During his visit to the Ivorian capital, Abidjan, this week, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken extended funding for an ongoing program in the region to $300 million and pledged $45 million to enhance the security of West African coastlines.
Blinken, who also lauded the Ivorian military’s counterinsurgency efforts in repelling armed factions despite being trapped between Mali and Burkina Faso, Sahelian hotspots for violence, departed for Abuja in a private aircraft.
He met Nigerian president and ECOWAS chairman Bola Tinubu. This visit was a component of a four-nation tour that also spanned Angola and Cape Verde.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, is concurrently undertaking an additional tour: She will be in Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau after she attended the inauguration of Joseph Boakai, the newly elected president of Liberia.
The surge of diplomatic visits is formally characterized as an expression of solidarity with the region’s democracies. However, according to analysts, the visits are fundamentally an effort by the United States to strengthen or establish new security alliances in an area where Western influence has been diminishing in recent months.
Just why Western Africa?
Except for Angola, every country visited on both excursions is West Africa. This region has recently been the site of numerous armed group coups and acts of violence.
According to the latest Ibrahim Index of African Governance, governance in Africa from 2012-2021 is in danger. The Ibrahim Index is a biennial study on democracy in the continent, where progress “has plateaued since 2019.”
In the Sahel countries, the proliferation of armed groups has contributed to escalating insecurity and deteriorating economic conditions. These factors have prompted militaries to overthrow democratically elected governments. Six successful coups in West Africa since 2020 have put nearly half of the continent’s sixteen countries under military rule.
New regimes have welcomed Russia, which is expanding in West Africa with Wagner Group mercenaries. This gives regional rulers strategic choices outside the US, France, and other historically significant European nations.
The purpose of US officials’ visits to eight operational democracies, according to experts, is to reassure Washington’s remaining allies in the region of its commitment to cooperation. At the same time, their counterparts seek new allies beyond the customary Western sphere of influence.
Additionally, the visits are taking place amid Chinese influence in the region. This influence is evident in infrastructure projects and trade agreements with neighboring nations.
“The geopolitical context demonstrates the significance and relevance of US-Africa relations, as well as the criticality of maintaining them,” said Oge Onubogu, director of the Africa program at the American think tank Wilson Centre.
US Strategy in Niger’s Sahel
Additionally, months after the US-backed ECOWAS position against the July 30 rebellion in Niger, Blinken visits the region.
Before the rebellion, Niger was regarded as the epicenter of counterinsurgency operations conducted by the United States in the Sahel. The Pentagon has consistently maintained that the country’s geographical position is critical for combating armed factions.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s Agadez hosts a $100 million US drone station north of landlocked Niger. The base has reduced operations after Mohammed Bazoum’s removal as president amid US criticism.
Furthermore, experts assert that the strained relationship between Niamey and Washington may prove advantageous for neighboring states. Uncertainties surround its continued existence.
“Clearly, security in the Sahel is a top priority, and the United States has been in talks with a number of West African coastal states regarding the possibility of hosting a drone base,” said Alex Vines, director of the Africa program at the London-based think tank Chatham House. While Russia and China are subject to discussion, they do not dominate the decision-making process regarding which countries to visit.
This matches American military commanders’ public statements about exploring basing alternatives.
Strategic Diplomacy Amid Sahel Crisis
The United States’ desire to extend diplomatic assistance to nations characterized by comparatively stable democracies along the Atlantic coast is rooted in this security development, according to Daniel Eizenga, a research fellow at the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies.
As anti-French sentiments and armed group violence spread from the Sahel downwards, governments in coastal West Africa are under increasing pressure to consider alternatives to Western governments, which are deemed ineffective in the fight, he said.
Eizenga stated, “If we consider the current situation in West Africa from a strategic standpoint, we will notice that the Sahel’s security situation is rapidly deteriorating, which is putting a great deal of pressure on West African countries along its coasts.” “I believe an effort is being made to account for the critical nature of those pressures,”
He added that Washington will reply in an area with 6% of the world’s population.
I believe they are sincerely seeking opportunities to collaborate with African governments in a manner that bolsters democratic leadership on a global scale… Eizenga stated, “Everyone is acutely attuned and cognizant of the fact that Africa will emerge as the preeminent power in international economics and politics over the coming decades.
Concerning objectives
The excursions are met with skepticism throughout the region.
At the 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit, US President Joe Biden promised to visit Africa in 2023.
The visit has yet to happen, and some have criticised it as a casual participation with the continent.
Four times since Biden’s administration came to power, Blinken has traveled to sub-Saharan Africa,
but experts believe this does not alleviate the disappointment African leaders have felt at Biden’s unfulfilled promise.
However, US officials refute this claim.
A senior US administration official stated, “President Biden remains committed to his plan to visit Africa, and each of the Cabinet trips significantly advances the conversation regarding our relationship [with Africa].”
As part of Greenfield’s delegation to Monrovia, the official stated, “We believe that a serious relationship with sub-Saharan Africa is defined by engagement at all levels, regularly, frequently, and persistently; this is precisely what we have been doing for the past year.”
Onubogu of Wilson Centre needs to be more convinced.
“Ultimately, these journeys undertaken by Secretary Blinken and Ambassador Greenfield will be regarded as mere high-level missions […] The sentiments expressed within Africa are justifiable.
