Like all social phenomena, security and insecurity and the forces that promote or undermine them have been in a constant state of flux. And while signs of security threats have always been evident in the African setting, like all other regions, the events of 9/11 have taken the issues to the front burner of global political action and debate. And because of the extensive reach of global terrorism, widely considered the single most important manifestation of threat to security across the world, concerns about the issues of security have taken a global character. This paper conceives security threat broadly as any action/inaction that threatens the lives and properties of a people, or a particular social order to which a people is committed. This may be overtly conflictual, or non-conflictual; internally- or externally-propelled; overt and definitive; or structural and benign. This paper promotes a re-conceptualization of the nature of security threats faced by African States, making an attempt to distinguish such from the more orthodox conceptualization of security threats, and thus underscores the changing face of security threats in Africa. It concludes that a wholesale focus on human security, an overhauling of the prevailing structures of governance, and the enhancement of State capacity even in the context of extant economic reform have become imperative for the building and sustenance of real security in Africa.