For some years now there has been a resurgence of interest in the African continent by the great powers. If the United States has made a noticeable return to its stance of the end of the 1990s, it is far from being the only nation to have done so regarding this part of the world. In fact countries such as Japan, India, and even more so China, have increased their presence in what was until only a short time ago regarded as Europe’s historical preserve. The ‘conquest’ of Africa, a continent rich in raw materials (oil, gold, cobalt, timber, uranium) represents a major stake at the start of the twenty-first century. Amongst other things, it is at the heart of a struggle for influence which is becoming more and more aggressive, often to the detriment of the African countries themselves. One can see on the African scene a real game of Go, each great power trying to establish itself, struggling for position. Henceforth how is the United States going to establish itself on the African continent?

The Fight Against Terrorism

Although the United States’s interest in Africa was reawakened at the end of the 1990s, this interest was strongly reinforced after the events of 11 September 2001. The ancient caravan route from Libya to Mauritania being an area of possible interest to al-Qaeda and its followers, the United States launched the Pan Sahel Initiative (PSI) in 2002. It comprised a partnership between the United States, Mali, Niger, Chad and Mauritania based on the training of military units and fostering Saharan/Maghreb cooperation in the fight against terrorism. This programme, financed by up to $7.5 million, includes basic weapon training, planning, communications, patrolling and medical support.⁽¹⁾ Following up the success of this programme the United States launched a more ambitious project in 2005—the Trans Saharan Counterterrorism Partnership, with a budget of $100 million per year up until 2010. In addition to the four countries already involved in the PSI, five others are involved in this new initiative: Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia.⁽²⁾ The programme still covers military training for the African countries in the fight against terrorism, but equally promotes regional stability. Within this framework the programme provides a role for USAID (promoting education), the Department of State (airport security) and for the Treasury (finance). Also, the Americans organise joint military exercises with these countries (e.g. Exercise Flintlock).

In order to better control the Horn of Africa and its sea lanes, and to help in the fight against terrorism, the United States now has a presence in Djibouti, formerly the traditional preserve of France. In October 2002 Washington created the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa to fight against terrorism and to improve security in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Yemen, as well as in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Besides a military presence, in 2003 the Department of State set up a new programme targeting East Africa (East African Counter Terrorism Program). Financed by up to $100 million, the initiative includes training programmes to guarantee border and coastal security, stiffening control of the movement of goods and people between countries, etc.⁽³⁾ Finally, the Joint Task Force 150 armada comprising, amongst others, ships from America, France and Germany, patrols the Gulf of Aden and the waters around the Horn of Africa. With respect to the Sudan, whilst the United States has from the start been very active over Darfur, it may be accused of a certain ambiguity: critical on the subject of Darfur, but supportive of the Sudanese government in its fight against terrorism. The Sudanese government reportedly provided certain of its agents to the United States to gather information on the Iraqi uprising and assisted the United States in the overturning of the Islamic Tribunals in Somalia.