The African Sahel is rebelling against Western neo-colonialism – throwing out foreign troops and bases, designing alternative currencies and challenging the old multinational corporations. After all, multipolarity cannot flourish without resistance paving the way.
The Cradle, 1 April 2024
The emergence of axes of resistance in different geographical areas is an inextricable by-product of the long and winding process that is leading us towards a multipolar world. These two things – resistance to the Hegemon and the rise of multipolarity – are absolutely complementary.
The axis of resistance in West Asia – across Arab and Muslim states – now finds as its soul sister the axis of resistance that spans the Sahel in Africa, from west to east, from Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to Chad, Sudan and Eritrea.
Unlike Niger, where the shift towards neo-colonialism was associated with a military coup, the shift in Senegal comes straight from the polls.
Senegal entered a new era with the landslide victory of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, in nationwide elections on March 24. A former tax inspector who had just spent a fortnight in prison, Faye emerged with the profile of an underdog pan-African leader to turn upside down “the most stable democracy in Africa”, under incumbent French puppet Macky Sall.
The incoming Senegalese president now joins Ibrahim Traore (36) in Burkina Faso, Aby Ahmed (46) in Ethiopia, Andry Rajoelina (48) in Madagascar, as well as future superstar Julius Malema (44) in South Africa as part of the new, young Pan-African generation focused on sovereignty. In his election manifesto, Faye promised to regain Senegal’s sovereignty no less than eighteen times.
Geoeconomics is the key to these changes. As Senegal becomes a major oil and gas producer, Faye will aim to renegotiate mining and energy contracts, including the biggest ones with British Petroleum (BP) and British gold mine operator Endeavor Mining.
Crucially, he plans to ditch the exploitative CFA franc – the French-controlled currency system used by 14 African states – even setting up a new currency as part of reshaping relations with neo-colonial power France, Senegal’s top trading partner. Echoing comrade Xi Jinping, Faye wants a “win-win” partnership.
Read: CFA franc – how France underdeveloped Africa
Entering the scene comes the Alliance of Sahelian States
Faye has not yet been clear on whether he intends to kick the French military out of Senegal. If it were to happen, the battle of Paris would be unprecedented, as it was fought Petit Roi Emmanuel Macron and the French establishment see Senegal as the key player in blocking landlocked Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, which have already left Paris in the dust of the Sahel.
The three latter states, which have just formed an alliance of the Sahel states (Alliance des Etats du SahelAES, in the original French language), is not only a major nightmare in Paris after serial humiliations, but also a major American headache – including the spectacular breakdown of military cooperation between Washington and Niger’s capital Niamey.
The culprit, according to the US Deep State, is of course Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It is obvious that no one in the US Beltway (actually the name of the ring road around Washington, used as a designation for the power apparatus in the city, among other things) has been aware of the diplomatic desert wind between Russia and Africa since last year, which has involved all key players from the Sahel to the new African BRICS members Egypt and Ethiopia.
In stark contrast to the previous perception of Niger as a staunch ally in the Sahel, Washington is now forced to present a calendar date to get its troops out of Niger – after a military cooperation agreement was cancelled. The Pentagon can no longer be involved in military training on Nigerian territory.
Read: Niger expels the US Army
There are two key bases – in Agadez and Niamey – that the Pentagon spent over $150 million to build. Niamey was only completed in 2019 and is managed by the US military’s Africa Command, AFRICOM.
Operational targets are, predictably, shrouded in mystery. The Niamey base is essentially an intelligence center that processes data collected by MQ-9 Reaper drones. The US Air Force also uses Dirkou Aerodrome as a base for operations in the Sahel.
Now things get really interesting, because the presence of a de facto CIA drone base in Dirkou, manned by a handful of operators, is not even acknowledged. This dark base allows information gathering everywhere in Central Africa, from west to north. Call it another classic example of former CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s “We Lie, We Cheat, We Steal”.
There are approximately 1,000 US troops in Niger who may soon be kicked out. The Americans are trying everything to stop the bleeding. This month alone, US Secretary of State for Africa Molly Phee visited Niger twice. Loss of bases in Niger will translate into Washington following Paris in losing control of the Sahel – as Niger moves closer to Russia and Iran.
These bases are not essential for exercising surveillance over Bab al-Mandeb; it’s all about the Sahel, with drones operating on its border and violating every sovereign airspace in sight.
Incidentally, a fierce delegation from Niamey visited Moscow in January. Then, last week, Putin discussed security cooperation in phone calls with Mali’s interim president, Assimi Goita, and Niger’s military junta president Abdourahmane Tchiani before speaking with Republic of Congo President Denis Nguesso.
Ivory Coast: The Empire turn-around
Pro-Western puppet regimes are rapidly disappearing across the African continent. The alliance of Sahel states – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – may be the vanguard of an African axis of resistance, but there is more, in the form of South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt as full BRICS members – not to mention serious contenders for the next wave of BRICS+, such as Algeria and Nigeria.
Russia, diplomatically, and China, commercially, plus the full weight of the Russia-China strategic partnership, are clearly focused on the long game – counting on Africa as a whole as a key multipolar player. Further evidence was provided once again during the multipolar conference in Moscow last month, where the charismatic Pan-African leader Kemi Seba of Benin was one of the superstars.
Pan-Eurasian diplomatic circles even allow themselves to joke about the recent outbursts of emotion from Le Petit Roi in Paris. The utter humiliation of France in the Sahel is probably one of the drivers behind Macron’s megalomaniacal threats to send French troops to Ukraine – which would be turned into beef tartare by the Russians in record time – and his eagerness to support Armenia’s current Russophobic stunts.
Historically, the fact remains that Africans viewed the former Soviet Union as much more benevolent and even supportive when it came to extracting natural resources, a goodwill that has now been transferred to China as well.
As a regional integration platform, the Alliance of the Sahel States has what it takes to become a game changer. Senegal under Faye may eventually join, but Guinea already offers the geographic capacity to give the alliance credible maritime access. It will lead to the gradual elimination of the Western-controlled, Nigeria-based ECOWAS.
Still, never reject the mighty tentacles of the Hegemon. The Pentagon’s master plan does not involve leaving Africa to a multipolar sphere of influence between Russia, China and Iran. Yet no one across the Sahel axis of resistance buys the US ‘terrorist threat’ card anymore. There was virtually zero terror in Africa until 2011, when NATO turned Libya into a wasteland, then put its boots on the ground and built military bases across the continent.
So far, the Alliance of Sahelian States is winning the information war without raising its hands. But there is no doubt that the Empire will fight back. After all, the whole game is tied to the Beltway’s supreme paranoia about Russia taking over the Sahel and Central Africa.
In comes the Ivory Coast, now that Senegal may be about to start flirting with the Alliance of Sahelian States.
Ivory Coast is more strategic for Washington than, for example, Chad because the Ivorian territory is very close to the Sahel alliance. Yet Chad has already recalibrated its foreign policy, which is no longer Western-controlled and comes with a new emphasis on getting closer to Moscow.
What lies ahead for the Empire? Perhaps US ‘anti-terror’ drones shared with Paris at French base in Ivory Coast to keep Sahel alliance at bay. Call it the humiliated Gallic rooster who embraces the Hegemon of West Africa without receiving the crumbs from an old croissant.
This article was published by The Cradle.
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