China, Russia rise in Central Africa as Western influence shrinks

LIBREVILLE: Russia and China are muscling their way into the Central African Republic as Western clout in the mineral-rich, strategically important nation seems to wane, analysts say.

Ranked at the very bottom of the UN’s 188-nation Human Development Index, CAR is mired in poverty and strife. Most of the country is in the hands of militia groups, and violence has prompted a quarter of its 4.5 million people to flee their homes.

Even so, the dirt-poor nation sparkles in natural wealth — from diamonds and gold to copper and uranium — and holds a position at the crossroads of central Africa. France, the former colonial power, has traditionally wielded the most clout in CAR. It intervened militarily in 2013 after long-time leader Francois Bozize was overthrown by a mainly Muslim rebel alliance, the Seleka.

France handed on to a UN peacekeeping mission, but its military visibility has shrunk, to 81 military trainers and drones. Earlier this month, France sent Mirage-2000 warplanes from Chad to overfly a northern region, in a warning to a rebel militia which holds the area.

Events in recent months highlight the mounting interest of China and Russia in this much-overlooked part of the world, analysts say. “The CAR is a geopolitical chess game,” a UN official in Bangui said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Everyone moves their pawns forward. When one country moves, the others take note and react accordingly.” Russia made its big move at the end of last year, when it was authorised by the UN to provide the CAR with weapons and military personnel. The delivery was ostensibly aimed at shoring up the beleaguered central government and its chronically weak military — an exemption to a UN arms embargo, imposed in 2013 when the CAR exploded into civil conflict. Britain, France and the United States voiced concern, demanding that deliveries be restricted to light arms and that Russia take steps to provide traceability to prevent the weapons from being sold on the black market.

Russia is now believed to have signed a range of deals with the government; Russians provide security for President Faustin-Archange Touadera; and a number of militia groups say they have been approached by Russian figures to mediate in conflicts, concurring sources say.—AFP