About more than just celebrating democracy

The whirlwind visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month to West Africa – t˙ree countries in two days – was somewhat bizarre. Touted as a celebration of democracy it was probably much more about the long-term protection of America’s own interests – it also signified the United States’ resolve to step up its engagement with the resource-rich region hoping in the process to counter growing Chinese influence.

The visit was in the words of US officials to “highlight and celebrate” a resurgence of democracy in West Africa, in particular in those countries on the Secretary of State’s itinerary. Equally important, the visit would be used to further democracy, good governance and economic reform.

According to a high-ranking State Department official who accompanied Clinton on her visit, the "...  administration, since it has been in office, has placed a high priority on strengthening democratic institutions, promoting good governance, holding good, free, fair elections, and encouraging conflict reconciliation and post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction. This trip is about all of those agendas and trying to promote them."

According to the same official, “2011 was a good year for democracy in West Africa and all three of the countries that we are visiting are countries that are now a part of Africa's democratic success story."

Liberia

In Liberia, Secretary of State Clinton led a high-ranking US delegation to the inauguration of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf who was re-elected for a second term after she won the November 2011 elections.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is the only female president in Africa and the shared winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.

Established by freed American slaves in 1848 Liberia has always been a close ally of the United States and is at present probably as close as any country in Africa ever will be to being an American colony.

Ivory Coast

The visit to the Ivory Coast was the first by a Secretary of State since George Shultz in 1986 and was touted as a show of support for President Alassane Quattara in his country’s recovery programme after a bloody post-election civil war.

President Quattara took power following the forced removal of former President Laurent Gbagbo when he refused to step down after last year’s elections.

A spokesperson for the US State Department briefing reporters described President Ouattara as "one of Africa's newest and most dynamic presidents." An honour bestowed somewhat pre-maturely one could argue.

Togo

The Secretary of State wound up her West African trip in tiny Togo. President Faure Gnassingbe was included in the itinerary as acknowledgement for his first tentative steps towards greater democracy after taking over from his father, once one of Africa's longest-ruling strongmen.  US officials are  full of praise for what they say is the US-educated young president’s commitment to democracy.

Not everyone will agree. After first taking control in flawed and violent 2005 elections following the death of his father, Gnassingbe was re-elected in a March 2010 poll that US officials said showed some improvement.

Nigerian spoiling the show

The visit which was supposed to celebrate the resurgence of democracy in West Africa was, ironically, overshadowed by the chaos and unrest that erupted in Nigeria, West Africa’s uncontested powerhouse.

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country with 160 million inhabitants composed of more than 250 different ethnic groups. Religion also demarcates Nigeria into an Islamic dominated north and Christian south.

Notwithstanding these and other dividing causes Nigeria over the years succeeded, albeit precariously and with regular hiccups, in becoming the torch-bearer of democracy in West Africa.

At the beginning of the new year nation-wide fuel strikes and sectarian violence instigated by indiscriminate terror attacks by Boko Haram, a home-grown fundamentalist Islamic group with alleged links to al Qaeda, constituted a dangerous threat to law and order with alarmists even talking of the possibility of civil war.

Political and social instability in Nigeria will place democracy in the whole of West Africa in jeopardy and might even derail the fragile American-endorsed democratisation process unfolding in the region.

Real motive

Nevertheless, a crucial question remains: What weighs the most in Washington when it comes to West Africa? Is it to entrench democracy in the region or is it rather the long-term protection of its own interests?

The Obama Administration wants everyone to believe that the Secretary of State’s visit was in recognition of the noticeable and worthy advancement of democracy in West Africa.

This is undeniably true but, neatly tucked away under the pretext of celebrating the consolidation of democracy in West Africa there are also other reasons for the Clinton visit.

Journalists and analysts reporting on the visit agree that it also signified the United States’ resolve to step up its engagement with this resource rich region hoping in the process to counter growing Chinese influence.

The visit also provided an opportunity to strengthen ties with important oil suppliers and build tighter security ties with governments targeted by both Islamic militant groups and narcotics trafficking networks.

Nigeria is an important supplier of oil to the US and provides 8% of its consumption, which is equal to that of Saudi Arabia. With tension in the Middle East on the rise and relations with Iran at a very low ebb, the importance of Nigeria and West Africa as a sustainable energy supplier is set to increase.

The growing threat of off-shore piracy in West Africa and the danger it holds for the uninterrupted flow of oil was most likely discussed during the Secretary of State’s visit.

Following closely in the wake of the visit an increase in US military presence and activity in the region should come as no surprise. The Obama Administration recently announced the dispatch of military advisors to Nigeria to help curb the terror activities of Boko Haram and, more instructors to help the existing US team in Liberia to reorganise and train the country’s new army.

The countries Clinton visited were carefully selected. The presidents of both Liberia and Ivory Coast exemplify the kind of leader Washington likes in Africa: Western-oriented, committed to economic development, and firmly behind the institutions of democracy.

Both are also eager to expand security ties with the United States, part of the broader set of partnerships that Washington is labouring to build across the world and particularly in Africa, where it sees Beijing taking a more assertive role.

Adding Togo to the list, as US officials admitted, is because the country will sit in the UN Security Council asa  non-permanent member for the next two years – and it is obvious that the old saying that countries do not have permanent friends but only permanent interests still holds true for the United States.