If the Ukraine war and subsequent sanctions on Russia by the US and its western allies have benefited any country in finding a greater foothold in the arms market of Africa, it is China. It has emerged as a major source of arms supplies to Africa, especially in the sub-Saharan part of the continent. Three of the world’s top 10 arms companies are Chinese and they are supplying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), rocket launchers, fighter jets, combat helicopters, small arms and light weapons, landmines, armoured military vehicles and military vehicles to African countries.

As per Jane’s Defence Weekly, nearly 70 percent of armoured military vehicles in all 54 African countries are Chinese origin, while nearly 20 percent of all military vehicles in the continent have been supplied by China. In fact, emerging as the fourth global arms supplier, China accounted for 4.6 percent of total global arms exports between 2017 and 2021, said Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its recent report. Of this, 10 percent of its arms sales were with African countries. Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria, Tanzania, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Gabon, Algeria, Namibia, Ghana, Burundi, Kenya, and Mozambique emerged as major importers of Chinese arms in the last five years.

China in Africa

Economy and strategy have been two key motives behind Beijing’s increase in the supplies of its arms to these African countries. Amid this development, there lies an unpardonable truth; sales of arms to African countries by China, the US, Russia, France, and Germany are fuelling conflicts in the continent. Almost all sub-Saharan countries are in the grip of low and high-intensity armed conflicts. According to SIPRI, out of 20 African countries, while Nigeria, Ethiopia, Somalia, Mali, the DRC, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Cameroon, and Niger fall under high-intensity armed conflicts area, Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Sudan, Uganda, Madagascar, and Kenya fall under low intensity armed conflicts area. Despite pandemic and restrictions imposed on the movement of people across Africa, it witnessed 19,325 casualties in 2021, said a report by Statista, a Germany based data company.

It is estimated that since the 1990s, millions of people have died in the conflagration of conflicts in Africa. A study published by The Lancet medical journal in 2018, however, presented a horrendous picture of conflicts in the continent. Five million children under the age of five died as a result of armed conflicts between 1995 and 2015. And of them, approximately three million were infants aged 12 months or younger, the prestigious medical journal said in its report. Conflicts and violence have also been foremost factors in forcing people out of their homes with the Sub-Saharan region of Africa bearing the brunt of mass internal displacement. According to figures published by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, of the total 14.4 million people displaced across the world due to conflicts or violence in 2021, as much as 11.6 million or 80 percent of the total people were displaced in the sub-Saharan region.

Military weapons

For all this, proliferation of small arms and light weapons is held responsible. And bad governance, corruption, porous borders, poverty, deprivation, and unemployment are cited as key reasons for the proliferation. A combined study of the Geneva-based research Centre, Small Arms Survey, and the African Union in 2019 estimated that civilians, including rebel groups and militia hold more than 40 million small arms and light weapons, while government-related entities hold fewer than 11 million. The proliferation of such arms is very high in sub-Saharan Africa. Small arms and light weapons are easy to transport and hide and can be trafficked into parts to different parts of a country or countries. Experts say the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons often stems from legal trade where arms producing countries export weapons to other countries and then they disperse into illicit trade when they are deliberately sold by the corrupt government officials or army officials to individuals and extremist groups.

More than 20 years have passed since the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Lights Weapons was launched. But it has failed to prevent arms going into the hands of non-state actors like insurgents, terrorists, criminals, and gangsters in Africa. Several measures at the local levels have also been adopted like sensitizing through local communities on how such arms are taking a huge toll on peace and security across many countries in Africa. Despite this, civil strife in Ethiopia, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d’ Ivoire, Rwanda, Somalia, Namibia, Angola, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and other African countries is continuing.

According to a report, more than 20% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population is presently affected by civil war, damaging their potential to grow economically strong. Experts maintain that unless corruption, poverty, unemployment, injustices, and inequalities are addressed, illicit proliferation of guns and weapons cannot be stopped in Africa. They also hold a view that unless countries like China bring a change in their approach to weapons’ transfer and place conditionalities on the sale of their arms to African countries, the menace of illegal spread of arms cannot be stopped across the continent.

L'articolo Is China’s arms transfer fuelling conflicts in Africa? proviene da InsideOver.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper visited four North African states last week, reviving American efforts to reshape its focus on the continent. In February, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a tour of several African nations in a bid to increase ties with Washington. The Trump administration was said to be reevaluating the US commitment to operations in the Sahel, but was clear that it wanted to do something different on the continent.

First African Trip for Esper

Esper has held his position as head of the Defense Department since July 2019, but his trip to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Malta was his first visit to the continent. It’s not unusual, however, for his department to not pay the continent the same attention to Africa that’s afforded areas such as the Middle East and Asia; the last time a defense secretary from Washington visited any African state was in 2006, as CNN reported.

However, with operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria driving terrorists out of the Middle East, many extremist fighters have found refuge in the Sahel. Recently, France has been the primary Western state spearheading counterterrorism operations out of Mali, but that battle has been uphill, a problem exacerbated by Malian tribal politics.

Whereas Pompeo’s trip was more economically and politically-oriented, Esper’s naturally sported more military overtones. The main purpose for the Trump administration dispatching Esper was two-fold: to strengthen military partnerships to enhance the counterterrorism security apparatus on the continent and convince states to choose the US over China and Russia for their needs.

Esper’s greatest challenge for his trip lied in Algeria where Washington is hoping to capitalize on shifting political waters that might be more favorable to the US. For the past 60 years, the state has predominantly relied on the Soviet Union and Russia for military supplies. Although the US is always seeking stronger military alliances, often these entail weapons purchase agreements, and could be viewed as the driving factor.

In return, Washington also gains a foothold wherever it sells arms and technology. Not only can it gain a friend across the globe and more options from which to stage operations, it also gains insight into other nations’ internal defense workings.

China and Russia Are On Washington’s Mind

In Algeria’s case, the US relationship has essentially been nonexistent, giving the Trump administration a far-out goal to strive for.

“We don’t engage them quite as much because their ties have been towards others,” a Pentagon source explained to CNN. “There’s a chance to maybe push the door open a little bit in expanding our bilateral relationship with them.”

Behind Russia, China is the next largest supplier of weapons for Algeria.

“Today, our strategic competitors China and Russia continue to intimidate and coerce their neighbors while expanding their authoritarian influence worldwide, including on this continent,” Esper said at an event at the North American Cemetery in Carthage, Tunisia. “At the same time, violent extremists continue to pose a threat not only to regional stability, but also to our homeland. The United States’ enduring partnership with like-minded countries — including here in North Africa — is key to addressing these challenges.” 

Washington’s goal is to partner with other states to offer an alliance that isn’t hostile and malicious like Russia and China, he said. Only with the the US can African states retain their sovereignty and avoid answering to Beijing or Moscow.

Algeria is at a Turning Point

Esper’s sales pitch to Algeria comes at the right time. Following pro-democracy protests that forced out President Abdelaziz Bouteflika last year, there is hope a new constitution will pass via referendum next month. One change would include the ability for the nation’s armed forces to be deployed internationally and take part in training exercises, held by the UN, African Union, or the US.

If the new Algerian government is willing once a new constitution is approved, the US is keen to make it a regional partner. The state could prove vital should Washington decide to take a more active role in combating terrorism in the Sahel. 

“Algeria has always been considered by the Americans as a ‘pivotal state’ whose vulnerability can engulf the whole region if it is affected by jihadists,” said Algerian political scientist Mansour Kedidir. Buffing Algeria with a US military partnership could also ward off a threat in the east posed by extremists in Libya.

Region Ripe for Dealmaking

To put it simply, with French and UN Peacekeeping forces unable to gain ground in the Sahel, Algeria could play a critical role should terrorism spread further across North Africa. Washington saw an opportunity open with the new political climate and Esper has made a play to that end.

The US defense secretary also signed 10-year military agreements with Tunisia and Morocco. Both states have boasted strong ties with America, particularly since the Arab Spring saw Tunisia emerge as a successful democracy. Washington considers both to be major Non-NATO allies in the region and they are key cogs in American counterterrorism operations across North Africa.

Malta Resists Agreeing to SOFA

Esper also stopped in Malta, meeting with the state’s prime minister and president. Washington’s goals with Malta are less ambitious as the island state is a comparatively smaller power in the Mediterranean. However, it does have a vital port that could be harnessed to boost maritime security.

The US has been trying to convince the Maltese government to agree to a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which would govern foreign troops deployed within Malta’s borders. Washington wants it so American soldiers can have greater authority on Hurd’s Bank, a common smuggling route. 

Instead, the Maltese government proposed a weaker agreement which the US rejected, so the likelihood of a SOFA coming to fruition with Malta continues to elude US politicians. 

Esper’s tour of North Africa is an overt sign that Washington is gearing up to make a push to defend its influence across the region. With China and Russia gobbling up weapon sales that could be going to American producers and regional instability driving demand, it’s America’s turn to project power. Visits to Tunisia and Morocco were mostly formalities, but Algeria has great potential for future US partnerships if it can be convinced to forsake Moscow and Beijing.

L'articolo Washington Tries to Win Over Algeria as Regional Conflict Increases proviene da InsideOver.