TEHRAN - Africa is full of natural resources. A tremendous amount of wealth lies in the continent. So why is a large part of this continent still languishing in poverty? 

Why are there so many electricity outages? Electricity cuts prevents businesses from operating and students from gaining an education, among the many other related aspects that have slowed economic growth. 

The West blames insecurity in Africa. But Africa blames the former colonial West for rising insecurity, insufficient progress in its critical infrastructure and resulting impoverishment.

The West, in particular France and the United States, insists it is all down to security issues and under this pretext it has, for a very long time, sent armed forces and set up military bases. 
Africa, on the other hand, has blamed colonization, imperialism, enslavement and racism that stretches back to some 500 years. The dark days of Western imperialism in Africa also saw massive theft and genocide. Over these centuries, the West looted pretty much from the continent to satisfy its own greed.

Niger is very rich in uranium ores. It produced 2,020 metric tons of uranium in 2022, about 5% of world mining output. It's why experts argue the solution to Africa’s problems cannot come from its Western tormentors and the very forces that have historically enslaved its people.

Some nations managed to expel their Western colonial masters and successfully sought ways to end poverty levels, security issues and foreign interference.

More recently, others, such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, also seeking sovereignty, have been following suit. 

Ten years ago, France sought to significantly increase its military presence in Africa by sending thousands of troops to the Sahel for “security purposes” and in a bid to prevent separatist forces from reaching Mali’s capital.

France’s military mission was a failure. Terrorist groups strengthened their foothold across the Sahel, turning large parts of the region ungovernable as well as triggering ethnic violence, especially in Mali and Burkina Faso.

A failed mission that critics say was an attempt by the former colonial power to re-impose its hegemony over the region.

Following the 2011 NATO-led military intervention in Libya, Daesh terrorists began expanding in the Sahel, which experts consider as the main factor behind the rise of terrorism in the region.

According to the 2023 Global Terrorism Index, the Sahel region in sub-Saharan Africa has turned into the epicenter of terrorism.

According to the report, over the last 15 years, terrorism in the Sahel has risen by more than 2,000 percent. In 2007 terrorism-related deaths in the Sahel constituted just one percent around the globe.

That has not gone down well with African nations affected by the insecurity brought by the West, in particular the U.S. and France.

Africa has seen a rise in coups over the years, which observers have blamed on Western installed governments that have done nothing to end security issues and offering no improvement to raise the standard of living.

Last year, the last French soldier was expelled from Mali, with Bamako going on to warn Paris against continued attempts to undermine its sovereignty and national security.

"The government of Mali reserves the right to exercise its right to self-defense if France continues to undermine the sovereignty of our country and to undermine its territorial integrity and its national security," Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told the UN Security Council. 

In January, Burkina Faso took the same step with strong demands for French forces to leave its territory.

The government said it would tackle security issues by itself rather than depending on France’s military, which had worsened the situation.

Paris reluctantly accepted. “We will comply with the terms of agreement by complying with this request," the French Foreign Ministry said.

The request by Ouagadougou was made after a sharp public rise in anti-French sentiment across Burkina Faso with protesters burning French flags.

During France’s military presence, Burkina Faso turned into one of the poorest countries in the world amid a growing presence of terrorist groups affiliated to al-Qaeda and Dash, which killed thousands of people and triggered a humanitarian crisis in the country.

France’s military presence not only saw a deteriorating security situation but prevented Burkina Faso from tapping into its rich mineral resources such as gold, zinc, copper, manganese, phosphate, and limestone in substantial quantities. The country also has reserves of diamonds, bauxite, nickel and vanadium. 
It now has the opportunity to use these resources and help lift its population from poverty.

The other main Western power wreaking havoc in Africa is the United States, which has 21 publicly known military facilities in fifteen countries on the continent.

Like France, the U.S. stands accused of expanding extremism and terrorism with its military measures and interventions, including secretly planned airstrikes, which no longer remain secret when the bombs slaughter innocent civilians and give rise to extremism.  

More recently, Niger, another victim of French colonialism which the U.S. has also violated its sovereignty, has seen President Mohamed Bazoum held under house arrest in a coup by his own presidential guards. General Abdourahmane Tchiani, the chief of the Nigerian presidential guard has declared himself leader, saying the measures were necessary to maintain security and stability.

A U.S. State Department spokesman has confirmed that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spoken to Bazoum several times. The spokesman refused to elaborate on the details of the talks. Following his detention, Bazoum has also penned an article for a U.S. newspaper in a plea for help from Washington.

On Saturday, he once again urged the U.S. to “restore order”.

Mass rallies have been held on the streets of Niger in support of the coup, with footages showing protesters waving Russian flags.

The U.S. has vowed to keep its military forces in the country, including its widely condemned drone bases.  

Analysts say that there is no good or bad coup, and that all coups are bad but that there is strong public support for the coup in Niger because many locals believe the President is too reliant on the West and has not done enough for them.

In the capital, Niamey, protesters staged a march that saw the French embassy come under attack.  

Western states, including former colonial power France, as well as some regional countries have imposed sanctions on Niger in an effort to mount pressure to reinstate Bazoum. The self-declared new military leader of Niger has remained defiant. He says the military will not back down despite the “inhumane” sanctions.

Sanctions is not a solution; it will only make the people of Niger poorer and increase their hatred against the West for leading the punitive measures.

Niger is very rich in uranium ores and critics accuse Western parties of trying to loot what is about five percent of the world’s mining output from Africa's highest-grade uranium ores through military means.

On Saturday, France said it "firmly backs" a West African bloc to reverse the coup. 

Russia has said that any foreign intervention must be limited to regional states and that any Western powers’ interference will only add fuel to the fire.

“It is unlikely that the intervention of non-regional forces is capable of changing the situation for the better,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

Moscow is “monitoring the situation very closely,” Peskov said, adding, “We are concerned about the tension in Niger, and we continue to favor a swift return to constitutional normality without endangering human lives.”
The Western model of the rules-based international order has not worked and nations are looking for other alternatives. French colonization is over. Nobody in Africa is seeking French colonial measures anymore.

Recently, more African nations have turned to other foreign powers, such as Russia and China, to combat terrorism on their soil in an effort to find a long-lasting solution to security challenges. These measures include measures such as Russia training national armies and ending the intervention of former Western colonial masters.

Africa is seeking foreign powers that help economic development and not plunder its resources.

The same African countries say this does not amount to severing diplomatic ties with the West. There is simply strong rejection of the colonial past and attempts to return that colonial rule. 

By Ali Karbalaei