Abstract
This study examines the Economic Dimension of Security in Africa. Africa is endowed with several
rich natural resources like petroleum, gold, diamond, timber, rivers and so forth, and yet Africa
is part of the poorest countries in the world, and the indicators of measuring economic
development are declining in this area. The African region is faced with a myriad of security
challenges, which range from terrorism, political instability, conflicts, infrastructural deficit,
poverty, and unemployment, among others, which have grave implications on the economic
development of the continent. Issues bordering on security are very critical for the material
progress of any polity. Secondary source of data was deployed for the study; it involves the
collection of data from textbooks, journals and seminar papers, among others. The adopted theory
for this study is the Marxian political economy theory. This study found that insecurity has been
the major problem that the continent is still struggling to defeat owing to the increase in terrorism,
conflict, political instability, unemployment, poverty, inequality, infrastructural deficit and other
developmental problems in the region. The study recommended that African leaders should ensure
the provision of a good life for their citizens. Provision of basic social amenities like health care
facilities, schools, electricity and very importantly security will go a long way in ensuring social
stability and economic development.