Black Axe: Has West Africa become a hotbed for cybercrime?
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00:00Now 300 people have been arrested as part of an international crackdown on a West African
00:05cybercrime network known as Black Axe.
00:09Agencies from across 21 countries carried out raids between April and July this year
00:13and Interpol has called the Operation Jackal 3 a major blow to the Nigerian cyber mafia.
00:20But although a battle may have been won, the war is far from over.
00:23With me now for more on this is cybercrime expert Professor Nnena Afianyi-Adjufo who
00:30joins me now from the UK.
00:32Professor so first of all how does Black Axe operate and how significant do you think this
00:37crackdown is?
00:39Very much, I would say immensely significant for the region because for years now Black
00:47Axe has become synonymous with cyber criminal activities in the region originating from
00:54Nigeria.
00:55But one thing I must say is that interestingly when you think about Black Axe people usually
00:59relate to the long years existence of a cultist group that emanated from Nigeria's higher
01:04institutions but I fail to agree that this group that has been the subject of Interpol's
01:11operation is the same with that group.
01:13But why have they remained in existence?
01:15Because if you look back as far as 2017 the Canadian government said they had busted a
01:20money laundering group linked to the Black Axe that was worth $5 billion in criminal
01:25operations.
01:26In 2022 as well Interpol said that Black Axe was the world's most organized cybercrime
01:34group as well as if you look at in 2020 Ireland had arrested about a thousand people linked
01:39to Black Axe.
01:40What has made them efficient in criminal activities over the years is their international recruitment
01:45strategy, the national recruitment strategy and its operational capabilities which is
01:51across national boundaries.
01:53This has been a challenge.
01:54So even though they exist in West Africa they have a very organized international recruitment
01:59strategy, operational strategy as well as the use of technology sophistication and digital
02:05payment systems such as cryptocurrencies and of course in the West African region there
02:09is little or no regulation of the use of cryptocurrencies.
02:13So it has allowed them over the years to re-strategize and strategize into various modes of international
02:19criminal operation and get away at various times in terms of cybercriminal activities.
02:25So you've kind of talked us there through the progression of Black Axe networks like
02:30that but why do you think that the origins of such sophisticated cybercrime networks
02:36have been rooted in West Africa?
02:41This is actually very interesting.
02:43When you think about the situation in the region, for example, Africa is the least digitalized
02:47region in the world, you know, lacking the ultimate infrastructure required to tackle
02:53cybercrimes, you know, lack of appropriate regulatory frameworks for tackling cybercrime
02:58and even appropriate policies.
03:00So why would such a syndicate exist in the West African region?
03:04Indeed, you know, the volume of cybercrime emanating from the region is alarming.
03:08But one thing I always say is that you cannot divorce cybercrime from the extant social
03:14and cultural realities in the region.
03:16And this is really attributed to the high levels of unemployment and poverty rate.
03:21So for example, if you look at the recruitment strategy of Black Axe, reports show that they
03:26actually recruit university graduates and young people who are in university.
03:30Of course, such skills are relevant for, you know, cyber-enabled crimes or crimes that
03:35are dependent on computer networks.
03:37So it makes it very attractive.
03:39In Nigeria, you must have heard about the Yahoo Boys nomenclature, which has become
03:42a common nomenclature for identifying youths with an ambition to acquire wealth through
03:47online fraud, digital extortion, scams and commercially available cyber extortion tools.
03:53So what it then means is that while cybercrime should ordinarily be a criminal dilemma in
03:59places like West Africa, the cybercrime landscape is a complex web of social and cultural realities.
04:05We can't describe the situation without thinking of the extant social realities of those living
04:11in the West African region.
04:12So it makes it very lucrative for cybercrime to emanate from the region.