Robert Basil Hersov argues Africa faces a terror crisis from Islamist groups like Boko Haram and al-Shabaab, with terrorism deaths rising sharply across the Sahel, Nigeria, and Somalia. He projects sub-Saharan Muslim populations could rise 60% by 2030, potentially making Nigeria majority-Muslim, and claims weak governance and media silence enable extremism.
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Africa is at a crossroads. You've been told Africa's future is bright. But what if that future is being rewritten, not by progress, but by fear? Here's the truth about one of the scariest and most evil forces trying to reshape Africa's soul. And numbers don't care about politics. So let's go through a few numbers. Let's go through a few facts. Nigeria. Nigeria now leads Africa with 105 million Muslims, followed by Egypt with 90 million. The Muslim population in sub-Saharan Africa is projected to grow 60% between 2010 and 2030, and Nigeria alone could be majority Muslim as soon as 2030. That's in 5 years' time. The United Nations Security Council declared Africa the epicenter of global terrorism this year in 2025. And militant Islamist violence killed 23,000 people in 2023, nearly double the 2021 total. The Sahel region in Africa recorded 11,600 terrorism deaths in 2023, and Somalia's fatalities rose 22%, hitting 7,600. The 2024 Global Terrorism Index ranks Burkina Faso amongst the worst-hit. President Trump has redesignated Nigeria a country of particular concern over the mass persecution of Christians, citing radical Islamist slaughter. This is the last few weeks, and the data says this: demographic change plus weak governance equals chaos. Extremist groups— Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, Islamic State affiliates— thrive where the state collapses and freedom shrinks. Just look at Nigeria, West Africa, northern Kenya, Somalia, and who are the winners? The warlords, the ideologues, the corrupt elites. Who are the losers? Ordinary Africans, Christians, entrepreneurs, farmers, anyone who believes in liberty. They call it religious revival, but it's not revival, it's repression, where speech, belief, and women's rights are crushed. The Islamification of Africa, I think, is a real threat. Because it brings with it radical Islam. So why aren't you hearing this? Because governments fear being called intolerant. NGOs fear losing funding from the likes of Soros. And the media fears the mob. But you fear being labeled Islamophobic. Meanwhile, the killings rise from Nigeria's Kaduna region to Mozambique's Cabo Delgado in the north. And what does this mean for South Africa? For South Africa, the stakes are huge. Instability in the north drives migration to the south, pushes arms trafficking and capital flight out of Africa and out of South Africa. Remember, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. So what do we do? What we need to do is is name the enemy. The enemy is violent extremism, and it's radical Islam. We need to back brave voices. We need to defend education, defend women's rights, and defend Judeo-Christian values and free markets and free enterprise. We need to strengthen borders across Africa and South Africa, and we need to demand transparency from governments who provide Western aid. We need to measure success by fewer attacks, by freer speech, by more women's rights, and by fairer laws. Africa's future is not written in fear, and it shouldn't be. It is written by those who defend light against darkness. I'll ask you the question: Is Islam a religion of peace? You tell me.
