Africa in Review 2022

Abayomi AzikiweGhana AAPC, Dec. 1958

Regional Dynamics and Continental Security

Developments in West, Central and East Africa highlights major obstacles to unity and sovereignty

“AGENDA 2063 is Africa’s blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future. It is the continent’s strategic framework that aims to deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development and is a concrete manifestation of the pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance The genesis of Agenda 2063 was the realization by African leaders that there was a need to refocus and reprioritize Africa’s agenda from the struggle against apartheid and the attainment of political independence for the continent which had been the focus of The Organization of African Unity (OAU), the precursor of the African Union; and instead to prioritize inclusive social and economic development, continental and regional integration, democratic governance and peace and security amongst other issues aimed at repositioning Africa to becoming a dominant player in the global arena.”
Quoted from African Union 2063 introductory paragraph. (https://au.int/en/agenda2063/overview)

There of course cannot be the realization of the Africa 2063 project until an internal and interstate relations framework between the 55 member-states which makeup the African Union (AU) reach a level of political equilibrium.

Notions surrounding the 2063 goals envision the greater economic, political and security links among all of the regions and states on the continent.

These ideas are by no means novel since the work of an earlier generation of African leaders such as Dr. Kwame Nkrumah advanced a theoretical program as early as 1945-1947, where in his book “Toward Colonial Freedom”, the future prime minister and president of Ghana placed the struggles for independence and development within a broader Pan-African and anti-imperialist ideology. Although the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) did not meet the criteria established by Nkrumah and other anti-capitalist leaders and organizations as the ultimate expression of unification and socialism, since 1963, the concepts defining African governmental cooperation have advanced.

Recognizing the existential threat of Revolutionary Pan-Africanism to imperialism, the intelligence agencies and military apparatuses of the western states sought to destabilize and physically remove those political parties and liberation movements which fundamentally attacked the structures of national oppression and economic exploitation. Subsequently, neo-colonialism became the dominant threat to self-determination and unity among the African people and other post-colonial societies globally.

During the OAU period of the armed phase of the African Revolution for the total liberation of Southern Africa and other geo-political regions, the Liberation Committee played an important role in coordinating material assistance to the freedom fighters. This state assistance to the liberation movements in Africa was a reflection of the broad mass sentiment on the part of workers, youth, revolutionary intellectuals, artists and farmers in support of a rapid process of decolonization.

According to Nkrumah in Toward Colonial Freedom: “That under imperialism war cannot be averted and that a coalition between the proletarian movement in the capitalist countries and the colonial movement, against the world front of imperialism becomes inevitable. It is, therefore, in this alone that the hope of freedom and independence for the colonies lies. But how to achieve this? First and foremost, organization of the colonial masses. The duty of any worthwhile colonial movement for national liberation, however, must be the organization of labor and youth; and the abolition of political illiteracy. This should be accomplished through mass political education which keeps in constant contact with the masses of colonial peoples. This type of education should do away with that kind of intelligentsia who have become the very architects of colonial enslavement.” (https://www.dirzon.com/Doc/ReaderAsync?target=telegram%3AKwame%20Nkrumah,%20Towards%20Colonial%20Freedom,%201947.pdf)

These principles articulated during the post-World War II period must be merged with the contemporary existing realities of the African continent and the overall international situation. Therefore, the interference of imperialism into the internal affairs of the African people remains a major source of disunity and displacement among millions across the continent.

Burkina Faso, Ghana and ECOWAS

A recent diplomatic row between the West African states of Ghana and Burkina Faso provides an example of the role of imperialism in the 21st century. The current Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo has been one of the few African heads-of-state who has ventured to criticize the Russian Federation’s special military operation in neighboring Ukraine.

The official position of the AU is characterized by the call for a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis. This view has been a point of disagreement between the White House and the AU member-states since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict in late February 2022 up until the U.S. and African leaders summit held during mid-December.

It is no secret that the political tradition represented by President Akufo-Addo has been the antithesis of that which is represented by Nkrumah and his Convention People’s Party (CPP) which led the former Gold Coast to independence in 1957. At present Ghana has security relations with the Pentagon’s United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) while recently receiving clearance for the acceptance of a multi-billion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Since the overthrow of the CPP government in February 1966, the Ghana experience with the IMF and other western-based financial institutions has been marred by the imposition of policies which stifle the growth of state structures and independent economic initiatives. The 600 industrial projects enacted by the Nkrumah-CPP government of the 1950s and 1960s were liquidated by the subsequent military and neo-liberal regimes which have ruled Ghana for over five decades.

Burkina Faso, which has experienced two military coups during this year, has grown frustrated with the failure of the French military and AFRICOM to defeat the Islamist insurgency which has killed many Burkinabe soldiers and civilians. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced while the economy has not benefited from the close military alliance with Paris and Washington.

Among the military government and the people, there is a burgeoning political orientation towards the Russian Federation. During the aftermath of the most recent coup which brought Ibrahim Traore to power on September 30, many were seen in the streets flying both Burkinabe and Russian flags. The French embassy was violently attacked by Burkinabe youth and burned along with other symbols of neo-colonialism inside the landlocked West African state.

Could this saber rattling on the part of the Ghana president be a gesture aimed at winning favor from the U.S.? Why would such a statement from Akufo-Addo while representatives from 49 African states were patiently involved in meetings with the White House, the Pentagon and State Department?

Both Ghana and Burkina Faso have gone through revolutionary phases within their post-independence political trajectory. Under Nkrumah between 1948, when he and other leading figures within the United Gold Coast Convention (UGGC) were detained after a national rebellion which swept the country early that year, until he was later imprisoned as leader of the CPP during 1950-1951. The transitional period of 1950-51 marked by the positive action general strike to 1957, the year of independence, remained focused on African unity. After 1957, there was the convening of two major conferences the following year, 1958, which called for the total independence and unification of independent Africa.

In Burkina Faso, Captain Thomas Sankara led a military coup of lower-ranking officers in 1983 which sought to initiate a revolution based upon many of the ideas already advanced by Nkrumah and other socialists namely Fidel Castro and Che Guevara of Cuba and Argentina. However, in October 1987, the Burkinabe Revolution was betrayed by elements within its leadership which fell victim to the machination of France and its allies in the West Africa region.

Sankara’s administration was overthrown at the time of his brutal assassination. A trial of the former leader, Blaise Compaore, who was used in the reversal of the Revolution and the cold- blooded murder of Sankara, has taken place inside the country. Compaore was himself removed from office in 2014 by a national uprising of the people in Burkina Faso. It was this fact of history which occurred decades after the October 1987 imperialist-instigated coup against Sankara.

Burkina Faso, Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR) have all invited the Wagner Group, a Russian-based military services firm, to assist them in countering the rebels which have proved to be a formidable adversary. Why should the security imperatives of modern-day Burkina Faso in regard to relationships with the Wagner Group undergirded by the popular solidarity in the country with the Russian Federation emerge as a cause for concern for the Ghana government?

Relations between West African and all continental states in order to be effective needs to be based upon mutual cooperation, interests and respect. Obviously, since the 1960s, the role of international finance capital has further underdeveloped Africa. These diplomatic confrontations involving the summoning and withdrawal of ambassadors from one African capital to another, does nothing to advance the struggle for actual security and genuine sovereignty.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has a noble mission of building unity among its 15 member-states. Such a conflict between Burkina Faso and Ghana further complicates the already delicate status of ECOWAS in its attempts to reestablish civilian rule in Mali, Guinea-Conakry and Burkina Faso.

Peacekeeping and the World Economic Crisis

Sadc Forces In Mozambique

Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) exemplify the nexus between regional cooperation and the post-pandemic recovery

During the course of 2022, the security situation in the eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) became a flashpoint for international concern and East African military intervention.

The-then outgoing Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta through a series of statements provided a clear indication that his country, the largest economy in the East African Community (EAC), would send a military force to the contested areas of the DRC where the credibility of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force (MONUSCO), which has been in the mineral-rich state for nearly two decades, has completely evaporated.

Since November 2021, the rebels have escalated their attacks on civilians while fighting several battles with the Congolese military. These M23 fighters are making demands on the DRC government in Kinshasa claiming that the previous administration of President Joseph Kabila had refused to integrate them into the Congolese national defense forces.

The clashes between M23 and the recently arrived EAC peacekeeping forces are ongoing despite the multilateral agreement which was reached in the Republic of Angola during November where the governments of the DRC and Rwanda settled upon a disengagement of forces. M23 was not a part of the negotiations and consequently is not a signatory to the agreement.

Angola and the DRC are member-states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which encompasses 16 governments from throughout the sub-continent and Indian Ocean island-territories. However, the soldiers involved in the EAC peacekeeping operations are all from East Africa. (https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2022/11/25/East-African-force-M23-Congo-EAC-Uganda-Rwanda)

Mass demonstrations have been held in several towns in the eastern DRC against the continuing presence of MONUSCO. Residents of these communities in North Kivu around Goma and other areas say that the UN peacekeepers are not fulfilling their mandate to protect civilians from violent attacks by the M23 rebel organization.

According to a recent report on the situation in eastern DRC:
“Fighting between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and suspected members of the M23 rebel group continues in North Kivu Province as of Dec. 28. Clashes reportedly resumed Dec. 26 in the Bishusha, Tongo, Karenga, and Karuli areas. Around 50 people suspected of collaborating with ethnic Hutu Congolese militias were also reportedly kidnapped by M23 rebels in Rusekera. This comes after forces of the East African Community (EAC) officially took back control of Kibumba, a town located about 20 km (12 miles) from Goma, Dec. 23, after the M23 rebels withdrew from the area following a joint conference between the M23, officials of the EAC regional force and some members of the Joint Verification Mechanism of the Great Lakes region, Dec. 22.” (https://crisis24.garda.com/alerts/2022/12/drc-clashes-between-m23-rebels-and-security-forces-continue-in-north-kivu-province-as-of-dec-28-update-5)

Neighboring Rwanda has been accused of arming and bankrolling the M23 rebels. Rwandan President Paul Kagame denies backing the rebels despite the allegations being made also by the United States and France.

M23 is reportedly composed of the Tutsi ethnic group which lives in the eastern DRC. The rebels are often described as Rwandans since they come from the same ethnicity as the ruling party in Kigali.

The 1994 genocide in Rwanda remains a cornerstone of Kagame’s domestic and foreign policies. Hutu ethnic leaders who controlled the Rwandan government during the early 1990s coordinated the attempted extermination of the Tutsis. The Rwanda administration accuses the DRC of harboring the same Hutu elements which carried out the mass killings nearly three decades ago. France, which had troops in Rwanda at the time when the genocide which began in April 1994, has had a rocky diplomatic relationship with Kigali.

Until the processes of reconciliation and renewal are satisfactorily completed in regard to the events of 1994, there will continue to be tensions between the two major ethnic groupings in Rwanda. Neighboring states in East and Central Africa cannot avoid being cognizant of this history which is a manifestation of the legacy of German and Belgian colonialism which institutionalized ethnic stratification and animosity during the late 19th century extending well into the conclusion of the 20th century.

SADC, Rwanda and the Security Crisis in Mozambique

Although there are no SADC peacekeeping forces operating in the eastern region of the DRC, they are involved in another member-states’ security crisis, that being the Republic of Mozambique. Interestingly enough, Rwanda, which is considered an aggressor by the DRC administration of President Felix Tshisekedi, is playing an important role in the counter-insurgency efforts in northern Mozambique.

France. which has been reluctant to accept any responsibility for the genocide in Rwanda, appears to be cooperating with Kigali which deployed its military forces operating in Cabo Delgado protecting the natural gas resources being developed by Total, a French-based energy firm.

Over the last several years a group initially calling itself “al-Shabaab” has attacked the massive Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) project now underway in Cabo Delgado province. Mozambique is well-endowed with natural gas resources offshore in the Indian Ocean.

Due to the armed attacks by the Islamist insurgents, which appear to have no connection with the rebels of the same name in the Horn of Africa state of Somalia, the LNG development was suspended during 2020. With the intervention of Rwanda and the SADC Mission to Mozambique (SAMIM), the situation has improved significantly enabling the production and export of natural gas to resume.

SADC on its website says of the mission in Mozambique that:

“The operation of SAMIM is supported by the Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) which reports to the Head of Mission and the SADC Executive Secretary. Since its deployment, SAMIM has registered a number of milestones, including recapturing villages, dislodging terrorists from their bases and seizing weapons and warfare material, which has contributed to create a relatively secure environment for safer passage of humanitarian support. Additionally, members of the community have developed confidence in SAMIM forces, feeling more secure and allowing internally displaced persons to return to their normal lives SAMIM comprises troops deployment from eight (8) Personnel Contributing Countries from SADC namely, Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia, working in collaboration with the Forças Armadas de Defesa de Moçambique (FADM) and other troops deployed to Cabo Delgado to combat acts of terrorism and violent extremism.” (https://www.sadc.int/latest-news/sadc-mission-mozambique-samim-brief)

Insecurity and the Anticipated Global Recession

The securing of energy resources during this period is essential in light of a burgeoning economic crisis throughout the AU region and the world. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago, the capitalist world has undergone tremendous turmoil necessitating the reconfiguration of the production of goods and services.

Compounding the efforts to emerge from the pandemic-induced higher levels of displacement, business closures, supply chain bottlenecks and far higher rates of inflation not experienced in four decades, are undoubtedly, the circumstances which prompted the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. Oil and natural gas became weapons in the war by the U.S. and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to weaken Russia and even remove the administration of President Vladimir Putin.

As the war approaches its first anniversary, there is no consistent indication that the White House will seek a negotiated settlement between Kyiv and Moscow unless it involves a complete capitulation to NATO. The imperialist military alliance has been expanding its membership and territory since the collapse of the socialist countries in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The administration of President Joe Biden has proven its Cold War credentials by starting a protracted war in Eastern Europe and provoking military operations by the People’s Republic of China involving Taiwan. Outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi led a Congressional delegation to Taiwan making a direct threat to Beijing and repudiating the “One China” policy in effect since the 1970s.

Consumer prices for petroleum, electricity and natural gas have risen substantially since February of 2022. The costs for food, transportation, rents, mortgages and other essential products and services have increased making life even more difficult for billions of people around the world.

Although the Biden administration and NATO has sought to make Moscow appear as the instigator of the Ukraine war, the origin of the current conflagration extends at least back to 2014 when the former President Barack Obama’s White House engineered the overthrow of the Ukraine government and the violent suppression of the Russian population along with anti-fascist forces.

African people must take all of these factors into consideration in formulating domestic and foreign policy imperatives for the coming year and beyond. The scarcity of energy resources within the NATO countries has already resulted in greater demand for the continent’s natural gas and oil. This has been evidenced with the visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Algeria during 2022 in his campaign to mitigate the negative impact of natural gas shortages stemming from sanctions against Russia.

The AU member-states must leverage this demand from Western Europe to build up its infrastructure in preparation for the coming economic downturns. Consequently, Pan-Africanism is a necessity for the continent in order to achieve sustainability and genuine development.

Mounting Challenges Require Long Term Solutions

Ethiopia Government And Tplf Peace Accord

Peace accord in Ethiopia, COP27 at Sharm-el-Sheikh and the second continental public health summit portends much for the coming years

A report in the Voice of America, the public international news service for the United States State Department, said that there were troop movements by the State of Eritrea from areas in the Tigray province of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia where a war has been waged over the last two years. (https://www.voanews.com/a/eritrean-forces-begin-withdrawal-as-ethiopia-tigray-peace-agreement-holds-/6898071.html)

However, claims of the presence of Eritrean soldiers engaged in the territorial defense of Ethiopia has never been the source of the complete breakdown of relations between the current government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which between 1991 and 2018 ruled the Horn of Africa state through the framework of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

The EPRDF regime collapsed under the political weight of a national rebellion which brought Abiy to power in April 2018. His administration has faced numerous challenges particularly in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, regional differences with Egypt and Sudan as well as an overall downturn stemming from the impact of the world capitalist crisis spawned by the Russian-Ukraine war in Eastern Europe.

During November, the peace talks which resulted in a landmark accord to demilitarize the Tigray province and reestablish central Ethiopian authority over the northern areas of the country of 122 million people, was brokered by envoys empowered by the African Union (AU) based in Addis Ababa. The first round of the discussions was facilitated by the host Republic of South Africa in Pretoria, under Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr. Naledi Pandor, while elder statesmen and former President Olusegun Obasanjo of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Republic of Kenya recently outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta utilized their diplomatic standing and political experience to secure the agreement.

Later in Nairobi, other aspects were discussed related to the process of military disengagement and the reintegration of Tigray back into the national infrastructure of Ethiopia. In the concluding weeks of 2022 there was the reconnection of phone services and the deployment of police from the federal government into Mekelle, the provincial capital. Flights have resumed between Addis Ababa and Mekelle.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden would have much preferred the overthrow of the Abiy government in Addis Ababa and the replacement of the ruling Prosperity Party with a TPLF-led regime. Even prior to the removal of former President Donald Trump in 2020, the war had erupted on November 4, 2020, around the time of the contentious elections which aggravated a deeply divided political culture in the world’s leading capitalist and imperialist state.

Nonetheless, when the Biden administration came to power in January 2021 the same antagonistic posture towards Ethiopia continued. It would take a mass campaign led by Ethiopian and Eritrean Americans to defeat a sanctions bill aimed at crippling the economy of two Horn of Africa states. This bill which remains stalled in Congress was drafted over and above the suspension of Ethiopia from the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade program which was initiated under the administration of former President Bill Clinton in 2000.

The peace accord if fully implemented will not completely resolve the question of national unity in Ethiopia. Large scale displacement and fighting continues in the southern Oromo province where clashes are taking place on a daily basis. People within the Afar and Amhara provinces and communities were drawn into the war against the TPLF. Over the border with Sudan, there are refugees in need of resettlement inside Ethiopia.

Despite these ongoing monumental problems, the peace accord in Ethiopia and the role of the AU has been hailed as a major achievement in line with the need to find African solutions to African problems. Such an approach could serve as a model for efforts to resolve the national and regional crises of relations which are in large measure prompted by the legacy of imperialism.

COP27: Egypt Provided Platform for African Proposals to Address Climate Change

Another series of extreme weather events in Africa have reemphasized the worsening threat of environmental degradation. In the KwaZulu-Natal region of the Republic of South Africa floods struck the urban areas around the strategic port city of Durban leaving thousands homeless.

Erratic rains and prolonged periods of drought are causing havoc within the agricultural production sector along with manufacturing impacted by power cuts and the dislocation of work forces. Somalia in the Horn of Africa has been on the verge of famine since the early months of 2022. Disruptions in the agricultural supply chains due to the war in Ukraine and the unprecedented draconian sanctions against the Russian Federation by numerous imperialist states has hampered the importation of grain along with inputs such as fertilizers on the African continent.

Therefore, when the United Nations Climate Conference (COP27) was scheduled to be held at the Egyptian resort area of Sharm-el-Sheikh, this historic site and event fostered the belief among many that the African condition would receive a proper hearing. There were several preliminary meetings which led up to the actual summit.

Nevertheless, the large-scale presence of U.S. diplomatic and corporate representatives placed a damper on the overall tenor of the deliberations. Even though there was momentum for some form of a breakthrough in regard to acknowledging the obligations of the western industrialized capitalist states for the proliferation of greenhouse gas emissions, the resistance from the imperialists was formidable.

Towards the end of the conference there was the announcement of some type of fund which would address the impact of multinational corporations and their governments for environmental damage. However, the details remain murky while many can remember previous promises of compensation within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework a decade or more ago. The character of international finance capital operates within its own self-serving logic. A sharp increase in profits for the oil and natural gas firms based in the industrialized countries coupled with the economic and military conflagration involving the Russian Federation has intensified the scramble for energy resources on a global scale.

Therefore, the focus on halting further environmental degradation caused by climate change represents a major aspect of the struggle between the imperialist states and the majority populations and nations within the Global South. The future of the world will be determined by the outcome of the inevitable clash of the wealthy capitalist and imperialists against the workers, farmers and youth of the world.

African CDC Holds Second Public Health Summit in Kigali

Emerging from the almost exclusive pandemic virtual mode of conferences since early 2020, the Conference on Public Health in Africa held its second gathering in Rwanda in early December 2022. The summit highlighted the work of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an affiliate of the AU located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (https://africacdc.org/news-item/africa-cdc-announces-2nd-annual-international-conference-on-public-health-in-africa-cphia-2022-13-15-december-2022-kigali-rwanda/)

This meeting mobilized African youth, scientists and medical workers to discuss the public health status within the AU member-states. At present the coronavirus pandemic appears to be lessening although new concerns have arisen in Uganda with the outbreak of the Sudan variant of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). Mpox, which had largely been an infectious disease seen in several West and Central African states, during 2022 made its appearance as a public health concern for people in the Western countries.

The African CDC holds internationally broadcast weekly briefings where data is presented on the number of recorded cases of Covid, Ebola, Mpox, cholera and a host of other diseases which threaten the continent and the international community. Statistics on the number of coronavirus vaccines administered by AU member-states are reported along with the efforts to enhance collaboration among scientists and healthcare professionals.

These briefings are open to members of various media agencies across Africa and throughout the world. Questions are often asked about the effectiveness of data collection and the progress being made in regard to the development of vaccines and other medicinal manufacturing on the continent.

The construction of continent-wide public health infrastructure institutions is vital in the realization of Pan-Africanism in the 21st century. As the population of Africa extends beyond its present 1.4 billion, the need for larger numbers of trained healthcare workers and researchers will grow exponentially. Retaining the workers within the AU member-states is of equal importance in light of the so-called “brain drain” from the continent to the imperialist states which can in many instances offer higher salaries and better employment conditions.

This does not mean that the migration of African technical workers even in the much-demanded healthcare sectors remain absent of difficulties. Inside the U.S. and the United Kingdom, there is much discontent among doctors and nurses who were severely impacted by health problems and labor distress during the height of the pandemic. Strikes in both the U.S. and UK by healthcare workers illustrates the heightening contradictions manifested by the escalating class struggle.

Africa must rapidly move towards political and economic unification under socialism in order to effectively tackle the problems of inter-continental cooperation, environmental degradation and public health. The role of the people of the continent will inevitably make an enormous contribution to the broader struggle for the achievement of self-determination, economic justice and social emancipation.