ONGOING MILITARIZATION OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
BY: AMANI FELLOW
VEII KAUARIA
Africa has long suffered the effects of hyper-militarization. European colonizers had solidified their power and control with their military might, and even in post-colonial Africa, national conflicts and civil unrest are common. Almost half the continent is continuously embroiled in conflict. National and inter-ethnic conflicts, with many different religious and cultural facets, often become drawn-out regional conflicts.
In order to further their own interests, some of the wealthiest nations on earth, and their arms producers, are deeply involved in these conflicts and often provide overt and covert support to their allies.
The people of Sub-Saharan Africa have the highest global mortality, due to conflicts and war, of any region on the globe. Of the 49 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, almost half are currently experiencing conflict and are dealing with the short- and long-term impacts of war. In today’s world, conflicts are very profitable. World superpowers covertly and overtly market and sell weapons in order to arm conflicts, regardless of the human rights violations of those involved in the conflicts.
In 2019, Russian defense companies made it clear that they were open to expanding sales in Africa. Covertly, they had long been involved in multiple conflicts, in Central African Republic, Mozambique and elsewhere. In earlier times, although Russia had assisted many liberation movements during various armed struggles, they largely left the traditional European colonial masters to continue exerting their own military and economic exploitation of the continent.
But now, according to the New York Times (May 31,2022), “Mercenaries are enjoying a resurgence in Africa, hired to fight in some of the continent’s most intractable conflicts. Perhaps the most famous outfit is the Wagner Group, a nebulous network that combines military force with commercial and strategic interests, now at the vanguard of Russia’s expanding ambitions in Africa. Wagner fighters have been active in the wars of Mali, Central African Republic, Mozambique and Libya. They ally with embattled leaders and militia commanders who can pay for their services in cash, or with lucrative mining concessions for precious minerals like gold, diamonds and uranium. Wagner troops have faced frequent accusations of torture, civilian killings and other abuses. But Wagner is far more than a simple guns-for-gold scheme. Operating through a sprawling web of shell companies, it has become a byword for a broad spectrum of Kremlin-backed operations in over a dozen African countries.” In this era of social media, The Wagner Group has the power to launch widespread misinformation campaigns that influence elections and disseminate propaganda.
In Africa, China plays its own game. Sino-economic exploitation of the continent, and the manipulation of political elites, is so deeply embedded in some parts of Africa that the Chinese are a visible segment representing the vast business interests of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP does large-scale business with governments that allow insulation from law, economic regulations, and social discontent. Peaceful nations, like Zambia and Kenya, have experienced acts of violence and inhumane treatment of the local, poorly-paid employees by their Chinese bosses. Like the United States, China has a military base in Djibouti and has developed plans for multiple military naval ports which would give China expanded control over movement of Africa’s resources.
In Africa, European powers are being increasingly out-maneuvered. In an effort to counter Russian and Chinese influence on the Continent, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited three sub-Saharan countries in August of this year: the economic powerhouse South Africa, Dictator Paul Kagame’s Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). One of the most recent global genocides occurred in Rwanda and culminated in United States’ longstanding ally, Paul Kagame, taking power. Kagame’s political party, the RPF, played a major role in the mass killings of Hutus who had fled into the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the late 1990s. According to The Guardian (May 27, 2021) “For years western development experts uneasily offset revelations of disappearances and extra-judicial killings in Rwanda against its stellar performance on GDP growth and the sustainable development goals. But that deal is looking increasingly wobbly as economists query the credibility of Rwanda’s figures. … ‘The Faustian bargain Kagame struck with donors – overlook my brutal behavior and I’ll give you an African model for economic growth– has been exposed as a fantasy,’ said former presidential adviser David Himbara from exile in Canada.”
Billions of dollars are made in arms deals with Nigeria. Human Rights abuses may hinder such deals but even when there is evidence of atrocities, there is no shortage of willing sellers. NATO arms often fall into the hands of militia and jihadists across the continent, and recently Mali accused France of arming Jihadists in the region.
With more and more actors and global power interests represented on the African continent, conflicts have become deeply entrenched. Countless civilian lives have been lost as governments, with their military backers, have ethnically cleansed and altered the ethnic makeup of resource-rich lands. This has happened with groups like M-23 in DRC, backed by Rwanda. There is ultimately no military solution to any of these conflicts. Civil society will have to somehow influence decision making—a difficult task when tyrannical leaders undermine democracy and its institutions in order to hold onto power.
We, the African people, do not want guns on our continent. Guns are used against us and serve only to protect those who benefit from the exploitation of our land and resources. It is the goal of the pan-African family to rid the continent of foreign military efforts. We must shift away from conflict-driven spending which stifles social services. Civilian societies and grassroots groups throughout the Sub-Sahara are what can help give a voice to our people, but so much more needs to be done in order to help Africa against subversive major superpowers and their interests.
