by Rhoda Wilson, Expose News:
For years, China has been playing its own part in a neo-colonial struggle for influence in Africa. Rather than seeking a military footprint on the continent as, for example, the US has done, China has been engaged in “chequebook diplomacy.”
The Secret Battle for resource rich Africa isn’t over yet, James Corbett writes. In fact, it’s just getting underway.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
What The Hell is Happening in Africa?
By James Corbett
Six years ago, I wrote ‘The Secret Battle for Africa’. In that editorial, I noted the extent of US Special Forces penetration into Africa and examined the geopolitical reality underlying this covert invasion:
Even a cursory review of the evidence shows that one important reason the US is deploying so many commandos to Africa in the first place is precisely to counter Chinese interests on the continent.
And, as I pointed out at the time, China was playing its own part in this neo-colonial struggle for influence in Africa. Rather than seeking a military footprint on the continent, however, China has been engaged in “chequebook diplomacy,” reinvesting its capital from the economic boom of recent decades in infrastructure projects and other Belt and Road initiatives in Africa.
Well, here we are six years later. How has this new scramble for influence on the African continent played out so far? And where will it go from here?
Today, let’s examine some of the key battlegrounds in the Secret Battle for Africa.
Niger
If you did read my article on ‘The Secret Battle for Africa’ six years ago (or if you just re-read it now), you’ll recall that the launching point for that investigation was an October 2017 article revealing that three US Army Special Forces in Niger had been killed “while on a routine patrol with troops they were training from the West African nation.” The attack was the largest loss of American lives during combat in Africa since the infamous “Black Hawk Down” mission in Somalia in 1993 and served as a wake-up call to Americans who hadn’t even realised that there are US Special Forces operating in Africa.
Why, yes, Mabel, there are US Special Forces in Africa. Thousands of them!
The failed Niger mission led to a public spectacle of Pentagon hand-wringing, including an internal investigation into the incident and a vague non-promise to maybe perhaps begin a drawdown in commandos in Africa at some point in the unspecified future.
So, how well did that whole “we’ll think about withdrawing at some point in the future” idea work out? Not very!
Specifically, the issue of the US military presence in Africa shot back to public attention last year when a Nigerien military junta overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, charging him with “high treason.” As was openly reported at the time, the reason the US was hesitant to officially declare the overthrow a coup d’état was because it was unclear how such a declaration would affect America’s military presence in the country.
As it turns out, those fears were well-founded. The US did end up officially declaring the takeover of Niger a coup d’état last October, and the new military government formally revoked its military agreement with the US in March.
The US eventually, and reluctantly, agreed to withdraw from the country, but even as late as 25 April, US military officials were signalling that there was no final decision on the when, if or how of such a withdrawal.
Whatever the cause of the holdup, Niger’s junta is not waiting for the US to clear out; they’ve already invited the Russian military in to replace the US presence. In fact, in April Russia moved some of its troops onto an airbase in Niger, where some US forces are still stationed.
Naturally, this does not mean the end of America’s military presence in Africa. The Pentagon’s designs on Africa are still represented by its United States African Command (“AFRICOM”), which threatens to work with its African “partners” (read: hostages) to “advance US national interests and promote regional security, stability and prosperity.”
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder clarified at a recent press briefing that the US troops still in Niger and Chad will not be withdrawn from Africa altogether but merely temporarily repositioned so they can continue their work in securing the continent for US interests:
As talks continue with Chadian officials, US AFRICOM is currently planning to reposition some US military forces from Chad, some portions of which were already scheduled to depart. This is a temporary step as part of the ongoing review of our security cooperation, which will resume after Chad’s 6 May presidential election.
The story is obviously not over yet. A recent report from a Russian think tank based on internal Russian government documents claims that Russia’s Africa Corps are planning to offer Niger’s military government a “regime survival package.” It will include military and diplomatic support in exchange for access to Niger’s resources, like its lucrative uranium mines. If these reports are accurate, it confirms that The Secret Battle for Africa is not only still ongoing but is in fact escalating.
Whatever the results, don’t be surprised to hear reports of US Special Forces involved in the region in the future … assuming those reports bubble to the surface of mainstream reporting on the issue at all.
Zimbabwe
Speaking of lucrative mining deals, here’s a story for you: ‘China’s investment in Africa’s lithium mines begins to pay off with new mineral supply chains created’.
As the above-linked article makes clear, lithium is an essential resource for the production of the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, solar panels and many of the other accoutrements of the net zero hoax. Access to this sought-after natural resource is precisely why China is investing so heavily in Zimbabwe, a country that just so happens to boast one of the largest lithium reserves on the planet.
Last year, China opened a $300 million lithium processing plant in Kamativi, a small mining town in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North province. The first phase of the plant is now up and running and is producing 300,000 tonnes per year of raw spodumene ore – a mineral that is processed to extract lithium. The second phase of the project, scheduled to start next month, is expected to raise the production rate to 2.3 million tonnes of raw ore per year.
While China’s decision to open a lithium processing plant in Zimbabwe may not seem like a big deal at first glance, it is in fact a Very Big Deal. Lithium is an essential resource in the Green New World Order agenda, and a growing share of the world supply is falling under China’s control. As the third-largest lithium producer in the world, China’s 24% share of all lithium production is predicted to rise to 33% by next year. The Chinese also control 60% of the world’s battery-grade lithium refining capacity.
Unsurprisingly, Uncle Sam views this as a direct threat. Last year, the Biden administration invoked the Defence Production Act in 2022 “to secure American production of critical materials for electric vehicle and stationary storage batteries,” including, of course, lithium. For those keeping track at home, the Defence Production Act is the same national security legislation that MAGA Emperor Trump invoked in 2020 to provide those <sarc>much-needed</sarc> ventilators during the scamdemic, so you know this is serious business (emphasis on “business”).
So, yes, China’s investment in Zimbabwe’s lithium mines is indeed a Very Big Deal. In fact, in some ways, this is what The Secret Battle for Africa is all about.
Angola
As I mentioned above, China is no mere spectator in the Secret Battle for Africa. On the contrary. While the US has been threatening the continent with its special forces and is using AFRICOM to cow African leaders into submission, China has been busy developing its own model for extracting Africa’s resources.
Remember the military junta that kicked Uncle Sam out of Niger? Well, that same junta just inked a deal that will see the China National Petroleum Company (“CNPC”) loan the Niger government $400 million. In turn, the government will repay CNPC not with money but with shipments of crude oil.
In Ghana, meanwhile, Chinese state-owned hydropower company Sinohydro is investing $2 billion in infrastructure development in return for refined bauxite over a 15-year period.
Many similar resource-for-infrastructure deals have been made between Chinese state-owned companies and African nations in recent decades. But the paradigmatic example of China’s resources-for-infrastructure investment model is to be found in Angola. In fact, it was in Angola that this innovative form of Chinese neocolonial debt trap diplomacy was pioneered.
Angola has been memorably described as “a country deeply cursed with natural resources – a tropical paradise laced with landmines and haemorrhagic fever, bauxite and gold.” Indeed, the curse of resources has hit Angola particularly hard in recent decades.
Immediately upon winning its independence from its Portuguese colonisers in 1975, Angola became the site of a decades-long proxy war between Soviet and Cuban-backed socialists and American and South African-backed rebels. None of the foreign powers invested in the proxy war were interested in the Angolan people’s struggle, of course. They were interested in the country’s diamonds, natural gas and oil.
