The United Arab Emirates has become a major economic and strategic force in Africa, through investments in key sectors and a growing involvement in conflicts on the continent – prompting some to describe its approach as imperialist.
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Through investments in ports and mining, as well as military involvement and support for various players in various conflicts, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as the African continent’s fourth-largest investor over the last decade.
With an investigation published by the Financial Times earlier this month describing the UAE’s strategy in Africa as “imperialist”, RFI spoke to Jean-Loup Samaan, a researcher specialising in the Gulf states at the National University of Singapore, about its growing role in Africa.
RFI: Why is the UAE investing so heavily in African ports?
Jean-Loup Samaan: At first, about 15 or 20 years ago, it was primarily a commercial dynamic driven by Dubai. The Dubai-based DP World is one of the leading players in port infrastructure across the world, so this was a way for the company to gain market share and establish a global network, particularly in Africa, where port infrastructure was still at an early stage of development.
More recently we have seen a distinctly military dimension, particularly in the Horn of Africa. This emerged during the war in Yemen [which began in 2014]. The Emirates decided to combine their commercial investments in local port infrastructure, whether in Eritrea or Somaliland, with a military dimension, which enabled them to deploy their forces and send them to Yemen.
What was initially a commercial strategy gradually became strategic, in a political and military sense.
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RFI: The Financial Times investigation refers to an imperialist push by the UAE in Africa. The Abu Dhabi Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded, rejecting the term. Do you think it is justified?
JLS: The term “imperialist” may be somewhat too strong, because the relationship between the UAE and African countries is not one that could be described as being between an empire and its subordinate states.
What is interesting, however, is to see how, over the course of around a decade, Abu Dhabi and Dubai have established themselves economically, in terms of infrastructure, but also strategically and geopolitically, to become a leading player in Africa.
This goes well beyond development aid, and creates relationships of dependency. So one could ask, as one might with China or the United States, whether Abu Dhabi is pursuing a predatory economic approach towards African countries.
RFI: The investigation also demonstrated how the UAE is involved in the conflict in Sudan and supports Hemedti, the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is fighting the government. Why has the UAE become so involved in that conflict?
JLS: For Abu Dhabi, this is about supporting military figures who have established ties in Yemen, as well as military figures who they consider a bulwark against what they see as the threat of political Islam, which they believe is what drives the government in Khartoum.
This is a common thread in Emirati policy, both in Africa and in the Middle East: supporting strongmen, often military figures, against governments or actors considered to be too closely aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood or political Islam.
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RFI: There is also gold: Dubai is a hub for African gold. Some $30 billion (€25.72 billion) of undeclared artis*** gold gets exported each year to the UAE. What does this gold represent for the country?
JLS: This is where we can see the overlap between geopolitical considerations of supporting military regimes, particularly the RSF in Sudan, and a much more mercantile approach.
At the international level, on the gold market, it is estimated that between 20 and 30 percent of the world’s gold trade currently pblockes through Dubai. This is extremely important in terms of the UAE’s international standing and the diversification of its economy, because Dubai, unlike Abu Dhabi, does not have energy revenue.
So all of this contributes to making Africa, and in this particular case, Sudan, an area of interest for Emirati actors.
This article has been adapted from the original interview in French by Clothilde Hazard.
