Exploitation of Terrorist Unrest in Africa by China and Russia
‘What happens in Africa will not stay in Africa,’ said Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.).
Terrorist groups are spreading rapidly throughout Africa and will likely target Western nations in the near future, according to one member of Congress.
The continued influence of the groups is also inadvertently ceding the region to China and Russia, said Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) during a Dec. 12 talk at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) think tank.
“We need to be very aware of the threat,” Mr. Panetta said.
“Not only is the violence going to extend to the littoral states … there clearly is a growing threat of the [Violent Extremist Organizations] moving from the Middle East into Africa and using that as a fertile ground upon which they could launch another attack against the West.”
Mr. Panetta described a recent trip to Africa with congressional colleagues as “eye opening.”
He said that U.S. engagement in Africa, particularly throughout the Sahel region, was being overlooked as the nation contends with funding wars in Gaza and Ukraine, as well as the looming threat of a Chinese communist invasion of Taiwan.
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Subsequently, he said, the United States may be failing to deter malign actors from carrying out terror attacks against the nation and its allies.
Coups Spread as Communities Fear Terrorism
Mr. Panetta’s journey to Africa follows a half a dozen coups that have rocked the Sahel and surrounding region in two years.
In Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, the army elements that seized power claimed the coups would better allow them to fight against Islamic terrorists.
Katherine Zimmerman, a fellow at AEI, said that the situation was highly “dynamic,” and that the coups often occurred as a response to the threat of terror groups which have spread through the Sahel following wars in the Middle East and northern Africa over the past two decades.
Ms. Zimmerman said that, while many did not want to be ruled by the fiat of a military junta, they were willing to take some semblance of stability and protection from terrorists wherever it came from.
“Most people on the ground, they don’t want to have Al-Qaeda or Islamic State or other actors dominating their communities,” Ms. Zimmerman said. “They just see no choice to ensure their futures.”
The irony, she added, was that the United States could easily “outcompete” the terror groups for influence, but was failing to fund nonmilitary missions to Africa.
China, Russia Expand Amid Unrest
Mr. Panetta said that many post-coup nations in Africa have endeavored to deepen ties with China and Russia while turning away from the United States and Europe due to that lack of engagement.
“They want American engagement but, unfortunately, there wasn’t that economic engagement,” Mr. Panetta said. “So who did they go to? They went to the Chinese.”
Likewise, Niger’s military junta has revoked security agreements with European partners and instead embraced a new security relationship with Russia. That’s not only a problem for influence, but also international security, as Niger is the world’s seventh largest producer of uranium, vital for the production of nuclear power and weapons of mass destruction.
The organization has committed “campaigns of mass killing, torture, and rape” and is linked to military coups in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, and Mali, according to the report.
It has also seized control of industrial-level gold and diamond mining operations, granting Russia a sanctions-proof means of building wealth.
“In CAR, Wagner has perfected a blueprint for state capture, supporting a criminalized state hijacked by the Central African president and his inner circle, amassing military power, securing access to and plundering precious minerals, and subduing the population with terror,” the report says.
