The West must approach Africa in a new light

French President Nicholas Sarkozy said it well this past week at the France-Africa summit when he said this about Africa in today's world: “Africa’s formidable demographics and its considerable resources make it the main reservoir for world economic growth in the decades to come.”

Chatham House has a new report that states the relationship between the West and Africa should be looked at in a new prism. Asian countries seemed to have caught the changing winds especially countries like China, Japan, India but many western countries have yet to fully adjust to the changing reality. Russia has a renewed interest, Brazil as well.  France due to historical reasons will always have interest in Africa and the lastest summit hosted by French President seems try and a new course with Africa.  Reuters has a similar take:

For the past ten years, fundamental change has been taking place across large parts of Africa. Growth rates and stability have increased. Political, regulatory and security reform have deepened. Increasing investment from China, but also Brazil, India, Turkey, South Korea, Argentina and other ambitious emerging powers has acted for the most part as an accelerant.

Even the global financial crisis has in some ways hastened this process, for while in the short and medium term it had a devastating impact on millions across Africa, it has also revealed the true ebb of power from East to West, and encouraged the new economic actors of the G20 to chase access to the 40 percent of the world’s mineral resources, and 1 billion consumers gathered in Africa. Almost as important is the 25 percent of UN General Assembly votes that are represented by the continent’s 53 countries.

Meanwhile, many Western countries seem trapped in a humanitarian conception of Africa.

Popular media coverage and policy judgement is overwhelmed with a perception that Africa is simply a problem continent with little strategic value, except as a space where largess is shown and good things done to make up in some small way for the messy reality of international diplomacy.

This is not only delusional and self indulgent, but damaging. For emerging power interest is showing that Africa is not a space distinct from the rest of the world. Many of their investments are valuable and welcome, but others are as exploitative and damaging as anything under colonialism.

Without a Western strategic and business engagement – bringing with it a focus on sustainability, regulation and transparency, the progress of the past 10 years is unlikely to be sustained. For the truth is that China’s development policy is first and foremost about China’s development, not Africa’s, and as yet the governments of many emerging powers are not focusing enough on ensuring their investments in Africa are sustainable, and therefore equitable.

African leaders have never faced so much choice, but they need to show more foresight as well, for it is only by combining the energy of the emerging East, with the regulation of the West, that Africa’s, and the world’s interests will be served. That needs Western strategic engagement, but more fundamentally it requires more effective leadership from within Africa itself. Post financial crisis, the opportunities for Africa and the world economy, but also the risks, have never been higher.

These are the main highlights of the report by Chatham House:

• African countries are playing a more strategic role in international affairs. Global players that understand this and develop greater diplomatic and trade relations with African states will be greatly advantaged.


• For many countries, particularly those that have framed their relations with Africa largely in humanitarian terms, this will require an uncomfortable shift in public and policy perceptions. Without this shift, many of Africa's traditional partners, especially in Europe and North America, will lose global influence and trade advantages to the emerging powers in Asia, Africa and South America.


• China's re-engagement is for the most part welcome, as is that of the increasing numbers of emerging powers such as Turkey, South Korea and Brazil that see Africa in terms of opportunities - as a place in which to invest, gain market share and win access to resources.


• Economic fortunes across Africa are now diverging, making it less meaningful to treat Africa as a single entity in international economic negotiations. Despite this, it is in the global interest that the African Union should be granted a permanent place at the G20. In turn, a more focused, sophisticated and strategic African leadership is needed.

Nothing to disagree with, as a matter of fact these are the points that we at Stratsis Incite have been emphasizing all along.

Uganda & Algeria sign deal with Russia for Jet fighters

News report states Russia signs multibillion dollar deal to deliver jet fighters to Uganda and Algeria.

Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport has signed two contracts worth $1.2 billion on the deliveries of 16 jet fighters to Algeria and another six fighters to Uganda, the Russian Vedomosti daily reported on Monday.

The two African nations will receive different models of the Su-30 Flanker fighters. Algiers will receive 16 Su-30-MKI(A)s and Kampala will receive six Su-30MK2s, the paper said.

In 2008, Algiers cancelled the delivery of 34 MiG-29 Fulcrum multi-role fighters because of flaws in design. The Russian military bought the rejects for its own use.

Su-30 Flankers in various models have also been sold to India. India has so far received 120 out of the 230 jets it has ordered. Malaysia has also received 18 fighters.

Rosoboronexport has closed some $7.5 billion worth of arms export deals since the beginning of the year. According to the company's head, Anatoly Isaikin, Russia signed $15 billion worth of contracts during 2009.

Russia's presence in the African arms market has declined in recent years, despite Rosoboronexport's high profile activities in Algeria and Sudan. At various points during the Cold War, Russia was the primary arms supplier to regimes from Libya to Ethiopia to Angola; however, its overall share of the African market has continued to fall.

In 1999, Russia controlled nearly 6 percent of the African market, but by 2006, its share had dropped to just over 3 percent. More­over, the importance of the African market to the Russian defense industry has waned as Africa's total share of exports declined from 21 percent in 1999 to 18 percent in 2006 and approximately 15 percent in 2008.

At the core of Russia's arms relationship with Africa, also representing one of Russia's largest arms deals, was the $7.5 billion deal with Algeria, which was completed in March 2006. The deal included the advanced 2S6M Tunguska air defense system, SA-19 SAMs, S-300 air defense systems, 36 MIG-29SMTs, 28 Su-30MKs, 180 T-90 main battle tanks, two Kilo class diesel electric submarines, and 16 Yak-130 advanced trainers.

With a delivery timeline stretching from 2007 through at least 2011, Russia will remain committed to this tender for years to come, as the Algerian deal represents a case study in Moscow's debt relief for arms sales strategy. However, recent developments indicate that the deal may have reached an impasse. In early 2008, Algeria returned the first batch of MiG-29SMTs to Russia, noting that the purportedly new aircraft were actually used and in poor operating condition.

Russia's arms deal with Algeria allowed it to gain access to the Moroccan market. As the two North African nations remain wary of each other's military buildup, Russia was able to capitalize on Morocco's interest in diversifying its arms supply. In 2003, Russia signed a deal with Morocco for the supply of 26SM Tunguska air defense systems and accompanying SA-19 missiles, which were delivered in 2005 and 2006.

Aside from the more lucrative northern African markets, major Russian arms sales continue to be directed at conflict-ridden regions: Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia are major markets for Russian arms. Despite a U.N. arms embargo that was imposed in 2005, Russia has continued to supply Sudan with arms - albeit most deliveries are for hardware such as IFVs, APCs, and helicopters ordered before the embargo. Russia also continues to sell an amalga­mation of used fighter-attack aircraft, artillery, anti-tank missiles, and SAMs to Ethiopia and Eritrea, which remain locked in a low-intensity conflict.

Outside of Algeria and the aforementioned conflict regions, the majority of Russian arms sales to Africa consist of helicopters, namely the ubiquitous Mi-8/17, Mi-24, and Mi-35. While Russian military hardware, specifically small arms, continues to proliferate throughout Africa, these transactions are generally associated with international arms dealers outside the official channels of the Russian government

Namibia to get $1 billion in funds from Russia for Uranium hunt

Russia has agreed to fund $1 billion for a uranium hunt in Namibia.

Russia was ready to invest $1 billion (R7.75bn) in uranium exploration in Namibia, Russia's state nuclear firm said yesterday, as it seeks to compete for projects in the country with global mining house Rio Tinto.

"We're ready to start investing already this year," Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of state corporation Rosatom, told journalists. He said the uranium could be used for the nuclear power plant Russia was building in Turkey.

The comment came as Namibia's President Hifikepunye Pohamba visited Moscow to meet Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Earlier this month Russia and Turkey signed off on a $20bn project for Moscow to build and own a controlling stake in Turkey's first nuclear power plant.

Medvedev discussed the possibility of investing in uranium exploration in Namibia last year when he visited the country.

Medvedev said yesterday that Russia was also ready to invest in the completion of two hydroelectric stations in Namibia.

In an earlier post i discussed Russia's new found interest in enhancing its position and economic dealings in Africa.

Russia's New Dash in Africa

Russia feeling left out by other countries like China, India, the U.S., has rapidly expanded its presence on the continent after a long absence due to the break up of the Soviet Union. This is a while back but gives the reasoning and insight into President Medvedev's trip in Summer 2009:

The Kremlin has launched an ambitious project to restore Moscow's past glory on the African continent. Policy makers in the U.S. and Europe need to understand that it's happening -- and formulate an effective response -- before they find their own relationships with Africa changing in significant and problematic ways.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and more than a hundred Russian businessmen last week visited Egypt, Nigeria, Namibia and Angola on the longest tour of Africa a Russian leader has undertaken since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Unlike President Obama, who is going to Africa next week for a brief stop to talk about global warming, Mr. Medvedev and his team targeted oil, gas, diamonds and uranium...

By all appearances Mr. Medvedev and, by extension, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are reviving the old Soviet Africa strategy. The Soviet Union maintained friendly relations with many African countries, including Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Namibia, Angola and Mozambique. Starting in the 1950s, Africa was viewed as a prime economic battlefield between Soviet command-and-control planning and Western capitalism. From the 1960s to the '80s, Western institutions like the World Bank and U.S. Agency for International Development poured billions of dollars into supporting governments in countries like Zaire and Nigeria. Moscow offered similar funding to its "friends."....

Africa lost its significance as an ideological chessboard after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the current volume of trade between Africa and Russia is trivial. But the continent remains an economic prize. China has spent billions of dollars in the past few years gaining friends, influencing dictators, and tying African countries to Beijing.

Now the Kremlin is trying to regain its status as a global player, including re-asserting itself in Africa. Mr. Medvedev's visit to Africa appears to be the first coordinated attempt by Moscow to do so. Where once the Soviet Union sought political hegemony, today's Kremlin is after economic objectives like trade and access to raw materials. But a shift in Africa's relationship with Russia will have consequences for many.

Africans may benefit from increased competition among the world's powers to develop its vast resources. Russia and China have already invested billions to gain a foothold there. Western companies are similarly interested. The income generated from developing these resources has the potential to generate jobs and boost incomes in Africa. But this isn't a sure thing. Resource-rich countries are vulnerable to corruption and instability.

Competition is always good for industry and nations, large or small, but African countries need to be as always, careful.

A flood of Russian money could facilitate corruption in places where that's already a problem. Moreover, Moscow and Beijing are comfortable working with oppressive regimes, like Sudan's, that Western countries condemn. As a result, Africans may suffer even more as Russia and China expand their influence.

Reporting of the trip by state controlled Russia Today.



This policy that Russia is embarking on should be seen in the context to increase and deepen the influence that it has on Europe as a whole. Russia is Europe's biggest energy supplier, and Moscow wants to maintain this status as long as possible. North and Western African states are growing suppliers of oil and gas to Western European markets, which have the potential to eat into the profits of Russian energy companies.  One way of slowing this down is to "cooperate" with African states in the energy sector, create so called partnerships that benefit the Kremlin and don't fully target the strategic hold that Russia has on Europe.