Public Lecture: Hybrid governance and shadow economies: violent networks and community responses in Northern Benin; Speaker: Kamal Donko

Abstract:

Taking the border town of Malanville as a case study, in this presentation I examine the linkages between shadow economies and networks of violent actors and how people navigate this environment. Northern Benin is marked by persistent socio-economic precarity, limited state presence, and rising insecurity. Based on a qualitative approach, the analysis draws on data collected during several field visits to the border area between 2021 and 2024. These visits enabled in-depth interviews with a wide range of local actors, including traders, police, army, teachers, youth, civil servants, and community leaders. The study highlights the processes through which illicit activities, such as fuel smuggling, drug trafficking, and the sale of counterfeit medicines, have become vital survival strategies for a significant portion of the population. However, beyond their economic function, these activities also serve as critical support systems for terrorist groups, which rely on informal circuits for funding, supplies, and to establish local alliances. Intertwining survival economies and criminal networks blur the boundaries between community actors and violent groups, between licit and illicit practices. By drawing theoretically concepts of hybrid governance, violent economies, and vernacular security, I will demonstrate how local populations develop adaptive strategies in response to security threats. Often characterized by silence, avoidance, or constrained collaboration, these strategies reflect a generalized climate of fear and mistrust. This situation is further exacerbated by widespread perceptions of collusion between some state agents and criminal actors, thereby undermining institutional legitimacy and limiting the authorities’ ability to mobilize communities against terrorist threats. The findings reveal that current institutional responses, primarily focused on security operations and microeconomic projects, remain insufficient as they fail to address the structural drivers of shadow economies and radicalization. By highlighting structural violence in the context of borderland governance, the study calls for an integrated approach to security in border regions. This must prioritize the restoration of trust between communities and authorities, the co-production of security with local actors, and the creation of real and sustainable economic alternatives for young people. This research highlights how insecurity, underground economies, and local governance intersect, emphasizing the need for public policies grounded in the lived realities of borderland communities.

Dr. Kamal Donko is a political geographer and researcher at LASDEL Parakou (Laboratoire d’Études et de Recherche sur les Dynamiques Sociales et le Développement Local) in Benin. He earned his PhD from the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS) in Germany, with a dissertation titled “Territory, Identity, and Local Politics in the Frontier Zone of Central Benin,” which critically examined the intersections of identity, governance, and territoriality in borderland contexts. As a postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Donko contributed to the project “Migration Control, Violence, and COVID-19: (In)Mobility Regimes in the Borderlands of Burkina Faso, Benin, and Niger,” funded by the Cluster of Excellence Africa Multiple in partnership with the University Joseph KI-ZERBO in Ouagadougou. This work explored the sociopolitical dimensions of migration control, mobility regimes, and their impacts on borderland populations.

This lecture is open to the public.

For virtual participation via Zoom, please use the following link:

https://uni-freiburg.zoom-x.de/j/63162528564?pwd=udwjR7Qe1FSdsDEKP3vfDhUdfh9mlT.1

Meeting-ID: 631 6252 8564
Code: 296sCescb