AFRICOM: Gulf of Guinea, area of special interest. What benefits to Africa?

Source; The Herald

AFRICOM is the abbreviated name of the United States Africa Command, created by President George W. Bush in February 2007, and headed by General William “Kip” ward.

The ostensible reason behind this new military structure is to bring together into one command
American military operations in Africa and seek to locate it at a strategic point on the African continent. With strength of between 500 and 700 personnel, the Americans say that it is relatively modest and discrete. The number will include civilians and humanitarians.

The Americans admit that AFRICOM will protect its sources of energy supply, but that that is not its main purpose. The main purpose remains the rationalization of the different American commands in the world.
The Americans also admit that AFRICOM can be instructed to undertake military operations against foreign aggressions and to come to the aid of its partners in difficulties.

Its critics think that behind this latter function is hidden so much that is suspicious.
The experience of America’s post 9-11 in the Middle East, the activities of the Americans based in Djibouti, America’s intervention in Somalia, the installation of a powerful intelligence radar in
Sao-Tome, negotiations for naval and air facilities with half a dozen African countries, from Mozambique to Mauritania, and the construction of new embassies in keeping with post 9-11 security norms, and other military activities of the US in Africa, have all combined to create suspicion that African countries are being dragged into America’s war against terrorism.

Add to this the necessity to protect the many big and small oil producers in the Gulf of Guinea, all
combined to point to The Pentagon (America’s ministry of defense). The need to create a single command based in Africa, which adds to the long list of existing commands that include the command in Europe EUCOM, in the Middle East CENTCOM and in The Pacific, PACOM is an idea that has met lukewarm reception.

The US therefore has every interest in establishing AFRICOM because it serves its true interest. It remains to know exactly in what ways Africa will benefit from AFRICOM. Analysts and critics of AFRICOM hardly see much gain for Africa in AFRICOM. No doubt there will be some financial gain for the country that will lodge the headquarters of AFRICOM, but that is practically all there is.

Americans, however, claim that the installation of AFRICOM in Africa will guarantee peace and stability for African countries. But against this argument, critics are of the view that AFRICOM will violate the sovereignty of African countries and their territorial integrity.
It will pry too much and collect a lot of intelligence that could be used against any country that goes against its own interest.

Furthermore, African countries deplore fact that AFRICOM was created unilaterally. That suggests that it was of no interest to Africa, but to harm it. Moreover, Africans are very much afraid that AFRICOM would attract AL-Qaeda terrorists to their countries rather than repel them. And it will drag Africa into America’s war of terrorism which Africa would rather stay out of.

African countries like South Africa that takes a militant stand in opposing AFRICOM has suggested that instead of basing AFRICOM in Africa let it be based in Europe. South Africa has even gone beyond this, calling on the US and Europe to close all military bases in Africa,
saying that these military bases have became anachronistic. The African union also supports this position.

Of the many sub-regions of Africa, namely Gulf of Guinea, Sahara- Sahel, the Horn of Africa and Darfour, the Gulf of Guinea appears to be of particular interest to the strategies of The Pentagon in seeking a host for AFRICOM. This is because the Gulf of Guinea is a substantial provider of crude oil to the US.

The US that since decided to diversify its sources of crude oil import envisages in the next ten years or less to raise its imports of crude oil from Africa to 25 percent as against less than 20 percent ten years earlier.

US commence sources say that sub-Saharan Africa presently supplies the US nearly as much oil as the Middle East.

In fact, the combined production of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Angola has risen substantially and presently represents about half the total production of the entire continent.

And this is even rising given that Sao-Tome and Principe has also begun production. This makes the neighboring countries of the Gulf of Guinea strategic partners of the US. This is one reason why the US finds the Gulf of Guinea of special interest. For this reason, the American marines since January 2007 set up a radar to cover the entire Gulf region at Sao-Tome and Principe.

The highly performing system cost an estimated 18m dollars and its range covers Central Africa in general and the Gulf in particular.

The radar is intended to facilitate the fight against crime, clandestine fishing which represents a loss to countries of the region of a billion dollar a year, and piracy which has become frequent in Gulf waters which serve as a major international cocaine traffic. The radar will also facilitate the detection of the criminal activities within the Niger Delta which have cost more than a thousand deaths in the last seven years and which have also let to the disruption in oil drilling.
Washington’s concern for the Gulf of Guinea region is the stability of the region, and especially that of oil-producing countries.

Critics say the installation of this radar in Sao-Tome only announces in greater force America’s military implantation on the island. Washington denies all of this and insists that it is only military cooperation within the waters.

In June 2007, the US navy sent out a ship on a six-month mission to the Gulf of Guinea. The ship
provides training for the military of the different countries. The ship had stops at Senegal, Liberia,
Ghana, Sao-Tome and Principe, Cameroon, Gabon and Angola.
It is expected that before AFRICOM is operational, these countries would have reinforced their purveyance capacities in the countries of this region. This is another indication that AFRICOM is eyeing this region for its headquarters. Is it Cameroon?

William “Kip” Ward, head of the US military command for Africa was recently received in Yaounde by President Paul Biya of Cameroon. Political commentators were in no doubt that he had come to seek the approval of the government to station the newly created military command that is intended to cover all of Africa and beyond.

Because Cameroon has the advantage of being strategically located more or less at the centre of
the continent, and is also a major player in the Gulf region, which is of interest to the US for its oil, it was believed that the US authorities would try hard to succeed in Yaounde.

Commentators feared that the offer will be tempting and almost irresistible to the Cameroonian president, who would jump at the opportunity to guarantee himself the necessary support of the US government for his highly controversial policies. President Paul Biya seeks to amend the constitution to permit him to continue in office beyond 2011 when he should retire.

The Yaounde welcome of General Ward was said to be unusually warm and further strengthened speculation that Yaounde may have granted his request. The General’s visit was presided by a meeting between Janet Garvey, the America ambassador to Cameroon, and Paul Biya.

Garvey stated afterwards that her meeting with the president had been on security matters, among other items of discussion.

Could Ward’s visit have been to confirm Biya’s acceptance of the deal? African countries of the West, North and Southern Africa have overwhelmingly rejected the offer. Even countries that have strong ties with the US like Ghana, Senegal, and Morocco

Africans’ fear is that the American military command is intended especially to fight Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups which will expose African countries to attacks by terrorists. Only Liberia which is recovering from over ten years of war and in desperate need of development aid, has openly applied to the US to lodge its command in that country, in the hope that it will get all the assistance it needs. But Liberia’s position is least interesting to the US authorities.

In spite of Biya’s presumed interest in the US request, Cameroon’s partners are opposed to AFRICOM, notably France and China.

One week after Janet Garvey spoke with Paul Biya in Yaounde, the French Ambassador to Cameroon, George Serre, also had a meeting with Paul Biya over regional security matters, as he declared later to the press.

Did George Serre convey the French government’s disapproval of AFRICOM to President Paul Biya?

President Nicolas Sarkozy who made a break with Elysee palace’s hostility to Washington warned nevertheless that notwithstanding the new friendship with Washington, France remained master of its own destiny. Also the Chinese, who are having a strong presence in Africa and giving infrastructure development assistance to Africa, are even more hostile to AFRICOM.
Commentators do not believe that it was only a matter of coincidence that a senior Chinese official was in Yaounde and was received by Paul Biya just before the American General’s visit.

The foreign Affairs minister in the Chinese Communist Party was in Yaounde, and had talks with President Paul Biya a day before Ward was received. Would the Chinese have come to express their objection to AFRICOM? It is believed that the Americans would have to make a decision on the choice of what country to base AFRICOM so that the command may begin to be installed and become operational well before the end of the year.
The headquarters of the command which has since been recruiting and training American citizens for jobs within the command will number anything between 500 and 700 men to begin with. In spite of its commitments to France, its traditional ally, and to China which is providing Cameroon with plenty of assistance, President Paul Biya is capable of taking surprising decisions.

In 2003, Cameroon pledged support for France which adopted a militant position against the US plans to go to war against Iraq.
But at the last moment, Yaounde, that was the Security Council on a rotatory basis, used its critical vote in support of war by the US against Iraq. Tempted by the prospect of long sought friendship with Washington, President Biya turned his back on Cameroon’s long time ally, France.