Biden ‘won’t be Africa’s saviour’

With United States President Donald Trump having ordered American troops out of Somalia, Africa should not expect incoming US president Joe Biden to place the continent’s anti-terrorist threat too high on his administration’s agenda, according to an expert.

Against a background of extremist Islamic State-linked groups al-Shabab and Boko Haram, continuing to unleash a reign of terror in Mali, northern Mozambique and Burkina Faso, with the recent incident having been the kidnapping and subsequent release of hundreds of school children in the Katsina State of Nigeria, Jasmine Opperman of the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project, yesterday cautioned against the continent regarding Biden as a saviour.

Opperman said Africa’s inability to effectively quell terrorist attacks in some parts of the continent, reflected poor leadership.

“Among the key fundamentals, is that Africa needs good leadership, looking beyond narrow political interests.

“If one looks at the effect of the multi-national task force, when Chad was involved before withdrawing, they had tremendous successes against Boko Haram.

“There is one crucial factor and commonality at play: poor approach, policy failure and lack of political will to do the right thing.

“In the absence of security, development means nothing in Africa. It is time that the AU (African Union) and regional structures like SADC (Southern African Development Community) should stop representing the political elite and start representing what is good for the people of Africa,” maintained Opperman.

While Trump’s order for nearly all US troops to pull out of Somalia by next month, was bound to have a direct impact on training and logistical support, Opperman said American drone strikes “have done little in weakening these extremist organisations”.

While African leaders expected an emergence of a friendlier US foreign policy towards the continent under the Biden presidency, Opperman called for realism.

“If one looks at the Biden priority list, he has no choice but to start in America by addressing the many internal challenges – a country on the verge of democracy imploding, due to Trump,” said Opperman.

– brians@citizen.co.za

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