My Thoughts on Africa

“The darkest thing about Africa has always been our ignorance of it.”

-George Kimble,
Geographer


Africa’s importance in the global marketplace and the international community is continually growing. It is by far the most mineral-rich region of the world and it also has abundant oil deposits. Currently four African nations are members of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), they are Algeria, Angola, Nigeria, and Libya. Gabon was also formerly a member of OPEC as well, but left in 1998.
The media in the United States seems to constantly overlook issues pertaining to suffering in Africa, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa which is far less affluent than countries in northern Africa which border the Mediterranean Sea and have established more durable economies. This is not only a flaw of the media, but the American people have often been ignorant to affairs of African nations. Unfortunately, the United States government is often as unaware and indecisive about matters of foreign policy concerning African nations.
Ignorance and a lack of adequate foreign policy pertaining to Africa will soon hurt American consumers and will serve as a detriment the status of the United States’ economy in the global marketplace. The primary cause for the majority of the economic hardships can be attributed to rising fuel costs. Many nations in the Middle East that export oil to the United States have decreased exportation of oil due to conflicts, which have arisen. In addition, many OPEC nations have begun to limit oil production and create strategic reserves so as to guarantee a reliable oil source in the future. Africa is the future of oil as most of its oil has not been tapped yet such as the recently discovered oil under Lake Albert on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Moreover, there are also financial advantages associated with importing oil from African sources as opposed to Middle Eastern sources. The most important advantage is the quality of the crude oil; most of the oil from Africa can be refined more easily than oil from the Middle East which would save millions in production costs. Additionally, also shipping costs are less when the oil is shipped from Africa as opposed to from the Middle East, especially when the oil is shipped from countries on the east coast of Africa such as Nigeria and Angola.
The genocide in Rwanda in 1994 unmistakably illustrates the United States government’s ignorance and inaction, which is well depicted in the film Hotel Rwanda. The genocide began on April 6, 1994 and by the time it ended in July 1994 nearly one million Rwandans had been killed.[i] On April 21, 1994 the United Nations Security Council, where the US has veto power, voted unanimously to withdraw UN peacekeepers that were in Rwanda before the genocide began. The following month on May 3, 1994 US President, Bill Clinton, signs a Presidential Decision Directive which reduced US military involvement in foreign peacekeeping operations. On May 17, 1994, more than a month after the conflict in Rwanda began; the United Nations announces that, “acts of genocide may have been committed.” On the same day the UN Security Council voted to send 5,500 UN peacekeepers back into Rwanda.
A more modern example of United States not wanting to intervene in African affairs is the genocide that is still occurring in the western region of Sudan, known as Darfur. Unlike most conflicts in Africa, the American public seems reasonably aware of and outraged by the conflict in Darfur.
Many African nations have the potential to emerge as major exporters of crude oil in the global market. Currently the United States receives 12% of its crude oil imports from western Africa. Furthermore, the US National Intelligence Council predicts that by 2015 the US will receive more than a quarter of its crude oil imports from western Africa. Africa has more natural resources than any other region in the world. In addition to diamonds and oil also has an abundance of many other natural resources including: 99% of the world’s chrome, 85% of the world’s platinum, 68% of the world’s cobalt, and more than half of the world’s gold.[ii] Unfortunately, the profits from Africa’s natural resources often line the pockets of corrupt government officials and corporate executives instead of the millions of poor Africans who desperately need it. In order to fully utilize African Nations as trading partners in the future the United States will have to make genuine attempts to ameliorate the situation in many African Nations. United States must become and remain a reliable and ubiquitous source of aid for emerging African nations.
China has taken the opportunity to buy African oil fields and offer aid in exchange for natural resources; meanwhile the US has sat on the sidelines as potentially lucrative African deals go to China.
One problem that faces many African nations is that they have only become sovereign nations within the past fifty years. In the 1960’s and 1970’s many European colonies and territories in Africa became independent countries. Since gaining impendence from European countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Portugal many African nations have frequently been subjected to civil wars, military coups, and political instability.
Another issue which needs to be addressed is the stark difference in the quality of life for people living in North Africa as opposed to people living in sub-Saharan Africa. People in North Africa are on average more literate, wealthier, and healthier than their sub-Saharan counterparts. Furthermore economies and governments in North Africa are far more stable than those in sub-Saharan Africa.

[i] http://www.unitedartists.com/hotelrwanda/main.html
[ii] DEALING WITH AFRICA'S RESOURCE CURSE; AllAfrica 09-02-2007