New Scramble For Africa

There is a new scramble for Africa as several power blocs and global interest groups make a dash to the continent, trying to engineer space, obtain disciples, find new business, or re-organize political allies.

The big powers have created platforms for closer political engagement. These include the US-Africa summit, UK-Africa summit, France-Africa summit, China-Africa summit, India-Africa summit, Germany-Africa summit, Russia-Africa summit, Japan-Africa summit, Turkey-Africa summit, Brazil-Africa Forum, and Korea-Africa Forum. Spots of multipolarism.

There is also a frenzy in the traditional superpowers, the United States (US), and the Russian Federation to make new friends, whilst consolidating on existing ones. Africa almost slipped through the fingers of Russia after the 1991 disintegration of the Soviet Union. Africa’s pro-communist states were mired in internal ideological battles with Western interests in the immediate post-independence period.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990, and the Soviet Union denoted the drawdown of the iron curtain and caused a unipolar system that recognized the United States as the only superpower. Now, the world is gradually sliding back to the cold war era following the unyielding strategy by dormant Russia to wag its tail once more as the main rival of the US.

In looking for new friends or reviving its previous retinue, Russia had dived into Africa and set up military alliances and economic cooperation agreements. It is speculated that parts of Africa bedeviled with military takeovers fit into the power struggle between the two giants, the coup makers inspired by Russia to depose leaders favorable to the US.

China has also been making its own waves in Africa, which may be much stronger. China is littered all over the continent in the actuation of projects, as a new source of loans, and a physical tenant on African soil. Some analysts think the Chinese have moved a step ahead of colonization and standing at the door of a complete buyout of the continent.

Several African countries are bidding on membership of the BRICS, the abbrev for the new economic bloc that encompasses emerging economies such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It is programmed as a subtle alternative to the Bretton Woods institutions in global financing.

Africa continues to be a major source of raw materials, and cheap labour for the advanced economies hence the massive interest there.