For years, China has been playing its own part in a neo-colonial struggle for influence in Africa. Rather than seeking a military footprint on the continent as, for example, the US has done, China has been engaged in “chequebook diplomacy.”
The Secret Battle for resource rich Africa isn’t over yet, James Corbett writes. In fact, it’s just getting underway.
What The Hell is Happening in Africa?
By James Corbett
Six years ago, I wrote ‘The Secret Battle for Africa’. In that editorial, I noted the extent of US Special Forces penetration into Africa and examined the geopolitical reality underlying this covert invasion:
Even a cursory review of the evidence shows that one important reason the US is deploying so many commandos to Africa in the first place is precisely to counter Chinese interests on the continent.
And, as I pointed out at the time, China was playing its own part in this neo-colonial struggle for influence in Africa. Rather than seeking a military footprint on the continent, however, China has been engaged in “chequebook diplomacy,” reinvesting its capital from the economic boom of recent decades in infrastructure projects and other Belt and Road initiatives in Africa.
Well, here we are six years later. How has this new scramble for influence on the African continent played out so far? And where will it go from here?
Today, let’s examine some of the key battlegrounds in the Secret Battle for Africa.
f you did read my article on ‘The Secret Battle for Africa’ six years ago (or if you just re-read it now), you’ll recall that the launching point for that investigation was an October 2017 article revealing that three US Army Special Forces in Niger had been killed “while on a routine patrol with troops they were training from the West African nation.” The attack was the largest loss of American lives during combat in Africa since the infamous “Black Hawk Down” mission in Somalia in 1993 and served as a wake-up call to Americans who hadn’t even realised that there are US Special Forces operating in Africa.
Why, yes, Mabel, there are US Special Forces in Africa. Thousands of them!
The failed Niger mission led to a public spectacle of Pentagon hand-wringing, including an internal investigation into the incident and a vague non-promise to maybe perhaps begin a drawdown in commandos in Africa at some point in the unspecified future.
So, how well did that whole “we’ll think about withdrawing at some point in the future” idea work out? Not very!
Specifically, the issue of the US military presence in Africa shot back to public attention last year when a Nigerien military junta overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, charging him with “high treason.” As was openly reported at the time, the reason the US was hesitant to officially declare the overthrow a coup d’état was because it was unclear how such a declaration would affect America’s military presence in the country.
As it turns out, those fears were well-founded. The US did end up officially declaring the takeover of Niger a coup d’état last October, and the new military government formally revoked its military agreement with the US in March.
The US eventually, and reluctantly, agreed to withdraw from the country, but even as late as 25 April, US military officials were signalling that there was no final decision on the when, if or how of such a withdrawal.