The Senegalese capital Dakar is hosting the 10th International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa on Monday and Tuesday – an anniversary edition taking place against a backdrop of major geopolitical shifts across the continent and competition over the continent’s resources.
Thirteen years after its launch, the forum is being held in what organisers describe as a significantly altered security environment.
The G5 Sahel has been dissolved, while the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has been weakened by the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
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Meanwhile, jihadist groups are expanding towards coastal states in the Gulf of Guinea, including Benin, Togo and Ghana.
Around 100 experts are gathering in Dakar for the two-day event.
Discussions will focus on several key themes, including the governance of natural resources. Particular attention will be paid to rare earths and critical minerals.
Geopolitical rush over rare earths
According to the World Bank, Africa holds around 30 percent of the world’s rare earth reserves – essential for the development of clean energy technologies.
DR Congo alone accounts for about 70 percent of global cobalt production.
Solange Bandiaky-Badji, president of the Rights and Resources Initiative, says the continent had become a focal point of global geopolitical competition over such resources.
“Ghana, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire are major producers of manganese, and Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger with uranium,” she told RFI. “Africa has suddenly become central to geopolitics because of these resources.”
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Tensions over resources are nothing new, she says, citing oil in Nigeria’s Niger Delta and longstanding disputes over gold mining. But the current level of international interest marks a shift.
“We have never seen this kind of geopolitical rush, where all the major powers want to come to Africa,” she said. “The question now is how to avoid this curse over resources.”
She points to recent moves by the Senegalese government to revoke certain mining contracts in order to renegotiate terms, with the aim of increasing state revenues and ensuring greater benefits for local communities.
“In resource-rich areas, you often find the poorest communities,” she says. “Ultimately, young people end up emigrating because they lack access to land and resources, even though they could benefit not only government but local populations.”
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Participants include officials from African regional organisations, including the president of the Ecowas Commission, senior military figures and a Burkinabè general representing the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – formed by Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso after they quit Ecowas.
Researchers, legal experts and international partners are also attending, including a representative from the US State Department and Germany’s special envoy for the Sahel.
Other topics on the forum’s agenda include political transitions, cybersecurity and the restructuring of regional security forces.
(with newswires)