Non-state actors and the status of Muslim minorities in Africa: The case of Northern Cameroon (1990-2020)

The objective of this thesis is to fill the historiographical gaps on the role of religious non-state actors, specifically Muslim minorities, in the dynamics of transnational relations in sub-Saharan Africa. By showing the reconfiguration of the African international scene via the Islamic factor, the issue of the participation of these religious actors in social peace or the destabilization of society is studied over a period of thirty years (1990-2020) by taking the example of Northern Cameroon. Before understanding the historical context and the socio-political changes of the 1990s that affected these Muslim communities of the study, the historical background of the penetration of Islam on the continent was presented, the great empires Islam, the clash between Islam and European colonization and the independence of the States of sub-Saharan Africa having clearly defined certain Muslim communities in a minority situation in certain countries. Some aspects of this thesis have shown the conditions of these minorities inside the State of residence by insisting on their identity, their education, their perception of secularism, their organization in association and their importance in the national and international policy of the state. Furthermore, transnational religious mobilities show the permanence and changes in the relations of Muslim minorities studied through three levels of analysis which are the Lake Chad Basin Region, the West African Region and the continental level. Among the foreign Islamic non-state actors that most influence the situation of these minorities, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye occupy important places. With regard to research methods, the historical approach, and transdisciplinarity (Sociology, International Relations and Geopolitics) to collect and analyze data in libraries, specialized research centers and oral history field studies in many countries. All of these results make it possible to deduce the complex situation of Muslim minorities in sub-Saharan Africa who seek both to find an important place for themselves within the State and to cooperate with other Muslim communities to constitute the world umma.