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Caught in the crossfire: Africa in the oil battle between the great powers

[ Posted On: 2008-02-18 ]

"A scar on the conscience of the world." This is how former British Prime Minister Tony Blair described Africa when he stood at the helm of the European Union. A week before his planned visit to Africa, US president George Bush has echoed a similar message of despair and frustration about Africa. "Africa has...witnessed some of mankind’s most shameful chapters, from the evils of the slave trade to the condescension of colonialism." "Even the joy of independence," continued Bush, "which arrived with such promise was undermined by corruption, conflict and disease. Just a decade ago, much of Africa seemed to be on the brink of collapse, and much of the world seemed content to let it go."

Behind this scenario which Judson Knight summarises as "an untold tale of cruelty, corruption, mismanagement, rampant disease and poverty," there is another untold story about Africa. This continent sits on 90% of its platinum, 50% of its gold, 98% of its chromium and 64% of its manganese. Africa is rich in diamonds, has more oil reserves than North America, and has been estimated to hold 40% of the world’s potential hydroelectric power. This is the paradox of Africa’s wealth. These are the resources that have dragged Africa into what is described today as the "oil and mineral curse." The scramble for these resources by great powers is fast accelerating Africa’s tragedy.

Great power concern for Africa’s wealth was a driving force behind East-West confrontation after World War II. The cold war as this conflict was called was as much a struggle for African resources as it was a conflict of ideology and strategy. While China was busy shipping African minerals through the Chinese-constructed TAN-ZAM railway in Southern Africa, Washington was preoccupied with shipping arms to Joseph Désiré Mobum in Zaire, Jonas Savimbi in Angola and Samuel Doe in Liberia. The resultant "proxy wars" created the conditions necessary for the extraction of African resources. This was the Africa which president met when he entered the Oval office. "When I took office in 2000, Africa was home to six major conflicts: Angola, Burundi, Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Southern Sudan," he said on the eve of his recent visit to the continent.

The end of the Cold War radically changed the face of great power intervention in Africa. While Washington counted the blessings of its "New World Order" and celebrated over the collapse of what President Ronald Reagan called "the evil empire," China was gradually crawling into Africa. Building on its Cold-War-era gains, China successfully outpaced the crumbling Soviet Union as the most influential eastern power in Africa. This has brought China into direct conflict with former "oil-suckers" in Africa; US, EU and Japan.

American foreign policy towards Africa in the 21st century resolves entirely around oil and mineral resources, though President Bush has openly denied this claim. "In one of the major priorities of my presidency, the United States fundamentally altered our policy toward Africa," said Bush. Continued he, "the new era is rooted in a powerful truth; Africa’s most valuable resource is not its oil, it’s not its diamonds, it is the talents and creativity of its people." Bush however agreed "America’s approach to Africa stems from both our ideals and our interests."

In the light of developments in the international scene, there is little denying that African oil is central in what Mr Bush calls "our interests." The rise of terrorism, chaos in the middle East, the growth of anti-American sentiments in Latin America, ruptured relations with Iran and the rise of Chinese influence in Africa are the major factors shaping America’s rush to secure oil supplies from Africa. With the easing of economic sanctions against Libya in 2004, US Occidental Petroleum announced it would immediately resume operation in Libya in 2004.

African oil reserves which stand next only to the Middle East and Latin America have earned Africa the name "the Second Gulf region." The Gulf of Guinea in the armpit of Africa which floods in oil is now the hub of US activity in Africa. The American oil giant Texan Oil struck oil Equatorial Guinea 1991. Five years later in 1996, the inauguration of the first commercial field was presided over by President Obianguema Teodoro Mbasogo and the executive vice president of Mobile Corp, Paul Hoemans. Today, Equatorial Guinea pumps more oil than Saudi Arabia. To protect its oil interest in this bay, the US is frantically searching for a military base in West Africa on which to plant its Africa command Force (AFRICOM) to ensure regular and interrupted supplies of oil from the "armpit of Africa" and the rest of West Africa.

Washington’s new military and diplomatic offensive is evidence of this scramble. In October 2003, the US sent a special force of about 1800 soldiers to its military base in Djibouti. In November the same year, it conducted joint military exercises in Senegal and the Gambia. A year later, Washington spent $65million on military trainings in Mali, Niger, Chad and Mauritania. America followed this up with the installation of a military base in Ethiopia and US troops held maritime drill in the Gulf of Guinea which falls among those areas described by oil experts as "the oiliest patches in the world." This "militarization" of Africa goes under the name "war on terror." But the difference between oil and terrorism is quite clear.

In line with America’s global energy diplomacy, Washington published its "Notional Security Strategy of the United States" in 2003. By this policy, the US sought to strengthen cooperation with African energy producers as an important way to "tighten US energy security." The US National Intelligence Council predicts that boy 2015, Africa will account for 25% of total US imports of oil. In this regard, American oil companies have nose-dived into the lucrative oil business in Africa.

Exxon Mobil, together with the World Bank financed the Chad-Cameroon pipeline that transfers oil from Chad through Cameroon to the Atlantic Coast. Cheveron, oil giant planned to invest $20 billion to expand its production capability in Africa. ESSO invested $10 billion in three deep-sea oil exploitation projects in Angola. Today, it is estimated that US oil exploration and exploitation covers 200.000 square kilometres in the Guinea Bay, covering 10 countries. On the diplomatic front, Washington is ready to reduce its criticisms on oil rich but repressive regimes like Equatorial Guinea, Sudan and Libya. Ironically, these are the charges it levies against China, another oil hunter.

China is without doubt America’s rival in this new scramble for Africa. Oil and mineral are the driving forces behind China’s rapidly growing economy. Twenty years ago, China was East Asia’s largest exporter of oil. Today, it is the world’s second largest importer after the US. China has passionately embraced Africa in an "aid-for-oil" diplomacy and threads on American turf with impunity. In Nigeria which is America’s fifth oil supplier, China announced in January 2005 that its state owned Energy Company CNOOC Ltd would buy 45% stake in an offshore oil field for US$ 2.27 billion China alone absorbs 64% of Sudan’s oil exports.

The flag of Sino-African Cooperation is trade. Along with this trade come infrastructural projects such as roads, railways, stadiums, harbours and lavish palaces in Africa. During the 1990s, Sino-African trade grew by 700%. The 2000 China-Africa Forum was a show case of this blossoming trade. From 2002 to 2003, trade doubled to $18.5 billion. In 2005, it had reached 32.17 billion. Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) represented $900 million of Africa’s $15 billion total in 2004. It rose to $ 55 billion in 207 and is expected to reach $ 100 billion in 2010.

A sizeable amount of this Chinese investment in Africa is directed to the oil sector. China builds good will by using trade to strengthen bilateral relations with African states, awarding aid, forgiving debts and constructing or expanding infrastructure. This economic diplomacy won China access to oil in Venezuela and Iran, two states which are at daggers-drawn with America. The same policy is fetching China profitable oil deals in Sudan, Chad and Angola. Europe’s monopoly over North African oil is now challenged as China makes inroads into Algeria and Egypt. Such developments bring China face to face with the US, EU and Japan as these powers face a new threat in Africa.

In Gabon for example, China outbid Brazil in 2005 for the right into iron ore deposits and constructed a railway as compensation. In Angola, Chinese oil investments came with cash for the projects such as schools, roads, hospitals and training for telecommunications engineers. China stretches its hands to African States that have fallen out of favour with the West for human rights violation and undemocratic governments such as Zimbabwe and Sudan. China’s oil interests take priority over human rights concerns. In Equatorial Guinea, China is buying a rapidly rising share of that country’s oil output. China’s presence is quite visible and unmistakable in the form of a lavish complex in Malabo that houses the Chinese embassy.

Europe, Africa’s historical and traditional partner has to pay a heavy price for abandoning the continent in the last three decades. This period saw Europe preoccupied with crisis emanating from the expansion of the EU and constitutional squabbles. Europe’s leverage over African oil and minerals during this period was guaranteed by the system for Mineral Products (SYSMIN) one of the instruments of the revised Lomé Convention, Lome 11. The Lome Convention itself lost popularity among Africans and left the continent vulnerable to outside players. The shocking revelation in March 2007 by a UN panel that Liberian officials had signed a secret contract with an obscure European company, giving it virtual on mining diamonds is a sign of frustration on Europe’s part. Liberia had been banned by the UN from selling diamonds since 2001.

Though European companies still struggle to plant their feet in the African oil sector by increasingly investing in "upstream" development, their efforts have been overshadowed by Chinese and American oil investors. Europe’s late call for "equality" with Africa increasingly falls on deaf ears as Africa turns east. "We have turned east, where the sun rises, and given our backs to the West, where the sun sets," said Robert Mugabe, who finds comfort and protection in China’s arms. Conscious of China’s sway over Africa, Europe which has been relegated to a defensive position pleaded at the 2007 EU-China summit in Beijing on the need for both sides to ramp up cooperation in Africa. With Africa in its grip, China finds no reason to invite the EU to future meetings of the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Desperate to secure the oil wealth of North Africa, French President Nicholas Sarkozy is envisioning a French-led "Mediterranean Union." This scheme wishes to drag the oil producing states of North Africa into an economic, political and cultural union under French control. Such a scheme gives France considerable leverage over North African oil and gas especially from Libya, Algeria and Egypt. Further south, France’s determination to play a leading role in the deployment of an EU force in Chad has been increasingly connected to oil. Britain for its part enjoys privileges over West African oil, especially in Nigeria. British Petroleum (BP) is involved in a deal to transport refrigerated gas over the Atlantic to the US from Equatorial Guinea.

What does Africa have to show for its oil and minerals? These resources are a curse, a tragedy for Africa. Besides the pollution of land and water, petroleum mining has set many African communities ablaze. In West Africa for example, Nigeria represents what Thomas Hobbes calls "a war of all against all." Clashes, running battles and abductions are the major characteristics of the oil-reach Niger Delta. Last year alone, about 200 foreign workers were taken hostage and released only after the payment of ransom. The black gold started flowing in Nigeria since 1965. Today, the country pumps 2 million barrels a day. But 70% of Nigerians still wallow in poverty. Corruption, embezzlement and political unrest are Nigeria’s trademarks.

Equatorial Guinea, the new "Kuwait" of Africa is another example of the "oil curse." President Obianguema celebrated the discovery of oil in his country with a biblical citation. "Like the scriptures say, when the Pharaoh of Egypt had a dream of lean cows and fat cows; we have passed the time of lean cows that represent hunger, and now we are in the time of fat cows which is prosperity." The fat cows in Equatorial Guinea belong to Mr Obianguema, his family, his cronies, and his foreign oil buyers from China, US, Britain and France. The entire oil business in that country revolves around graft, which make the country a target for mercenaries.

Elsewhere in Africa, the story is very much the same. Angola, the second largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa is the bedrock of corruption. The International Monetary Fund estimated that Angolan leaders plundered at least a billion dollars each year from oil revenues. Sudan with proven oil reserves of 563 million barrels remains one of the poorest countries in the world. This country is the theatre of conflict in the continent. Gabon which withdrew from OPEC in 1995 produces about 230.000 barrels a day. The Republic of Congo is sub-Saharan Africa’s fifth largest oil producer and oil accounts for 90% of its total earnings. In all of these countries, corruption, embezzlement and dictatorship are the dominant characteristics of daily life.

On the occasion of his visit to UNESCO Headquarters in 2004, Malian President Alpha Oumar Konare pointed out some of the harsh realities of Africa today. 50% of African food is imported. Two out of three of the world’s AIDS carriers live in Africa. Two out of three of the least developed countries are found in Africa. Africa carries 50% of the world’s refugees. 95% of African exports are basic products. Africa accounts for only 1.3%of world trade. Life expectancy is 47 years (30 years behind Europe). Africa is the only area of the world were life expectancy is decreasing.

Three years after President Konare’s presentation, another report was produced by International Action Network on small Arms, Safer world and Oxfam International. This report showed that Africa accounts for 38% of the world’s conflicts. Between 1990 and 2005, 23 African nations have been involved in armed conflicts. This report did not take count of recent developments in Kenya, Chad and the Comoros Islands. Oil is largely responsible for the uncontrolled flow of arms across national borders. These arms flow in from China, Europe and America. These are the realities in a continent that sits on the world’s natural resources

Though Africa continues to rot within, its oil, diamond and gold continue to glitter and sparkle, wetting the insatiable appetite of the big powers. President Bush is currently touring the continent. He is skipping the hot spots. He has pledged to attack poverty, hunger and disease which he rightly identifies as the root causes of extremism in the continent. He has offered $700 million in aid to Tanzania. He hopes to congratulate Ghana and Benin for their "sound" democracies. He will also offer praises to Liberia and Rwanda for putting the bits and pieces of their conflict-battered societies together. Each great power has its language for African listeners. Europe now talks of "equality." China talks of a "win-win" diplomacy in Africa. Bush is predicting a "Lazarus effect" in Africa. His message for the continent appears more soothing. "The day will come when a region once dismissed as the ‘dark continent’ enjoys the light of liberty."

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