Delayed reaction by Western countries

The growing influence of emerging countries in Africa is causing reactions in the countries of the West. Sebastian Santander explains,  “Although Europe has lost interest somewhat in Africa, it has also taken note of the fact that the emerging countries are more and more present there, that they are investing in sectors such as mining and that this is a threat to Europe’s interests in the region. The Europeans are talking about a new colonization of Africa, but beyond the rhetoric, there are very few changes in European policy with regard to this continent. Attempts are being made to intensify economic and commercial relations by negotiating agreements such as free trade zones between the European Union and certain countries or regional African groups. In actual fact, the Europeans remain very turned in on themselves and are mainly preoccupied with the current development of Europe”. There also seems to be a delayed reaction from the American side. “Under the Obama administration, Africa has been the poor relation of American foreign policy. A more assertive policy might reasonably be expected of someone whose father was Kenyan. It was not until the end of the first term of President Obama in 2012 that political, economic and commercial relations were relaunched”.
 
The growing influence of emerging countries in Africa modifies the geopolitics of the Dark Continent somewhat. “This is the case in Sudan, for example, a country which supplies 8% of China’s oil” (2), notes the head of the Center for International Relations Studies at ULg. “For years, important conflicts have plagued the North and the South, the East and the West of Sudan. Yet, the majority of oilfields are located in Southern Sudan while the infrastructures for exploiting and exporting the oil are located in the North. This situation endangered China’s interests forcing it to try to encourage a rapprochement between the parties in order to find a solution. China has therefore played the role of political mediator where a more active role on the part of South Africa might reasonably have been expected given that it is considered as a hegemonic leader in Africa”.

One of the objectives of the work is to find out whether the expansion of emerging countries in Africa is the expression of a progressive decentralization of world power. “This is clearly the case”, says Sebastian Santander. “The countries of the North have lost markets to emerging countries and their relative influence in Africa is decreasing. The balance of power is changing, but this development is occurring very slowly. For this to be more significant, the African countries would need to adopt collective strategies with regard to the emerging countries, Europe and the United States. This is still very rare. With the notable exception of South Africa, African countries have not yet adopted a long-term strategy with regard to their relations with external players”.  

(2) Africa supplies China with 30% of its oil requirements.