Following the rising wave of terrorism in Africa, particularly in the last decade, this study investigated the effect of terrorism on economic complexity in the region as well as the moderating role of military expenditure in the terrorism–economic complexity relationship. A panel of 34 African economies was used over the period 2010–2021. The study also used the dynamic system generalized method of moments framework. We find that the unconditional effect of terrorism on economic complexity in Africa is predominantly negative and significant, and that military expenditure in the region has been ineffective in moderating this adverse effect. This finding remained robust regardless of whether terrorism is measured by the number of terrorism incidents, fatalities, injuries, or hostages. However, our results showed that industrialization, urbanization, and governance institutional quality are potent channels for promoting economic complexity in Africa. Among others, the study emphasized the need for policymakers and leaders in Africa to collaborate at the level of the African Union to address the detrimental effects of terrorism on the continent.

中文翻译：

---

非洲的恐怖主义和经济复杂性：军事支出的无条件影响

随着非洲恐怖主义浪潮的兴起，特别是在过去十年，本研究调查了恐怖主义对该地区经济复杂性的影响，以及军事支出在恐怖主义与经济复杂性关系中的调节作用。2010 年至 2021 年期间使用了由 34 个非洲经济体组成的小组。该研究还使用了动力系统广义矩框架方法。我们发现，恐怖主义对非洲经济复杂性的无条件影响主要是负面且显着的，而该地区的军事支出未能有效缓解这种不利影响。无论恐怖主义是否通过恐怖主义事件、死亡、受伤或人质的数量来衡量，这一发现仍然是强有力的。然而，我们的研究结果表明，工业化、城市化和治理制度质量是促进非洲经济复杂性的有效渠道。除其他外，该研究强调非洲政策制定者和领导人需要在非洲联盟层面进行合作，以解决恐怖主义对该大陆的有害影响。