Abstract
When the police seized cocaine worth 15% of the country's annual income, two explanations emerged, either Africa is one of the poorest in the world or it has an alarming drug-trafficking problem. In the case of Guinea-Bissau, both explanations are valid. The whole of West Africa is becoming a new drug trafficking route for Latin-American drug traffickers trying to meet an ever-growing demand of cocaine coming from Europe. The costs of this traffic are very high for the population and threaten people's health as well as socio-economic development, democratization and the peace-building processes. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director, Antonio Maria Costa, called for the international community, meaning the United Nations (UN), to help tackle this problem by providing 'financial and technical assistance' to African countries. Throughout the study of Portuguese-speaking Guinea-Bissau, we will address the major threats implied by drug trafficking on Africa's development.
