Norris McDonald  | The empire of theft: France, US and UAE’s hidden war on Africa

Mali has been in the news with shocking reports of a car bombing that allegedly killed Defence Minister General Sadio Camara and members of his family. This dastardly attack was followed by a coordinated terrorist offensive involving thousands of armed fighters targeting the capital Bamako, the international airport, and other major cities.

Camara was a key figure in consolidating a more cohesive West African military alliance and strengthening ties with Russia. By targeting such a figure, foreign powers likely hoped the Malian army would flounder, leaving the nation vulnerable to renewed external influence and continued resource exploitation.

Sections of the Western press celebrated prematurely. Yet with assistance from Russia Africa Corps, the military forces of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have reportedly inflicted major defeats on Western-backed mercenary forces in the region.

ARAB GULF COMPLICITY 

For many observers, the attack in Mali resembles patterns previously seen in Syria, where externally enabled militant networks rapidly transformed the political landscape. The rise of Ahmed al-Sharra, the Al Nusra (Al Qaeda) leader who later emerged as Syria’s president, remains controversial evidence, for critics of Western foreign policy, of how militant actors can be rehabilitated when geopolitical interests shift. 

What we are witnessing is not entirely new.

The Arab Gulf states – including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates – have long been accused by critics and investigators of helping facilitate financial networks connected to extremist groups, often alongside the geopolitical objectives of American, French, and British intelligence operations. 

The US House Financial Services Committee Report of March 11, 2003 pointed to some of these concerns. More historically, Operation Cyclone remains one of the clearest examples of the CIA’s support for Islamist militant networks during the Afghan war against the Soviet Union, including forces connected to Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.

The larger question therefore becomes: what drives these recurring cycles of terrorism, instability, and war?

THE PAN-AFRICAN STRUGGLE 

Mali and much of West Africa are not simply facing problems of religious or ethnic conflict. While such tensions do exist, they are often manipulated and amplified, in my opinion, to obscure the deeper issue of continued resource plunder and geopolitical domination.

The Western Sahel appears increasingly trapped in dynamics similar to those affecting Congo, where the M23 insurgency has reportedly benefited from external backing tied to the exploitation and trafficking of Congolese gold and minerals. In the case of West Africa, however, Pan-African leaders such as Ibrahim Traoré, Assimi Goïta, and Abdourahamane Tchiani are now locked in a life-and-death struggle to rescue their nations from the global ‘Empire of Theft’.

The methods of imperialism may evolve, but the objective remains fundamentally the same - control African wealth.

The events in Mali must be understood within this wider historical context of imperial domination and resource extraction.

Mali’s struggles are not simply about terrorism or ethnic division, but centuries-long systems of plunder in which gold and diamonds enrich foreign powers and local collaborators, rather than national development.

Assimi Goïta and his counterparts frame their struggle as one of reclaiming national dignity and asserting sovereign control over national wealth, creating a new modus vivendi that prioritises African people over global capital interests.

These questions point towards broader international smuggling and laundering systems that connect African conflict zones to global commodity markets.

HUB FOR BLOOD DIAMONDS AND DIRTY GOLD

And within this system, Dubai has increasingly emerged, according to international watchdogs, as a major hub for the trade in illicit gold and diamonds which is then shipped to America, Europe and Asia. 

A report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists revealed that in 2020, the US Treasury abandoned a major money-laundering case against a Dubai-based gold company that had allegedly become deeply embedded in the dirty gold trade. According to investigators, the Dubai-based company purchased precious metals from suppliers suspected of links to criminal and terrorist organisations.

Dubai has become central to the illicit gold and diamond economy. Since 2013, more than 40 per cent of the global gold trade has reportedly passed through the emirate, while diamond transactions rose from US$690 million in 2003 to more than US$38 billion in 2023.

In summary, the evidence exposed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and others, suggest – and exposes – the connection between terrorism, resource smuggling, and the money corridor through Dubai. 

This is precisely what the emerging Pan- African popular movements is attempting to confront - the direct and indirect theft of African wealth, while the masses remain poor, dispossessed, and marginalised.

This remains one of the great modern tragedies of Africa. We are repeatedly sold the Anancy story of the so-called “resource curse” and told that Black people are incapable of governing themselves, when the devilish machinery of imperialism continues to undermine independent development and positive political change.

Africa’s uranium, copper, petroleum, lithium, blood cobalt, diamonds, gold, and other strategic minerals continue to fuel foreign economies with the assistance of regional facilitators and comprador elites in countries such as Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Morocco, the UAE, and Qatar.

ECOWAS SILENCE 

The silence of ECOWAS raises troubling questions about the role of African political elites who permit continued extraction and dependency, while millions of African citizens remain trapped in poverty. 

ECOWAS has remained one of the biggest stumbling blocks to African progress. Their corrupt governments are propped up by America and France, who use their territory to destabilise Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. 

The story of Mali is not simply one of terrorism and conflict. It is also a story of resistance, resource control, political awakening, and the enduring fight for dignity and self-determination. 

Despite the continued scurrilous activities attributed to America, France, and the UAE, the growing Pan-African movement is showing true grit, resisting and beating back the dark forces of the Empire of Theft!

That is the bitta truth.

Norris R. McDonald is an author, economic journalist, political analyst, and respiratory therapist. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and miaminorris@yahoo.com.