This article considers the implications for Africa of an increasing US security focus on that continent, deriving particularly from US strategic interests in African oil. The author begins with an outline of the security-development nexus, relating it to US perceptions of the potential threat posed by the instability and underdevelopment of many African states. She then considers the characteristics of those states which influence US perceptions of a potential terrorist threat. The final section analyses the reality of such threats, the implications for African development of US counterterrorist measures and concludes that the Bush administration is attempting to link its war on terror and poverty relief measures to the promotion of neo-liberal economic policies.