New Scramble for Africa Heating Up

By Gregory Simpkins

In the late 1800s, European nations consolidated their colonization of Africa at an 1885 conference in Berlin to ensure that each colonial power had definite territory. At that point, the colonizers sought land, cheap labor and natural resources such as ivory and gold and subsequently diamonds. Today, foreign powers seek land, cheap labor, natural resources such as cobalt and lithium and markets for their products.

In the 1800s, the colonial powers were able to take what they wanted through force and manipulation. Nowadays, they still use manipulation but also alleged bribery of top officials and deals heavily tilted in their favor.

Governments around the world are competing fervently for access to African markets and resources and demonstrating their interest through a variety of meetings involving their leaders and African leaders.

“If you’re a close African Affairs watcher, you would have noticed a proliferation of what some have called ‘Africa+1’ summits in the last decade, including China-Africa, Russia-Africa and Turkey-Africa, among others,” wrote Yinka Adegoke for Semafor Africa on January 25 2024.

“Typically, these conferences don’t take place on the continent (though the Chinese have alternated African venues with Beijing in the past). And they usually involve African presidents and government ministers flying to some destination cross the world.”

Accommodating more than 1.3 billion people, the continent is very dynamic in nature, and its market size expands parallel to the rise of its demographics and the purchasing power of its middle classes. In this regard, pejorative perception of Africa has become more positive in the recent period worldwide.

Saudi Arabia is one of the latest to use a summit as part of their strategy to diversify away from oil. The Africa Report stated on January 30 2024 that during a recent economic summit in Riyadh, the kingdom committed more than US$500 million for projects and investments across sectors like energy, education, agriculture, and more in countries including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Senegal, and Chad.

As a new member of the BRICS coalition, Saudi Arabia apparently is aiming to become a global power that is less reliant on energy.

The latest international partner to convene an African summit is Italy. Leaders and representatives from 45 African nations, including the presidents of Tunisia, Senegal, Kenya, the Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe and Somalia, were in the Italian capital to hear the details of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s so-called “Mattei plan”, a flagship policy inspired by Enrico Mattei, the founder of the oil company Eni who in the 1950s pushed for Italy to support African countries to develop their natural resources and improve their economies, according to a January 29 2024 report by The Guardian.

Africans appreciate their value

However, the African response to the summons was different from the usual appreciation for new investment and aid. According to The Guardian, African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki welcomed Italy’s overtures for a mutually beneficial strengthening of relations with the African continent but said: “We cannot be satisfied with mere promises that can’t be kept.” Faki said a “paradigm shift” was required to usher in “a new model of partnership” and pave the way “towards a more just and coherent world.”

“Africa does not want to reach out. We are not beggars,” Faki said.

Unlike the 19th century, Africans realize the value of their natural resources to the modern economy because they also can utilize them in revamping their economies and societies and have the agency now to defend their interests. The issue will be whether African countries can refine these natural resources and sell them rather than allow others to do so and then buy back the finished products.

For example, Burkina Faso is developing technology to process gold mine residue in country. The government will employ 100 people initially, and the first 22-karat gold bars are due to be ready in 11 months, according to an X post by African Stream.

A recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) laid out the reality of what everyone now understands about critical minerals, many of them sourced from African countries:

“Today, the global energy system is in the midst of a major transition to clean energy. The efforts of an ever-expanding number of countries and companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to net zero call for the massive deployment of a wide range of clean energy technologies, many of which in turn rely on critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements,” the IEA report states.

Actions taken by the U.S. government, such as sanctions and the suspension from the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and the ongoing reluctance by many in the United States to engage commercially on the continent, the Americans stand to lose ground to those other members of the international community who intend to ramp up their African relationships.

Yet Africa is not only a source of natural resources; its increasingly middle-class citizens have created markets more attractive to international sellers. The African Development Bank estimates that the number of middle-class Africans has tripled over the last 30 years to 313 million people, or more than 34 percent of the continent’s population.

The reasons for the increase in size and purchasing power of the African middle class include strong economic growth, and a move towards a stable, salaried job culture and away from traditional agricultural activities.

“Accommodating more than 1.3 billion people, the continent is very dynamic in nature, and its market size expands parallel to the rise of its demographics and the purchasing power of its middle classes. In this regard, pejorative perception of Africa has become more positive in the recent period worldwide,” wrote Serhat Orakçi for the Aljazeera Centre for Studies on January 9 2024.

“Global companies seek new selling strategies in a way that best suits the African market; and companies like Google are investing more in the digitalization of the continent. The continent is definitely seen as a new technology hub. In this vein, entering the market and selling more products to Africans are important objectives of global companies. As the African market attracts more attention, Africa gets more actors.”

So, since Africans know their own value, as of course the rest of the international community does, will that mean that African governments will be strengthened in their negotiations with the growing cadre from the international community who want to do business with them? Certainly, it should mean that. With greater agency and leverage, they should not be pushed into deals that are unfavorable. Good deals can and should benefit everyone in these countries – from the elite to the average citizen.

America tries to compete

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s January 2024 visit to four West African countries – Cape Verde, Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire), Nigeria, and Angola – was intended to further demonstrate an enhanced American commitment to engagement with Africa.

Having worked in Congress and USAID, I can attest to the sincerity of many officials in the U.S. government about a mutually beneficial relationship with African governments, and as was made clear at the December 2022 African Leaders Summit, the U.S. government has backed up its words through programming. However, because of actions taken by the U.S. government, such as sanctions and the suspension from the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and the ongoing reluctance by many in the United States to engage commercially on the continent, the Americans stand to lose ground to those other members of the international community who intend to ramp up their African relationships.

A longstanding focus on security issues with regards to Africa undercuts efforts to build U.S.-African commercial relations. Such efforts are underway, but it seems more difficult to convince American businesspeople to engage in Africa than it is for businesspeople from other countries. There is an obsession among many government officials on countering China’s role in Africa. That has been noted by African government officials and is off-putting to them since it seems to ignore the facts that Africa has 13 of the 25 fastest growing economies in the world and that Africa has 60 percent of the arable land.

Mark Green, a former US ambassador to Tanzania and congressman who is now president of the Wilson Center think tank, was quoted by Agence France Presse on January 18 2024 as saying that that while China will inevitably come up, African leaders will not respond well if it dominates the conversation.

Political leaders “tend to go to Africa because of ‘security’ or China or problems. In fact, listening to African leaders – their hopes, their dreams, their capacities – is the way we brighten the world’s future,” said Green, pointing out that the continent has the world’s youngest population.

The Obama administration established two programs that should give U.S. business a boost in engaging with African countries by providing experienced contacts on the ground: the African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program and the Young African Leaders Initiative. There are efforts to boost U.S.-Africa trade, and those who are serious must take advantage of the expertise and contacts within these programs to keep up in this new Scramble for Africa.

Gregory Simpkins, a longtime specialist in African policy development, is the Principal of 21st Century Solutions. He consults with organizations on African policy issues generally, especially in relating to the U.S. Government. He further acts as a consultant to the African Merchants Association, where he advises the Association in its efforts to stimulate an increase in trade between several hundred African Diaspora small and medium enterprises and their African partners.