by the University of Roskilde in Denmark.

After 40 years of work at the university, Yusssuf Adam is offi cially retired

but continues to teach and develop research on issues such as peace and

development, liberation war and guerrilla warfare, health and Human Rights.

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At present Yussuf Adam works on the war which is developing in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. He tries to understand the logic and motivations of different actors. He develops his work in a way that government and state institutions, citizens, women and men, can contribute to understanding the situation that they are living and are prepared to change it.

Katariina Mustasilta

Katariina Mustasilta is a Senior Associate Analyst dealing with confl ict research at the European Union Institute for Security Studies. Her research covers quantitative and qualitative analysis of countries’ internal confl icts and local peace and confl ict dynamics. Prior joining the EUISS, Katariina was conducting PhD research at the Department of Government, University of Essex. She holds a Master’s Degree in Peace and Confl ict Studies from Uppsala University and has previously worked with peacebuilding issues in both public and non-governmental sectors. She is the author of the article ’Including chiefs, maintaining peace? Examining the effects of state–traditional governance interaction on civil peace in sub-Saharan Africa’, Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 56 (2), 2019.

Sirpa Mäenpää

Sirpa Mäenpää is Ambassador for Mediation, with focus on Africa and the Middle East, in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland since 2016. Between 2013–16 she was Finland’s Ambassador in Addis Ababa, also for African Union. One of the themes she followed was expansion of terrorism in Africa. She is a member of Nordic Women Mediators.

She has been especially cooperating with Mozambique during 2007-09, when she was Deputy Director-General in the Department for Africa and the Middle East. She led Bilateral Consultations with Mozambique from the Finnish side in 2009. Early in her career she was Desk Offi cer for Southern Africa, including Mozambique between 1983–86.

Zhuldyz Akisheva

Zhuldyz Akisheva is the Representative for the United Nations Offi ce on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Regional Offi ce for Southern Africa. She oversees UNODC Portfolio in all SADC countries under the framework of the UNODC-SADC Regional Programme ”Making SADC Community Safer from Drugs, Crime and Terrorism”.

Prior to joining the Regional Offi ce, she served as the UNODC Country Manager in Viet Nam (2010-2015), Head of UNODC Programme Offi ce in Kyrgyzstan

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(2008-2010), Deputy Regional Representative at the UNODC Regional Offi ce for Central Asia (2004–2008). She also worked at UNODC HQs in Vienna at different posts (2000–2004).

Before joining United Nations as a staff member in 2000, Ms. Akisheva held senior level diplomatic assignments in Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A lawyer from Kazakhstan Ms. Akisheva began her career as Assistant to Lecturer, Kazakh State University, Law Faculty.

Akinola Olojo

Akinola Olojo is a senior researcher in the Transnational Threats and International Crime Programme at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria, South Africa. Before this, he was a visiting scholar at the Institut d’Études Politiques (SciencesPo) in France where he taught on violence and terrorism in sub-Saharan Africa. Akinola was also a visiting research fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) in The Hague. He has a PhD from the Université Paris Descartes and he is an alumnus of King’s College London.

Akinola has a Masters in Confl ict, Security and Development from King’s College London and a Masters in Political Science from the University of Lagos. From 2010–2012, he was a Peace, Security and Development Fellow at the African Leadership Centre (ALC) in both London and Nairobi. He has conducted external reviews for the knowledge production department of the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) in South Africa. He is also an external reviewer for the Journal of Terrorism Research, the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

Mahdi Abdile

Mahdi Abdile is director of research at the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers and a researcher focused on countering violent extremism at the European Institute of Peace. He previously held several positions with Finn Church Aid, including Right to Peace Theme coordinator, deputy regional representative, and regional representative of its East and Southern Africa Regional Offi ce. Abdile has conducted doctoral studies at the Department of Political and Economic Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

Riina Kionka

Riina Kionka is the Head of the EU Delegation to South Africa since October 2019. Previously, she was chief foreign policy advisor to the President of the European Council. Prior to this Dr Kionka led the Central Asia Division at

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the European External Action Service (EEAS). Before this she led on Human Rights for the European External Action Service and earlier at the EU’s Council Secretariat.

Predating this, Riina Kionka deputised for the Director dealing with the United Nations, the Americas, counterterrorism and human rights at the Council Secretariat (from 2004). Before her move to the EU Institutions, she worked at the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her fi rst external posting was as Estonia’s Ambassador to Germany (2000). In 2004 she was appointed Undersecretary for EU Affairs. Riina Kionka holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from Columbia University in New York City

Laura Torvinen

Ms. Laura Torvinen joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in 1990. In 2016 she was appointed as Finland’s Ambassador to Mozambique, Madagascar and Eswatini. She has a long-standing experience from Mozambique having worked in the country in the 1980s (Ministry of Agriculture), and in the 1990s (Coordinator of a Finnish CSO KEPA). During her time at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, she has had a wide range of responsibilities focusing on Finland’s international development cooperation policy. She has been mainly engaged with the international development fi nancing institutions and the European Union.

Ms. Torvinen has completed her MSc. Economics at the Helsinki School of Economics, MPhil. Development Studies at the University of Sussex in the UK, and PhD at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. Her doctoral thesis addressed the problematique of governance in developing countries, with a case study of Mozambique.

ADDRESSING THE THREAT OF VIOLENT

EXTREMISM IN SOUTHERN

AFRICA27 November 2019

Protea Hotel, Pretoria, South Africa