Of The Establishment Of Military Bases And Investment, Is Africa Safe?

The suffering of the African people today is because of the theft of our resources by our erstwhile colonisers under colonialism and today after the erstwhile colonial powers have conceded independence to African nations they now loot resources through their African puppet governments. As Karl Marx described it, “the turning of Africa into a commercial warren for the hunting of black skins” was one of the chief sources of “primitive accumulation” that “signaled the rosy dawn of the era of capitalist production.”

In many instances we see colonial governments like France still compelling colonized countries to pay tax to them. This is neo colonialism when the comprador African bourgeois governments do the bidding for global superpowers. In South Africa the ANC government is still paying the apartheid debt and in Zimbabwe the government inherited the debt from the colonial white settler regime .Why are these countries paying for the debts which accrued from loans which used to fund the oppressive and reactionary operations against Blacks by these racist former governments. The problem is that the majority of African citizens are not privy or have a clue as to what the terms and conditions of the agreements which ushers independence for most of the African governments. .

Most Africans are not even privy to the conditions agreed upon when deals are signed with the so called investors .Africans must be worried about the ballooning debt with the Chinese government and our ability to repay given that our economies are on a down ward spiral perennially .In Zambia there are allegations of a debt default by the government and the Chinese have taken over a tax payer owned entity (airport) as a result. They are also allegations that the Chinese have been drafted in the Zambian police.

The Chinese borrow you money so that you can pay one of their companies to build your project .They bring their own shovels , equipment and labour and at the end , zero benefit to the poor and the working class .All the profits are siphoned to China for the benefit of their supersonic economy . It’s a matter of time before China brings its religion, spirituality, language and sperm into the African continent. Are Africans prepared for another God to be introduced to the continent?

Africa needs unity and greater regional integration and a profound focus on domestic manufacturing mostly agricultural machinery and goods for domestic consumption which would be a paradigm shift from the old colonial pattern of exporting raw resources and importing food, patterns that hugely benefited the former imperial powers .Forty percent of the continent’s countries are now at high risk of debt distress. Africa is the only continent which doesn’t produce a complete product for export.

British is the biggest investor in Africa ahead of many European countries after the USA .British economic policy encourages exports to Africa and this has economically benefited the British economy rather than African nations .Africa governments have long been guilty of treason by selling out the interests of the people to foreign nations or corporations .They have betrayed their fiduciary responsibility and have sold the strategic interests of African counties to foreign interests.

The United States has a long history of dominating international economic institutions and has been able to use that to control other governments and enrich its industries. At present the US is waging an economic world war targeting much of the world economy including allies who refuse to comply with US mandate. It is imposing tariffs on steel on its global competitor China.

US tools of economic domination are failing and causing the country to be isolated as the rest of the world moves in a multi polar direction .Countries are cutting the US out of their markets and building independence from US dollar domination.

United States still flexes its influential power in Africa but it is fast losing ground to China.US for a long time has invested billions of dollars in aid, health , development projects , cultural and educational programmes but it has exploited Africa’s rich natural resources to meet the needs of its industry.

A new entrant into Africa is Russia .Russia is strengthening its economic and political ties with Africa. The value of Russian trade with African countries rose from $3.4 billion in 2015 to $14.5 billion in 2016 and the Kremlin is actively cooperating with African countries like Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Sudan Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Namibia. The Southern African nations visited by Russia have huge natural resources like oil, uranium, copper, gold and cobalt.

During the cold war, Moscow believed that decolonization agenda on the continent provided an opportunity to lure and bring independent states under the Soviet influence. The Soviets incursion clashed with western attempts to retain influence in its colonies, inflicting devastation and misery on the continent caused by proxy wars. Russia just like China have no colonial past in Africa, they all supported Africa’s liberation struggle in the mid-20^th century.

Protracted civil wars in Ethiopia (1974 – 1991) and Angola (1975 -2002) claimed millions of lives .In its strong desire to win the battle for Africa, Moscow sacrificed a lot of resources but the efforts came to naught. The collapse of the USSR in 1991 forced Kremlin to withdraw from the continent .It only returned in 2005 when there was a significant rise in Russian investment in Africa. This time however, the Kremlin strategy had no ideological and political component.

France recently flexed its muscles in West Africa by granting millions of Euros in aid to Gambia amid fears of regional instability and took aim at Russia over its growing presence in the Central African Republic. The $56.98 million aid package includes budgetary support, drinking water and agricultural projects .France is attempting to broaden its influence in Africa and feels threatened by Russian presence in the West African region. France has a military presence in Central African Republic, mainly because of the United Nations peace keeping mission. France has also established a military base in Djibouti and it hosts troops from Germany and Spain.

The country announced to give the Central African Republic aid of 24 million Euros and weapons .This package is for the payment of salaries and pensions arrears to develop regions near Cameroon and build bridges to open access to parts of the country.

In Zimbabwe, Russia is developing one of the world’s largest deposit of Platinum group metals. The Zimbabwean government is looking for $2.5 billion of credit to support the entirety of productive sectors, tourism, mining, industry, agriculture and manufacturing among others. Zimbabwe has signed mega deals with China for the construction of new Parliament building, Kariba South Hydro power station and Hwange thermal power station.

The USA is building a$200 million new embassy which is widely believed to be one of the biggest in Africa .What boggles the mind is that why this move first when Zimbabwe is still suffering from almost two decades of economic sanctions by USA. Why has the US chosen to ignore normalisation of relations first before embarking on the embassy project?

President Al – Bashir of Sudan is discussing with Russia on the establishment of military bases on the Red Sea coast with President Putin and his Defence Minister.

Ghana has recently upgraded its military cooperation with the United States by allowing the US to establish a military base in Ghana.Elesewhere the United States is investing more than $100 million to build a drone base in Niger, and the military already has a permanent drone base in Djibouti.

Is China billions in Africa smart money? .China is now the fastest growing economy and it has overtaken the US as Africa’s largest trading partner. The first incursion of China in Africa dates back to the 1960s, when Chairman Mao Zedong supported the liberation movements in Africa .The first China mega project was the Tazara railway line, stretching from the copper mines of Zambia to Dare salaam .They are plans to link it up with Malawi, Rwanda and Burundi which are landlocked countries.

Between 2000 – 2015 China has loaned a whopping $95.5 billion on Africa infrastructural development and power projects. The biggest question is, are the beneficiaries going to repay these loans? .In the event of failure to repay what will happen? Ethiopia got an electric railway from Addis Ababa to the port of its neighbor Djibouti .The project was funded by the Chinese bank at a tune of 2.5 billion pounds and it was built by the Chinese companies. Djibouti exchange for major investments, loans, a pipeline and two airports it allowed a US overseas military base on its soil. Chinese infrastructure projects stretch all the way to Angola and Nigeria, with ports planned along the coast from Dakar to Libreville and Lagos.

Angola has been granted US$42, 2 billion loan which is almost half of its annual GDP nationally. Chinese loans to Angola on infrastructural development are paid off with oil .Chinese domestic oil supply has been unable to meet its growing demand .What is worrisome is that Angolan oil production has now been on the decline.

To safeguard its access to cheap resources and extend its influence, China promised Africa US$60 billion at the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China – Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) .China’s growing economy has a huge appetite for energy and raw materials for its industry .This is bringing it into collision with its erstwhile colonisers in Africa who have gone on a spirited crescendo of anti-Chinese sentiment. Chinas investment in Congo is mainly in mining of copper and cobalt which is used in electronics that are primarily produced in China. Chinas emerging capitalist class eager to find even cheaper sources of labour than what they have in China .Long hours, low wages system besides the energy and commodity experts from Africa is what attracts China into Africa.

China is bent on having Africa in its pocket, to achieve this it must have control over Africa on its vast natural resources, army, land, waterways, and workforce. China has an insatiable and unbridled ambition to become world power ahead of the US and perhaps Russia. Chinas bilateral corporation with Africa has grown phenomenally and exponentially in the past forty years with trade leaping from 765 million to 170 billion a year .In May 2015, China Honpiao Group secured a mining and parts investment deal for the development of Guinea bauxite reserves, the largest in the world.

China claims to implement projects and provide infrastructure but these projects are dependent on deals made at the highest political levels .The promises of job creation have not been fulfilled .Further when Africans are hired local rules and regulations are often flouted and the Chinese get protection from their host governments leading at times to poor safety. Jobs are lost to Chinese employees who are ferried in project by project.

The growing Chinese presence in South Africa may have cost the country jobs from 2000 to 2011. President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa has received amounts up to $168 billion Rands in loans from China. In Nigeria the influx of low priced Chinese textile goods has caused 80% of Nigerian companies in the industry to close. China buys from Africa mainly natural resources, minerals and metals .African countries import primarily the finished products ranging from machinery and electrical goods to plastics and rubber.

A new scramble for Africa is unfolding and escalating .The main players are China, the E.U and the US. Indian, Brazil, Turkey, Iran, South Korea and the Gulf countries are also interested in increasing cooperation with Africa. These countries seek to expand their economies beyond oil and gas sectors.

As European global powers commemorate 100 years after the end of the World War 1, many of the factors that stared the world wars are so glaring, another world war 3 is looming and the battle ground is going to be in Africa .Superpowers are once again competing for influence in Africa. The United States is concerned about the threats to its hegemony on the African continent. United States is confronted with the resurgence of its old rivals in Europe and Asia and the emergency of a potential new challenger in the form of China. The colonialists are recruiting more Africans into their colonial armies in preparation of World War 3 .This will be a recolonizing war for Africa for the greatest reserve of resources on this planet in Africa by the major global powers.

Most importantly, the Africa masses and the African working class must rise up to defend Africa resources from the new scramble of Africa .Africa needs economic engagements but the engagements must be in the best interests of African development .South Africa the most industrialised nation on the continent has a high unemployment rate and the gap of inequalities is widening every day. For the rest of Africa the conditions are worse in the midst of plenty .Angola earned more than $30 billion last year from oil exports but according to the World Bank 70% of the population lives less than $2 a day. The US, Russia and China and many other foreign powers shall only be allowed to operate in Africa as long as this is beneficial to the continent .The establishment of AFRICOM bases under the guise of war on terror must be resisted by African governments and the African Union at all costs .Military bases undermine African sovereignty .It’s time for the continent to reclaim its sovereignty.

African sovereignty is under threat, African leaders seem to lack the much needed political will to counter these imperialistic maneuvers and protect the continent’s vital interests.

Mafa Kwanisai Mafa (Zimbabwe)

[email protected]