Analyse
Dictatorship in Africa: a profitable market for spyware, hacking and arms vendors?
In several African capitals, the security budget grows faster than those for education or health. This is not an accounting accident it reflects a reality that official figures struggle to name. Governments that no longer derive their legitimacy from popular consent need, in order to survive, to see without being seen, to hear without being heard, and sometimes to strike without leaving traces. This silent but structural demand has produced a discreet, technically sophisticated, diplomatically protected and extraordinarily profitable market. States specialising in the security industry have understood that African political instability and poor governance are not only a geopolitical problem they are also a commercial opportunity. This article examines the mechanics of this market, its diplomatic relays, its effects on public budgets and on civil liberties.