Transport infrastructure is critical in armed conflicts. A dense infrastructure network allows states to provide services to the civilian population and defeat insurgents in a timely manner. Yet, transport infrastructure itself can also become a major target for rebels and violent extremists.
This new OECD report examines how the competition for the control of transport infrastructure between state and non-state actors produces various patterns of violence in North and West Africa.
Launched at the Munich Security Conference in February 2025, it is the third report dedicated to the geography of armed conflict in the region coordinated by UF Associate Professor Olivier Walther, Dr. Marie Trémolières, and Dr. Steven Radil.
Violence tends to cluster near roads
Using disaggregated conflict data from ACLED from 2000-2024, the report suggests that battles, violence against civilians and remote violence tend to cluster near transport infrastructure. About 70% of violent events and 65% of fatalities occur within just one km of a road in North and West Africa.
In a region where roads are few and far apart, rebels and Jihadist militants tend to rely on lightweight and versatile transport solutions, such as motorcycles, which can easily be used off the main transport routes, while heavily armed government forces are more constrained by the existing road network.
Violence against transport infrastructure is on the rise
While the amount of violence targeting transport infrastructure has reached unprecedented levels, the report also highlights that the share of violence associated with roads has experienced important regional variations.
This evolution reflects the ruralization of conflict in West Africa. As Jihadist insurgents target rural areas and small towns more and more, an increasing share of violent events also occurs far away from roads.
Some roads are much more dangerous than others
The report shows that some regions are particularly prone to infrastructure attacks. The highest levels of transport-related violence are found in northwestern Cameroon, Nigeria, and Central Mali.
In these regions, violence against transport infrastructure takes many related forms: attacks against convoys, kidnappings, landmines and IEDs, blockades of cities, and destruction of the infrastructure itself.
Transport as target and facilitator of violence
The patterns of violence analyzed in this report strongly suggest that transport infrastructure has become a critical element in the competition for political power in North and West Africa over more than two decades.
The duality of the transport infrastructure, as both a facilitator and target of violence, has put government forces in West Africa at a disadvantage, however.
Regular forces are heavily constrained by the sparsity and poor conditions of the road network, which makes them vulnerable to attacks without necessarily allowing them to project their military power.
Improving security involves improving transport infrastructures
The conclusion of this report is that improving security necessarily involves improving transport infrastructure. This is particularly true in West Africa, where the transport network is shorter, less dense, and less well maintained than in North Africa.
Sixty years after the independence of many West African countries, accessibility remains elusive in the region. Peripheral cities such as Bardaï, Bilma, Kidal and Timbuktu, where rebel movements have historically developed, are still not connected to the national network by tarmac roads.
More generally, the report suggests that transport infrastructure is largely ignored in discourses that emphasize the “return of the State” as a means of combating insecurity.
Rather than building transport infrastructure, Sahelian states have focused on strengthening security. These aspects have taken precedence over developmental support for peripheral communities, who nonetheless withstand the worst of violence.
How to cite
OECD/SWAC (2025), Roads and Conflicts in North and West Africa, West African Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/77474489-en.