The US in Africa

Those who think Africa isn’t on the U.S. radar should think again. With a “Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa” approved by Obama in June 2012, Washington has just nominated a new commander of the U.S. Africa Command, an agency created in 2007 and headquartered in Stuttgart. General David Rodriguez, who just recently had a hearing before the Senate, outlined his plan: What is happening in Mali has ramifications, and the U.S. must be better prepared to face al-Qaida and its affiliates in a continent that holds a lot of potential, but also a lot of danger. For Rodriguez, AFRICOM is off to a rocky start and needs to adapt.

The truth is that in the last two years, the U.S. has participated militarily and logistically in Libya, Somalia and now in Mali. Yes, Mali. The celerity with which France acted on the field wouldn’t have been possible without North American support, which also provided information, surveillance and communications support.

Little by little, the “global war on terror” is sweeping across Africa, even if that expression is no longer used. In the last few years, the U.S. has transferred technology — drones — as well as military and human resources to a handful of African platforms in Ethiopia, the Seychelles and Kenya, and it has a base in Djibouti that supports missions in Somalia and Yemen. In total, 5,000 men — less than the 28,000 in South Korea — are on the continent under AFRICOM’s command.

It probably won’t take long to jump from Germany to a location closer to operations (Cape Verde?). The intent is clear: to monitor the more complicated sources of terrorism (Mali, Nigeria, Somalia), to be able to act quickly with drones or, if decided, by other means and to establish political partnerships through security safeguards. That’s already underway in Niger, and Burkina Faso has been added to the equation.

In this regional context, consider the west coast, particularly the Gulf of Guinea, where the Azores could have an interesting say with regard to the Lajes [Air Base]. The question is whether Lisbon has done everything it can to that effect.