The scramble for Africa has taken on new meaning with different terrorist groups wanting to get their hands on Africa’s resources for funding, and on its people for warfare, a conference on terrorism in Johannesburg heard on Wednesday.
Uncut gems worth somewhere between $170-million and $370-million are smuggled out of Sierra Leone each year, according to ambassador Daudi Mwakawago, special representative of the United Nations secretary general in the West African country.
Of this, ”a not-inconsiderable portion … eventually finds its way into Hezbollah’s coffers”, Peter Pham, director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, said in his column on Reportingwar.com.
But Hezbollah is not the only group wanting to spread its wings in Africa.
In June an online magazine for actual and aspiring global jihadis and their supporters, Sada al-Jihad (Echo of Jihad), which in late 2005 took the place of Sawt al-Jihad (Voice of Jihad) as the publication of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, ran a four-page article by Abu Azzam al-Ansari entitled ”al-Qaeda is moving to Africa”.
”There is no doubt that al-Qaeda and the holy warriors appreciate the significance of the African regions for the military campaigns against the crusaders. Many people sense that this continent has not yet found its proper and expected role and the next stages of the conflict will see Africa as the battlefield,” wrote al-Ansari.
Al-Ansari then proceeded to evaluate the advantages of shifting al-Qaeda operations to Africa.
Some of the advantages he mentions are:
- The poverty of Africa ”will enable the holy warriors to provide some finance and welfare, thus posting there some of their influential operatives”;
- The links to Europe through North Africa, ”which facilitates the move from there to carry out attacks”; and
- The fact that Africa has a wealth of natural resources, including hydrocarbons and other raw materials, which are ”very useful for the holy warriors in the intermediate and long term”.
”In general, this continent has an immense significance. Whoever looks at Africa can see that it does not enjoy the interest, efforts and activity it deserves in the war against the crusaders.
”This is a continent with many potential advantages and exploiting this potential will greatly advance the jihad. It will promote achieving the expected targets of jihad. Africa is a fertile soil for the advance of jihad and the jihadi cause,” wrote al-Ansari.
But speaking at the conference on combating and preventing terrorism in Africa on Wednesday, Pham said it is important to remember that although terrorist groups may be exploiting Africans because of their poverty, terrorists have nothing in common with the poor and desolate.
Referring to Charles Taylor as an example, the Liberian ex-president and warlord who has been accused of the deaths of 200 000 Liberians, Pham said Taylor had very little in common with Liberians, but he still managed to use them effectively.
Pham also spoke on why extremism and terrorism have developed in Africa. The reasons he gave were: poor governance in African states, corruption, radical ideology or religious beliefs, opposition to Western policies and a desire to impose a new political order.
”The fact is that our enemies have been very forthcoming in what they are up to, but for a variety of reasons — ranging from the general neglect of Africa in United States foreign policy circles, to concerns about overstretched resources, to the unwillingness to acknowledge a problem lest it compel us to act — many have chosen to give the extremists a virtually free pass,” wrote Pham in his column on Reportingwar.com.