In 2024, South Africa ranked first in the crime index among African countries, with a score of **** index points. Nigeria was the second most dangerous country on the continent, obtaining **** points. The index evaluates the overall crime levels in a specific country. Several African countries scored between ** and ** points, indicating high crime levels. Escalating concerns: South Africans worry about crime and violence In 2024, South Africa had one of the highest proportions of respondents expressing concerns about crime and violence compared to other countries participating in an online study. Throughout the period examined, the percentage of participants worried about violence peaked at ** percent in March 2023. The escalating levels of violent crime currently witnessed in the country has caused this significant rise in concerned respondents. South Africa's organized crime landscape In 2023, South Africa ranked the ************* in organized crime compared to its African counterparts. The continent's most prevalent organized criminal activity was **************************************. Moreover, from a regional perspective, Southern African countries had the lowest organized crime rate.

As of December 2023, Nigerians reported being most worried about being mugged or robbed. The level of concern about this stood at 69.93 points, on a scale from zero to 100, where 100 represents the highest concern. Some other crimes causing high levels of worry in the country were robbery, burglary, theft, and attacks.

In 2025, Ghana registered a crime index of 45.35. The index measures the level of crime in a given country or city. This means that, at the said date, crime in Ghana was considered as being on a moderate level. In 2019, the level of crime in the country registered a peak of nearly 52 points. Furthermore, in 2024, it was lowest at almost 44 points. Person traffickingThe year 2021 recorded a total of 821 detected cases of people trafficking in Ghana, which was a noticeable increase compared to 2020, when such events reached 508 in number. According to latest data available, West Africa is the region with the most detected victims of people trafficking in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria being in the lead. As a result of the reported number of victims in Ghana, people prosecuted for offenses in person trafficking in the country reached 13 each in 2020 and 2021.Crime against womenFemale Genital Mutilation (FGM) is one of the criminal offenses in Ghana that involves women and girls, despite being constitutionally abolished. It is carried out on both minors and adults. In 2018, 63.6 percent of 14,374 surveyed women had had flesh in the genital area removed as a procedure of FGM. As of the same year, 7.3 percent of the same count of women were given into marriage before age 15, to the negligence of child marriage challenges such as teenage pregnancy and poverty. Another type of crime involving women is domestic violence. Overall, in 2018, 16.5 percent of male respondents, and 32.4 percent of surveyed women in Ghana reported that domestic violence was justified if, for instance, a woman burned food, argued with her husband, or neglected the children at home.

In 2024, Pietermaritzburg (South Africa) ranked first in the crime index among African cities, with a rating of roughly ** index points. The six most dangerous areas on the continent were South African cities. The index estimates the overall level of crime in a specific territory. According to the score, crime levels are classified as very high (over 80), high (60-80), moderate (40-60), low (20-40), and very low (below 20). South Africa’s crime situation According to the crime index ranking, ************ was the most dangerous country in Africa in 2023, followed by ***************** and ******. Murder and organized crime are particularly widespread in South Africa. In 2023, the country had one of the highest murder rates globally, registering around ** homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Moreover, South Africa’s crime scene is also characterized by the presence of organized criminal activities, for which the country ranked third in Africa. Reflecting these high levels of crime, a survey conducted in 2023 showed that around ** percent of South Africans were worried about crime and violence in the country. Crime risks in Africa The African continent hosts some of the most dangerous places worldwide. In 2023, *********** and the ******************************** were the least peaceful countries in Africa, according to the Global Peace Index. Worldwide, they ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, behind Afghanistan, Yemen, and Syria. Terrorism is a leading type of crime perpetrated in Africa. Home to Boko Aram, Nigeria is among the countries with the highest number of terrorism-related deaths globally. Furthermore, Burkina Faso had the highest number of fatalities in the world. Human trafficking is also widespread, predominantly in West Africa. The most common forms of exploitation of victims of trafficking in persons are forced labor and sexual exploitation.