Hope for jobs drives recruitment by militant groups in Africa - report

FILE PHOTO: A soldier from the new Takuba force keeps watch during a patrol with Malian soldiers near Niger border in Dansongo Circle, Mali August 21, 2021. Picture taken August 21, 2021. REUTERS/Paul Lorgerie/File Photo

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Hope of employment more than religious belief is driving people to join fast-growing extremist groups in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a report by the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) based on interviews with hundreds of former fighters.

While worldwide deaths from terrorism have declined in the last five years, deaths in sub-Saharan Africa have risen, making it now the global epicentre of attacks, the UNDP report said, citing an annual survey called the Global Terrorism Index.