Monrovia — To effectively counteract growing Jihadist activities on the continent, U.S. troops have to be present in the region to work with their African partners. This was said by Deputy Commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), General John W. Brennan, during an online briefing on Monday.
Brennan said AFRICOM’s focus over the years was to build the capacity of its African military partners to deal with a myriad of security challenges, including terrorism.
He spoke after engagements earlier this month in Namibia and Angola, where an AFRICOM delegation – that included Ambassador Robert Scott, a senior commander for Civil-Military Engagement – met regional military leaders. The visit to Angola coincided with a U.S.-Angola Combined Exercise Training, dubbed JCET.
“It’s important to note that we always seek African solutions to African problems,” Brennan said. The U.S. operation in Africa was “so much different” from what, he said, is being done by other countries: “Obviously, the Russians operate assets and do other malign activity, as does China.” He said both countries didn’t allow their African partners to “lead actual training efforts”.
The AFRICOM commander said his visit to the two countries was also important in light of Jihadist activities “along the periphery”. The Islamist terrorist group ISIS, he said, has franchises in Mozambique and South Africa.
He expressed concern about an “emerging Mexican drug cartel issue”, which he said emanates from South Africa and the coast of West Africa. “We want to keep Namibia and Angola free of those threats as well as to prepare them for any future threats …”
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Brennan said these efforts were part of a “burgeoning” relationship the U.S. military has forged for many years with the region, which has led to the provision of troops for peacekeeping operations in Somalia, for instance, as well as curtailed trafficking in humans and illicit drugs. The partnership, the U.S general said, recently led to the arrest of about $8 million worth of cocaine by the Mozambique military.
“It’s the training that begets the security which allows the countries to project themselves as a safe place for investment to take place,” Ambassador Robert Scott said, explaining that the sense of security has led to the “proliferation” of U.S. engagements in the region. The ambassador cited the Development Finance Corporation (DFC), a U.S. government institutions that mobilizes private capital for development purposes in emerging economies, as an example, saying the DFC doubled its available capital in the region in the past few years.
Scott also mentioned the billion dollar Sun Africa project: “So that project provides for power, which can help provide the industries which would take advantage of Lobito Corridor to bring products in and out of the country (Angola) and the region.” He said there were many other companies which are part of a big “ecosystem of investment…enabled by a sense of security”.
While stressing the dividends of AFRICOM’s operation in the region, Brennan said the U.S. Africa command’s main priority is to counter ISIS and al-Qaida affiliates. “And we’re doing it the most fervently in East Africa.”