By Denis Korkodinov
The recent African tour by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testifies to the intention of American politicians to restructure relations between Washington and sub-Saharan Africa in order to block the activity of Russia and China in this region. At the same time, the White House administration aims to gain a foothold, primarily in Senegal, Angola and Ethiopia, which are of significant interest to Moscow and Beijing.
According to Washington, the countries of the Horn of Africa visited by Mike Pompeo clearly adhere to the policy of regional stability, which is due, first of all, to a fairly strong system of state power. In addition, China systematically develops this region, which causes serious concern on the part of the United States. For example, Beijing has committed to offset Angola’s external debt, which currently stands at around $ 25 billion. In exchange, Luanda will deliver oil to China for several decades, which puts Angola in direct economic dependence in front of Beijing.
As an alternative measure of support, Mike Pompeo suggested paying close attention to stimulating the economic development of Africa through American investment. The formal reason for this is the demographic forecast, according to which over the next 30 years the number of people on the African continent will increase by 2 times, which will create grounds for exacerbating the humanitarian crisis, in which the United States intends to play the role of the main and only “rescuer”.
Meanwhile, despite the visit of the US Secretary of State to African countries, Donald Trump has not yet shown great interest in developing the continent at the expense of American taxpayers. In this regard, Washington even decided to reduce the number of US troops in Africa in order to focus on strengthening its positions in the Middle East region. In addition, the President of the United States in 2018 called African countries “garbage,” which was a clear sign of the White House’s low motivation to develop the brown continent.
In turn, it is worth noting that since the formation of the US Armed Forces Command in Africa (AFRICOM) in 2008, the number of American troops on the continent has increased by almost 170 percent, amounting to 7,000 in 2019. At the same time, the number of military maneuvers organized by the Pentagon in Africa over the 11 years has increased by 1900 percent. In December 2019 alone, the United States conducted more than 36 major land operations on the African continent, which is almost 3 times more than was organized in the Middle East for the indicated period of time.
Based on this, the statements of Donald Trump about the “African garbage”, at least, indicate a desire to be misleading, since statistics show Washington’s great interest in Africa.
However, it is a mistake to say that AFRICOM plays a positive role aimed at ensuring stability and security in African countries. So, since 2012, the number of terrorist attacks in Africa over the past 22 years has increased by 960 percent, and the number of Islamic terrorist organizations is currently more than 24, while in 2010 there were 20 fewer organizations.
Thus, it is highly doubtful that Mike Pompeo, as a result of his African tour, can create favorable conditions for the development of the African continent. In any case, Washington’s interest in Africa is dictated solely in the light of the fact that Russia and China began to play a noticeable role there.
(The views expressed in this article belong only to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights).