Algeria, undermining West Africa’s success

Separating from France

France and the former western colonizers of Africa are losing their influence over most of Africa and West Africa (Burkina, Mali and Niger) in particular. These three countries took control of their own destiny and severed all significant ties with France having realized that almost one century of relations with France was, in reality, one century of voluntary submission to France, one century devoted to the total surrender of their resources to France, a kind of self-inflicted injury which is difficult to fathom.

From the year 2019 onwards, countries in West Africa would expose the exploitation of West Africa by France. The development of social media, the youth of the majority of the African population and the fake democracy that France had claimed to have introduced into the African continent led to a number of coups with young military officers taking over from the “servants” of the Westerners. The pinnacle of these events was the conception and establishment of the union of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in September 2023. These three countries were referred to as the poorest in Africa and in the world; identified as nations with no mineral resources, almost no natural resources and, therefore, having no weight at the geopolitical level.

After these nations separated themselves from France, several things unraveled. The three countries decided to rely on their own strength and resources, as well as striking a tight military agreements among themselves. Another fact that appeared with the birth of the Alliance of the Sahel Countries (AES in French), now a federation, is the strengthening of ties with Russia. All the nations of the AES established co-operations and collaborations of diverse types with Russia, mainly at the socio-economic and military levels. Russian military instructors landed in Niamey days ago and the energy challenge faced by the diverse nations is also being worked on, currently. Atomic energy is what the Sahelian union is working to achieve.

A neighbour’s betrayal

In the midst of all this, the hypocrisy of certain countries was also revealed. Of course, France was siphoning off the resources of her former colonies more than ever, and the UN peace keeping troops as well as the French troops that settled in each of those countries were ensuring a specific agenda of defending and securing the interests of France. The Uranium from Niger supplied more than 70 per cent of the electricity in France. The gold and other mineral resources of Burkina served almost the same purpose and the wealth in the underground of Mali, equally, enriched the Western nations.

When, in November 2023, Kidal, a part of the landmass of Mali fell under the control of the Mali National Army, observers discovered that this part of Mali, that shared a border with Algeria, was like a country on its own. That rich area of Mali was controlled by the Tuareg Rebellion since 2012. Vast resources of gas and oil were found, and vestiges of Algerian presence that provided support to Western nations, especially France abounded. It was, therefore, obvious that the French troops that posed as buffer units between that rebellious part of Mali and the national Malian authorities was simply safeguarding Kidal so that the terrorist could use it as a safe haven from which to attack the neighbouring countries to create and maintain terror. It also became clear that Kidal entered a kind of secession for the defence of the selfish interests of Algeria and France, among others.

When Kidal was repossessed by the Malian Army (allegedly with the support of Russian paramilitary Wagner Group), more insight could be obtained from northern Mali and neighbouring Algeria. What observers chanced upon was immensely intriguing: Algeria was exploiting and selling the riches of Mali to France. The paradox here is broad: France that pretended to be the land of Freedom, Equality and Solidarity was pillaging the resources of a developing country, through Algeria, a nation that was her ally. Algeria which was taking pride in her situation as the country that had refused French occupation and put up a ferocious fight unfortunately stooped to the level of a stooge at the service and mercy of France. Algerian gas and oil were unequivocally a product and possession of Mali. Analysts clearly speculated that France gave Algeria the opportunity to rob Mali of her oil and gas since 1962. After such a machination, Mali and other countries in similar situations as branded as “poor with no resource”. Sources have suggested, also, that the quest for that position as the “conduit for this organized international crime” is what encouraged Algeria to urge and support Malian terrorists, to reconquer Kidal area where most of the oil and gas are found.

Experts posit that Algeria’s supply of oil and gas dropped by 76 per cent since all the pipelines in the Kidal area had been shut down when that area was repossessed by the Malian National Army. To make things worse for Algeria, the country’s immoral deeds were exposed when the BRICS said that the oil and gas exploited by Algeria did not belong to Algeria, and subsequently stopped several transactions with Algeria. The BRICS got such information because the Wagner troops were among those who rescued Kidal and those Russians (Wagner members therefore noticed that the terrorists in the oil-rich Kidal area were wearing Algerian military uniform.

Algeria is currently at loggerheads with France, because the latter adopted an attitude that seemed to privilege another country in the sub-region, Morocco. France even refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Polisario Front, an independence movement opposing Moroccan control of the Western Sahara. To oppose the legitimacy of the Polisario Front means siding with Morocco.  So, Algeria sees her position as the favourite of France being snatched from her.

A historical factor that scares Algeria in this current era is that, almost 50 per cent of the Algerian territory was acquired by “chopping off” small pieces of land from Mali, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. Algeria’s main fear lies in the fact that five countries could easily “re-claim” their borders, in other words, their land mass that was used to constitute Algeria. It is also not a secret that the Kabyle people (an ethnic group from Kabylia, a region of northern Algeria; they are the second largest sub-group of the Berber people, who are indigenous people of North Africa) are bent on a separation from Algeria. The question is, since the alliance (now federation) of the Sahelian countries has the support of Moscow and Pekin (apparently of Morrocco also), who will now trust Algeria? How will Algeria survive on less than 80 per cent of her production of oil and gas? How will Algeria continue to pay her debt? This certainly means that the year 2024 might be a tough one for Algeria, whose population must be experiencing serious discomfort. How will Algeria explain to her younger generations that since 1962, she had been robbing the oil and gas of Mali, to benefit her colonial master.

The general overview is that Algeria’s bright image in Africa’s history is becoming less and less impressive. Many do not hesitate to state that Algeria has used her position to serve her former colonial master and to hurt Mali. The resurgence of new patriotic sentiments in the countries of the Sahel Alliance, an organization of which Mali is a member, to raise more hope in this context of historic thievery and betrayal on the African soil.

Moussa Traoré is Professor at the Department of English of the University of Cape Coast.