In many ways, this has been Nigeria's week. Mostly as a result of the news that Goodluck Jonathan disolved the cabinet on Wednesday. I blogged about it then (read it here), and since there have been more signs that it may be positive news - for example the response from the markets. The news have generated plent of comments, for today's editorial on The Guardian to the unavoidable and unnecessary advice given by Col. Muammar al Gaddafi: "split Nigeria in two" (so much for his vision of a United States of Africa!) - which has been responded by Nigeria recalling its ambassador to Libya.
For some background information of Nigeria's current predicament you can read this Global Voices' article on the Enough is Enough movement - and their protest on Tuesday; and this Sahel Blog entry on a conference on Nigeria and Islamic Extremism.
Zuma's been to Zimbebwe this week, where he's engaged in talkes with both ZANU-PF and MDC officials and tried to resolve the stalemate paralysing the country's government. Although Zuma called for a free and fair election, he knows this is not likely to happen- and that any alection may lead to further violence if ZANU's grip on security forces continues. The most positive outcome of the talks than is that Zuma has met not only top-officials, but he's made his round of conversations wider - including even Roy Bennet, the MD member standing trial accused of "terrorism". Furthermore, all parties in government agreed to solve outstanding issues and reprting back to Zuma before the end of the month.
- The Pan African Media Conference has taken place in Nairobi yesterday and today. There has been a brilliant coverage by Tweeps. If you want to have a look ot what's been said follow the #AfMediaConf topic.
- World Bank sees Africa economies rebounding in 2010 (via Loomnie)
- Does the ongoing debate about American military support for Somalia’s government signal a small but significant step toward non-interventionism among US elites? asks Sahel Blog
- Congo Siasa reminds us that "these are important days in the future of the Congo.Two important decisions are being taken by the international community: debt relief and the future of the peacekeeping mission."
- Fela! comes closer - I can only share NaijaBlog's enthusiasm.
- Spanish blog "Héroes de Ébano" shares this classic and touching video:
During the past days, a number of different news and blog posts led me to think hard about e-waste, how it is generated, treated and dumped around the world, and how this relates not only to environmental issues, but algo to the global economy. First, it was this post at Subsaharska, in which Miquel argued that e-waste
"is a big problem and it's only going to get bigger. It's one of the things that makes me truly cringe about the information age in that the leftover components are all getting dumped in countries such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa. People have few ways to fight back other than to deal with what is dumped upon their shores. And when they do fight back, suddenly, they're called pirates...For anyone who thinks that they need the latest iPod/iPhone, or laptop marvel, they should come and stay for awhile in rural areas in Africa where the trash is burned daily and you're breathing in an ungodly amount of things you'd rather not know about (mainly damnable petrochemicals.) For me, in a few months, I won't breath this anymore, but for the people here, it's constantly in the air and it's only growing more. Think the next time you buy an electronics item, stop and think if you really and truly need it."
Not only e-waste, but numerous other types of waste (often of the most dangerous ones - such as nuclear waste, toxic substances, deathly chemicals...) end up being dumped on the poorest areas of the globe. In some cases, this is done with the encouragement of the country's government, who expects to benefit from their "comparative advantage" in the global economy by providing the services at a very low cost - needsless to say the real costs being born by the workers on these areas, who work in awful conditions and without the necessary safety requirements. One of the industries where this is most visible (and horribly spectacular) is the ship-breaking on Indian and Bangldeshi beaches (See this blog entry and this El Pais article (Spanish) .
Photo from the El Pais article
In other cases, toxical waste is disposed in more shady deals, sometimes completely illegally ones. For example, the N'drangheta (Calabrian version of the Sicilian mafia) has recently been found to have made a big business by getting rid of nuclear way in "un-ortodox" ways, such as sinking boats on the Mediterranean sea, or shipping the waste to Somalia, where it was buried after bribing local politicians. Also it was recently revealed that, the British company Trafigura, was found guilty of dumping
"400 tonnes of toxic waste from the cargo vessel Probo Koala...at the West African port of Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast. The waste was loaded on to trucks and dumped around the city.Over the following weeks, thousands of residents found themselves choking and coughing, some vomiting. At least 10 are said to have died and many still bare the scars". Trafigura finally agreed to a $45m (£30m) payout as compensation, which those affected began receiving earlier this month. I blogged about this at the time (here, in Spanish), and you can read the full story here.
Growing amounts of e-waste are fast becoming ones of the most pressing and dangerous type of waste; often this is just dumped on the landfills of the poores countries. For example, see this series of photographs by Andrew McConnell on the Agbogbloshie suburb in Ghana's capital, Accra, which has become a dumping ground for hundreds of tons of e-waste from Europe and the US (via Subsaharska too). As McConnel notes, this waste often enters these countries thanks to unscrupulous trades who label the goods as second-hand goods, or charity donations. This opens another aspect of the debate: the import of used and second-hand goods into African countries. Recently, it was reported, here, that Uganda was
"reconsidering its ban on the importation of used electronics following complaints from traders and other stakeholders over the indiscriminate nature of the policy...(Prefering instead) a more targeted approach to the implementation of the ban to focus on technology that is harmful to the environment instead of uniform application to all secondhand goods".This was a similar story as the one coming from Pakistan, a country where e-waste is a serious threas, and whose country is considering a ban on the import of used computers. You can read here a nice article debating how, as well as disadvantages, importing second-hand computers can make these more affordable and therefore available to more people. My opinion here is that prevention is better than cure, and if importing used computers is going to becoming a back-door for dumping of e-waste, then a ban should be adopted.
Photo Andrew McConnell
Furthermore, as this BBC "Have Your Say" debate suggests, there are indeed arguments for banning not only electronics but also other type of second-hand and charity goods (such as clothes) which harm local production. Again, here I support the protection of local industries, and a ban od second-hand cloths will be a positive development - although unfortunately here not sufficient for saving local textile industries, whose biggest competitor is cheap Chinese products (and as you can imagine, African countries would not risk losing Chinese investments and support by rising their import duties on Chinese goods...). I think perhaps the answer for textile producers and designers in Africa is to turn their already beautiful, good quality pieces into fashionable products which can can be sold (and priced) as luxury items - something for which they need only a good branding and marketing campaign...
An example of luxury goods made using the appeal of African textiles, done however by an Italian company, Moroso (More at Nosideup)
I think both e-waste and the textile industry's precarious situation are simply different faces of the key debate - the global economy and Africa's integration into it. The general debate on import bans and on the textile industry, is part of a larger and a well-known outcome of the development and globalisation debates (dating back at least to the 1960s and some African countries' attempts at import substitution industrialization (ISI)) E-waste is perhaps, a more clear product of globalisation, and how Africa is integrated into the global economy at present. Globalisation has facilitated the flow of information, goods and capital (much more than people, who remain still tied to their countries, especially if you come for a poor country), resulting often in positive outcomes. Most often however, the results have been largely negative - not only growing disparity between rich and poor, but also the appearance of gray zones. On the words of the anthropologist Carolyn R. Nordstrom, the global economy has meant increasing flows, but also increasing "fractures". These fractures can be physical spaces - such as war-zones and "failed states" like Somalia - but also all kinds of activities, from clearly illegal ones - terrorism, kidnappings and drug trading - to the gray activities of multinational corporations - pharmaceuticals, arms and oil producers of course, but also companies responsible for what Nordstrom labels "blood-tomatoes" (grown in war zones), the mobile phone industry's thirst for coltan (which as Mike in Mo'dernity, Mo'problem notes, cannot be stopped simply by consumer-power), and many others.
And it is not only in producing goods that the "fractures" of the global economy become relevant, but also - as e-waste shows - in the disposal of it. On this there is, as Miquel says, a certain degree to which individuals can contribute, by not going for the latest technology craze without thinking the implications through. Ultimately however, the inmoral and illegal disposal of dangerous waste is result of the "fractures" on the global economy, much like the competition faced by the African textile industry is a result of its "flows". In order for these problems - symptoms - to be solved, their root cause - the uneven global economy - must be addressed; if not, all we'll do, will be mere gap-filling.
Today, March 8th, as you probably know, is International Women's Day . It is a day to remember both the importance of women in all spheres of society and life, and the unequal situation in which many women worldwide findthemselves; and also to demand an improvement of this situation . Women suffer not only the general problems of society (those that affect men too), but those specific to women - health and sexuality issues, submission to patriarchy, gender violence, lack of recognition of their work - both related to the work done for the maintenance of the family and home, as to the professional sphere - reflected in a lower pay to that of men -, an unequal representation in public institutions, and so on.
As it might be expected, in many parts of Africa where the quality of life and the situation of a large proportion of the population leaves much to be desired, this is even more uneven and often these deficiencies endanger the lives of many women and girls. I have here neither the space nor the knowledge to give an overview here of this situation, or to comment about it. But you can see the latest United Nations report on "Progress of the world's women, 2008/2009 ", which provides detailed information about this.
I can note on this post however, that although in many African countries - and other less developed countries - the status of women is very precarious, we should not feel that here in Europe everything is on the right path. Some African countries in fact may serve as an example to us, for example the well-known case of Rwanda, the country with the lagest percentage of women parliamentarians worldwide - 56%. And where, at present, political tensions see a woman, Victoire Ingabire, as directly criticising some of the shortcomings of Kagame's government. This is clearly, not the only case, for there are many African women in many fields, that have emerged as symbols of the overcoming barriers and have become true role role-models for African women - and for those in the rest of the world.
Of all these, I will highlight just one, not because her story is more exemplary than all the oters, but because this woman currently holds one of the most important and symbolic positions in the world of politics and international relations - a world dominated by men, and my professional bias ;). I am talking about the vice-secretary of the United Nations, the Tanzanian Asha-Rose Migiro , who has been in office since February 2007. A lawyer and univerity professor, educated in Germany and Tanzania, Asha-Rose Migiro was previously Minister of Community Development, Gender and Children's Affairs (2000-2006) and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (2006-2007) (here you can see her biography). Since her appointment Dr. Migiro has worked to improve the situation of women, for instance by focusing efforts on campaigns against violence against women. Precisely in a recent intervention , Dr Migiro said that “Violence is the most blatant manifestation of discrimination against women, but it is not the only one. Injustice and inequality persist in developing and developed countries and in all regions.” . She also stated that "while we have seen advances in the past 15 years, we have not seen enough... More and more people now understand that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is not just a goal in itself, but a key to sustainable development, economic growth, and peace and security".
Vice-secretary of the United Nations, Asha-Rose Migiro
As those of you who regularly read this blog will know, I tend to blog mostly about African politics and current affairs, and less often about related issues such as inmigration, racism and discourses and perspectives about Africa - although I have done sometimes. And I will do today. The topic furthermore, is not in the news, but I just stopped to to think about it recently, and I think it is worth sharing it. I am talking about Conguitos. To those not familiar with Spain, and more specifically Spanish sweets, this will sound totally foreign. But all those of you who come from, or have visited Spain will know what I am talking about.
Conguitos are the Spanish version of M&Ms - that is chocolate-covered peanut snack. What is there to blog about you may ask? What is there to blog about furthermore, on a blog that deals with African politics? Well, as you have probably seen, the name Conguito bears an important resemblance to the name Congo - hinting at where the inspiration for the sweets came from. But the most revealing fact is the picture drawn at the front of each packet - the trademark of Conguitos - and one that every Spanish kid will immediately recognise it. Although the picture has evolved through the years, the character originally depicted was, undoubtedly, that of a black person, and judging by the name, probably a Congolese. These are some of the logos Conguitos has had over time:
Note how the spear is gone!
White chocolate (albino?) version
These pictures clearly portray and image of Africa and Africans, which is not suitable for the present day. This is why a few years back, María Frías, a university professor at the University of A Coruña, who is a specialist in Afroamerican literature, called for the logo to be changed given the "racist message it conveys, insulting the thousands of African migrants living in Spain (...) and which serves only to promote and perpetuate the negative estereoptypes associated with African people". At the time of these criticisms, in 2003, the creator of the image said that if he was to draw it nowadays, it would obviously be different, and at the time Conguitos were first produced - in the early 1960s, the Congo had just become independent and was therefore fashionable, so they went for a more "exotic" look. I wasn't aware of this controversy - I was not in Spain at the time - and I don't know if these criticisms voiced by Professor Frías may have made the manufacturer change the logo - given that the current one does not have some of the features which made it so clearly stereotypical and racist (e.g. the thick red lips), and make it a more abstract (weird?) figure.
Current conguito logo
In any case I just thought it would be interesting to share these thoughts for I think reveal something about Spanish attitude to Africa and Africans. What I found most interesting about all this, is that most people in Spain do not even stop for a second to think about the message Conguitos gives. It is just there, it has always been, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is only when someone tries to tell to people from other places (generally from countries more concerned with political correction, and where issues of racism have been there for longer) that one realises how awkward, out of date, and even plain racist these image are (this is what happen to my girlfriend when she tried to tell her British friends that these sweets were still on sale, not some Golliwog-like curiosity). Or, even more poignantly - as a friend told me, he experienced with two black friends came to visit him - when two black people enter a shop and ask for a packet of Conguitos. It is then,and only then, that the shop-keeper becomes aware of how inadequate the image on the packet is!
And, for your "entertainment"/ for its documentary value. I will leave you with a commercial for Conguitos - not a current one, but aired on the 70s, 80s? - which leaves no doubt regarding where Conguitos got their inspiration from.
- A few months back, I wrote about the two Norwegians sentenced to death on DRC (here - in Spanish though). I found the case to be extremely interesting and that it said a lot about the different discourses present in the relationship between Europe and Africa. At the time, I reflected on what this sentence told us about the Congolese. Now however, and thanks to this Bomastic Element entry, I have been able to get to know the Norwegian perspective on all this. I have read the full Anthropology Today article (thanks Hans ;) and I have to say it's well worth it. I found it particularly interesting - aside of learning the revealing fact that these two men founded the "Expatriate Club Stanleyville Prision", at the Kisangani central prison - how the perception of Africa in a country like Norway, remains much more sterotypical and prejudiced than in other countries where, historically the presence of Africa has been greater, even if simply because of the maintaining of African colonies.
- The three Spanish NGO members kidnapped in Mali, are expected to be freed tomorrow, according to a Mali government member. Sources claim this has been possible thanks to the payment of a $5 million ransom.
- This New York Times's article records this week's Sarkozy's visit to Rwanda and his recognition of "grave errors" during the 1994 genocide; which has been one on the main talking points on the blog/twittersphere. Also on Rwandan affairs, This is Africa reflects on "The Curious Case of Victorie Ingabire".
- Another talking point has been this Newsweek article on "How Africa is becoming the New Asia". Particularly interesting is that they point out that Africa's recent economic growth "is driven not by the sale of raw materials, like oil or diamonds, but by a burgeoning domestic market...The rapidly emerging African middle class could number as many as 300 million, out of a total population of 1 billion". What this article does not directly touch, is the political consequences of this growing middle class. Any political science student knows of the equation between a larger middle class and a growing democratisation. So, it will be interesting to know how this middle class growth plays out, especially on the current international context, where the simple models of liberal democracy are losing their shine. Will a new (Chinese?) model of non-democratic, but economically prosperous society become dominant? Or will the democracy potentially demanded by the middle class in Africa adopt a new, organic form?
- Sean Jacobs writes on Africa is a Country about the "conflict of interest" for David M. Crane, the former U.N. war crimes prosecutor for the Special Court in Sierra Leone, who three months ago offered legal services to Capt. Dadis Camara's junta in Guinea, including "a Power Point presentation on how to convert a repressive military force into a defender of the people that obeys the laws of armed conflict". The full story can be read at the Foreign Policy blog, here; and you can also see the Power Point presentation which indeed constitutes an "ultimate idiot's guide to being an African junta". However much Mr. Crane's company charged Camara for it, it appears to me as a rip-off!
- And finally, some music for a relaxed weekend. Ali Farka Toure's last ever recordings; in this occasion together with Toumani Diabaté. Incredibly beautiful music from two of Africa's greatest musicians.
Click here to listen to the album on Spotify
As I mentioned yesterday, last Saturday I had the opportunity to visit ARCO in Madrid. It was my first time there and the experience was quite overwhelming, not only because of the size of the exhibition - huge, impossible to see calmly on just one day - but for the fact that most of the show is organized by galleries and not by artist or theme, which makes you having to see the work of artists scattered in different places.
However, on the plus side, it needs to be noted that the African presence in ARCO was remarkable. In the most commercial part of the show for example, you could see the work both of African such as the Camerooniena Barthélémy Toguo , and of artists, such as the American photographer Phyllis Galembo , concerned with various aspects of African art and culture.
Barthélémy Toguo, 208 x 130 cm, 2005 (Photo ArtFacts )
Moreover, several Solo Projects (SP) within the fair, this is the gallery spaces devoted to one artist, were occupied by galleries and/or African artists. Here, for example, you could see the work of famous artists such as Romuald Hazoumé and his masks/portraits made of bottles of gasoline (here you can see an interview with the artist) or the great Chéri Samba .
Chéri Samba, Le partage du gros poisson, Acryl on Canvas 2001. 81 x 101 cm This painting was at ARCO - and I was tempted to ask about its price ;)
Also Casa Africa had facilitated the presence of two South African galleries, Afronova (Johannesburg) and Michael Stevenson ( Cape Town), who devoted their space Ghanaian artist Godfried Donkor and South African Nicholas Hlobo respectively.
Godfried Donkor, Browning madonna, Mixed media collage on paper, 2006
The most important representation of African artists, however, was within Arte inVisible (inVisible Art), organized by the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation and Development (AECID). This fifth edition of Arte inVisible, curated by Elvira Dyangani Ose , was vertebrated around the theme of the African city. The main part of Arte inVisible was undoubtedly the exhibition which showed the work of nine artists - Tiago Borges da Silva (Luanda, Angola, 1973); Ramon Esono (Nkoa-Nen Yebekuan, Mikomeseng Kie-Ntem, Equatorial Guinea, 1977); Donna Kukama (Mafikeng, South Africa, 1981), Maha Maamoun (Los Angeles, USA 1972), Michèle Magema (Kinshasa, DRC, 1977), Aïda Muluneh (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1974); Emeka Ogboh (Enugu, Nigeria, 1977), Michael Tsegaye (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1974); Billie Zangewa (Blantyre, Malawi, 1973) - all of whom reflected on the city, employing various techniques, from a video installation, the "soundscape", comics and photography. Here you can see the biography and work of individual artists. I had also the chance to chat with two of these artists (Billie and Ramon) and I hope to publish these interviews in the next issue of the journal Africaneando.
Michael Tsegaye, Untitled, Printing on paper
Besides the exhibition, Arte inVisible had created a documentation center where it was possible to consult various documents produced by groups, platforms and art centers that explore the need to connect art with life (and politics) in cities. The groups invited on this occasion were: L'Appartament 22 (Morocco); Kwani Trust (Kenya); ArtBakery (Cameroon), Center for Contemporary Art of East Africa (Kenya); DESTA For Africa (Ethiopia); Kër Thiossane (Senegal ) MUV'ART (Mozambique) and Kabako Studios (DRC). More information about these initiatives and links to their websites by clicking here.
The last part of the Arte inVisible program was its participation at the VIII International Forum of Contemporary Art Experts, and which, under the title "Cities we own, cities we belong to", various artists, writers, filmmakers shared their visions and ideas about the practices, spaces and artistic initiatives that are taking place in the continent (More here). On Saturday, for example, I attended lectures by Edgar Pieterse, and Fasil Giorghis, in addition to a very interesting round table attended by Jimmy Ngonga, Marion Louisgrand, Ntone Edjabe, Goddy Leye and Aïda Muluneh (pictured below, from left to right).
The visit to ARCO was a great opportunity to see first hand the work of these artists and listen to contemporary art experts to explain the new initiatives taking place in various parts of Africa and how they can change the relationship between people and cities in which they live.
During the past week I'veve had the opportunity to attend various events - both here in Barcelona, and Madrid - in which various African artists played a central role. Last Saturday I attended ARCO - the most important Contemporary Art Fair in Spain, held in Madrid - where there was a remarkable African presence, especially around the project Arte InVisible. And yesterday evening I was at the Altaïr bookshop Forum , where two documentaries related to the African community in Barcelona were projected. I will begin by commenting on this last event, and tomorrow will dedicate a post to my visit to ARCO.
Yesterday then, as part of the "Cicle de documentals solidaris"/ Solidary documentary cycle thet screened two documentaries at the Altaïr bookstore: “Expressions de l’Àfrica negra a Barcelona” by Sara Losa and Tania Adam, and “Africans en ruta” by Núria Tomàs and Hannah. This last documentary is a project that came as part of Nuria and Hannah's field-work on their investigation of intercontinental migration between West Africa and Europe. It is filmed, in addition to Barcelona, in Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso between 2008 and 2009, and in it migrants from Ghana and Senegal tell us how was their trip and how is their experience in Spain. The most interesting part of the documentary, to me, are the reflections - expressed in an almost perfect Catalan - of the Senegalese Rashid Abukadar (I think it is him), about the lack of help they migrants receive from NGOs and his irony regarding "the crisis". Here you can see the full documentary and his reflections are from the minute 9:35, and until 12:40.
Africans en ruta. Reflexions sobre l'emigració. from Africans en ruta on Vimeo.
The second documentary, “Expressions de l’Àfrica negra a Barcelona” by Sara Losa and Tania Adam is an initiative of the CEA - African Studies Center in Barcelona with the support of the Institut de Cultura de Barcelona and was premiered last March . In their website you can find much more information about the project and future projections. In this very interesting documentary, the directors interviewed 12 African artists based in Barcelona: Makha Diop, painter -Senegal; Agnès Agbotón, writer and storyteller- Benin; Xumo, Multi-disciplinary artist – Cameroon; Edith Mbella, gallerist and curator – Cameroon; Childo Tomás, Music and composer – Mozambique; Inongo Vi-Makome, theatre writer and producer - Cameroon; Nino Galissa, Music and composer – Guinea Bissau; Cheika, Music and composer– Senegal; Mû, Music and composer– Guinea Bissau; Rui Saldanha, theatre director – Guinea Bissau; Anna Nbemgue, dancer – Senegal.
In these interviews they all talk about what it means for them to be African artists in Spain, the difficulties they face, how African music is perceived in Spain ( "Where are the drums??"). This is a great documentary that shows a different picture of African immigration, an image that does not respond to the topics of immigrants living in poor conditions and working in blue collar jobs. For me however, the most interesting pare was the allegations made that thare is a strong discrepancy between the image they want to sell of Barcelona as a cosmopolitan city, full of culture; and lack of support which artists on the groung suffer. Here you can see a snippet of the documentary.
For those interested, tonight at 22:00 the radio programme Tots x Tots of ComRadio (91.0 FM) will broadcast a summary of the conversation held with the directors after the screenings.
Anniversaries are time to look back and take stock of the good, the bad and the ugly of the last year. So, Obama's one year in charge of the US government has brought a number of assessments regarding his tenure, and the unrealistic expectations placed on him. Regarding his foerign policy, and more precisely, his Africa foreign policy, a number of assessments have been made. I have pointed before that, as it was expected, there has been no Obama-effect magically bringing stability and democracy to Africa (here). More insightfully, and perhaps more worryingly, different media have noted that one year on, it seems that "President Obama has decided to follow the path marked out for Africa by the Clinton and Bush administrations" (Daniel Volman in Pambazuka News). Although different authors have stressed various reasons for this - as we will see below - there is an agreement on the most important tools used by the US in its foreign policy towards Africa.
The most important of these tools, acting as an umbrella for more specific operations, is the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). AFRICOM's birth in 2007, was a significan policy change from the late 1990s, when Africa was seen as nearly irrelevant. AFRICOM is part of the Department of Defence (DOD), something which endows it with huge resources (the Pentagon controls 20% of all aid to Africa), but also represents an "awkward alliance between defence and development" (Africa Confidential Vol. 53, Nº3, 5 Feb. 2010). Since the announcement of its creation AFRICOM has been controversial, with African countries rejecting that AFRICOM would be based in Africa, and commentators labelling as a new imperialist tool. At present AFRICOM, under the command of General William "Kip" Ward, is based in Stuttgart (Germany) and has an allocated budget for 2010 of $278m (up from the $75m in 2008) (AC 53,3; Volman).
Most of AFRICOM work consist of "sustained security engagement", this is military-to-military programmes (training, equipment...), with ocasional direct action - for example in Uganda, or Mali. The total budget for this security assistance to the whole of Africa in 2007-08 was about $600m (AC 53,3). But AFRICOM also supports humanitarian relief efforts and HIV/AIDS programmes. Sometimes these roles overlap - for example on the the African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance programme (ACOTA) training of peacekeepers, or AFRICOM's work with the Bureau of African Affairs to overhaul military and civil security in DRC, Liberia, Somalia and South Sudan - leading to the acusation that the US is militarising aid to Africa (AC 53,3).
The most visible AFRICOM operations and involvement are those in the Horn of Africa - especially since the US' support for the December 2006 Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia. Since then, the CJTF-HOA (with an expected $60m budget in 2010 (Volman)) has been involved in the Horn, not only at its 500-acre base at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, and its naval base in Manda Bay (Kenya), bur also in other "cooperative security locations". Another sign of the growing importance of this region for US foreign policy is the creation of the State Department’s East Africa Regional Security Initiative (EARSI). The EARSI is a smaller version of the Operation Enduring Freedom - Trans-Sahara (OEF-TS), the "number three worlwide war on terrorism plan" after Iraq and Afghanistan (AC 53,3).
Burundi peacekeepers, trained as part of the ACOTA programme, prepare for next rotation to Somalia - Foto US Army
It seems then, that although the rhetoric is no longer there, the war-on-terror strategy continues to be a central piece for US foreign policy under President Obama. According to Daniel Volman, "Obama genuinely believes in the strategy of the global war on terrorism and thinks that Africa must be a central battlefield in America’s military campaign against al Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups". And if the US' and AFRICOM's chief priority is counterterrorism, then the Sahel region is, without a doubt the "up-and-coming" region of concern. The reason for concern is the threat of radical islamist groups, such as “Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” (AQIM), which requires more intense and direct involvement by the US in countries like Mauritania, Niger and especially Mali (as blogged before, here).
But for Volman, Obama's belief on the war-on-terror, and the need to "deal with the threat posed by al Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups", is not the only reason for his continued use of "military force" in West Africa. Another reason is the need "to ensure that America can satisfy its continuing addiction to oil", as well as minimise US dependency on "unstable countries ruled by repressive, undemocratic regimes". The importance of oil and other strategic interests in Africa, has led some to conclude (in my opinion an exaggerated conclusion) that growing US involvement in Africa constitutes a "new imperialism in Africa" - for example, Michael Schmidt in a 2006 article reprinted by Pambazuka last week).
If we then accept that the US' main concern in Africa is counterterrorism, but that other strategic and energetic considerations play also an important role, then we must note how, slowly but surely, Nigeria appears to have placed itself at the centre of numerous US concerns, and thus has gained an extreordinry importance for US foreign policy. There is no need to repeat here how important Nigeria is for the stability of West Africa, and its influence on the whole of the continent, nor its strategic value for the US energy requirement, with 10% of US oil imports coming from this country. For the past few years, oil extraction however, has been by the instability of the Niger Delta. During her visit to Nigeria last August, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked what the US government intended to do to help the Nigerian government establish stability and security in the Niger Delta. Her answer was the "(Nigerian) defense minister...had some very specific suggestions...which we think are very promising, to try to bring peace and stability to the Niger Delta. We will be following up on those...we will through our joint efforts...determine what Nigeria would want from us for help". In fact, some of AFRICOM's actions to secure maritime security, have not been limited to the Horn and Somali pirates. Thus, the Africa Partnership Station, launched in November 2007, has been carrying out "a rolling 5-6 month tour of the Gulf of Guinea by warships with about 400 crew", to prevent both pirate attacks and oil bunkering (AC 53,3). To these activities, ones needs to add the growing concern with drug smuggling accross West Africa and the fact that the security situation in the Gulf appears to be worsening.
USS NASHVILLE ARRIVES IN SEKONDI AS PART OF AFRICA PARTNERSHIP STATION 2009 Foto US Embasy- Ghana
If last summer the US' Secretary of State could be hinting at a possible collaboration between Nigeria and the US to deal with these matters of strategic concern, then this need for close co-operation is more than likely to have increased following the failed Christmas Day bombing of an airplane in Detroir by the Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Furthermore, this whole episode took place among a serious leadership crisis - or rather power-vacuum - in Nigeria which still continues given President Yar'Adua's continued absence form the country for over two months (although it may be coming to an end as Nigeria's National Assembly has just passed a motion demanding Yar'Adua to hand over power to his deputy) . Initially the bomb plot, and no doubt the lack of leadership from Nigeria, moved the US to list the country on the terror watch-list - although, according to some, there are signs that the country will be de-listed.
This growing concern has even led an "intelligence oficial in AFRICOM" to affirm "that Northern Nigeria could become like Western Pakistan" (AC 53,3), which in my mind leads to the follow-up question: Could Nigeria be the next Pakistan? I am totally ignorant about the specifics of US foreign policy decision-making or about the details of US-Nigeria collaboration, but given the growing strategic weight of Nigeria on both the energetic and counterterrorism fields, could this country - like Pakistan - become a (borrowing a fashionable economic term): a country "too-big-to-fail", which will require closer attention, and intervention from the US?
I find this an extremely interesting question, and I would welcome more informed comments and feedback of whether this possibility is feasible, or whether I am way off the mark, and the US has more than enough commitments in the Horn and the Sahel?
