A Kuwait-based charity that funded Al-Qaida worked with the Association for the Revival of Islamic Heritage and the Publication of the Arab Culture (ARPIECA) in Senegal, amid mounting concerns over terrorism in the country.

On November 12, 2018, Senegal’s president warned of the threat of terrorism to the Sahel region of Africa, months after the country’s judiciary convicted members of a terror cell that received training from Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and Boko Haram.

Media reporting on the trial noted that increased foreign funding for mosques and other Islamic centers in Senegal was driving Salafi and Wahhabi influence. ARPIECA, an NGO established in 1992, advertises that it cooperates with international charities.

In July 2018, ARPIECA conducted an anti-blindness campaign in Senegal’s capital, which was supervised by the Kuwait-based Revival of Islamic Heritage Society’s (RIHS) African Continent Committee. RIHS was sanctioned by the US and UN for providing financial support to Al-Qaida and its affiliates.