By Rebecca Tinsley*
As Iran’s drones and missiles attack Arabian Gulf countries, their inhabitants are discovering what it is like to be caught in a war. The Gulf monarchs have promoted an image as peaceful, stable societies. Yet, they have been funding devastating proxy wars in Africa. Will the Iran conflict mean the Gulf decides to protecting itself, rather than supporting violence across the continent?
The UAE and Saudi are expanding into Africa for two reasons. One is economic, diversifying away from oil and gas exports as the world develops renewable energy. In 2022, the UAE overtook China as Africa’s biggest investor, funding Red Sea ports and East African farms (food for Emiratis, not Africans). The UAE has imported $115 billion worth of (mostly illicit) gold from men with guns in Sudan, and 400 tonnes from the continent as a whole.
Both kingdoms want control of Babel-Mandeb, the waterway between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea through which 12% of world trade flows.
Equally important is neo-imperialist empire-building. Their proxies are clashing in Yemen (377,000 dead) and Sudan (150,000 – 400,000 dead since April 2023), and their clients sow political chaos in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Libya, Chad, Syria, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia and Pakistan.
Yet, the international community contorts itself like a cork screw, refusing to blame Saudi Arabia or the UAE. The UN prefers to urge “all international parties to refrain from interfering” and to “respect international humanitarian law.”
Saudi usually prefers to support governments like Egypt and Somalia, and established powers such as the Sudanese Armed Forces. In January it paid for $1.5 billion worth of Pakistani weapons for the SAF, accused by respected human rights monitors of indiscriminate attacks on the Sudanese population.
The UAE backs secessionists like Somaliland, General Haftar’s Libyan National Army, and Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces. The RSF is accused by the UN of crimes against humanity. For its part in this blood-soaked power play – in which no Saudis or Emiratis are hurt – the UAE supplies weapons to the RSF militia in exchange for Sudan’s illicit gold, livestock and gum Arabic, all of which the UAE denies.
An investigation by France24 revealed that UAE companies paid for a training camp for 4,300 RSF soldiers in Western Ethiopia; they recruit Colombian mercenaries for the RSF; and buy sophisticated Bulgarian and Chinese weapons for the RSF via Ethiopia, Libya, Chad, Uganda, South Sudan and Kenya.
The Gulf powers have also picked sides in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute. Egypt and the Sudanese Armed Forces are furious with Addis Ababa for restricting water downstream. “My enemy’s enemy is my friend”, so Saudi, Egypt, Pakistan and the Sudanese Armed Forces support Asmara in the on-again-off-again war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. In this confusing situation Israel (a friend of the UAE) abruptly recognised Somaliland which sides with the UAE against Somalia, which stands with Saudi. Meanwhile, Ethiopia is encouraging insurgencies in Djibouti and Eritrea, muddying the Red Sea waters. And Trump, firmly on Egypt’s side, is threatening Ethiopia with one of his “deals.”
No naming or shaming
The international community does not challenge Saudi or the UAE because the Gulf buys weapons and launders its money through Western countries. This follows decades of ignoring Gulf citizens’ support for fundamentalist Islamism either directly (15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudis) or spreading extremist Wahhabism.
Between 1982 and 2005, Saudi Arabia is alleged to have spent $75 billion spreading its Wahhabi theology in 200 Islamic colleges, 210 Islamic centres, 1,500 mosques and 2,000 madrassas. In 2013, the European Parliament identified Wahhabism as the main source of global terrorism through al-Qaeda. AQ bled into Islamic State, which rampages across the Sahel in sundry iterations, destabilising governments and murdering Africans.
Don’t expect an ethical stance from Washington: the UAE sovereign wealth fund bought a 49% stake in the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture for $500 million. It is thought $34 million went to ventures owned by Steve Witkoff’s family. Witkoff is Trump’s chief dealmaker in the region. Meanwhile, the Saudi-backed AI company, Humain, bought a $3 billion stake in Elon Musk’s xAI.
Watch this space
Will threats from Iran prompt the Gulf rulers to bury their differences? Or do they expect America to protect them? Either way, the international community must find economic incentives to persuade the megalomanic Gulf monarchs to promote peace in Africa rather than violence. The world must also rapidly switch to renewable energy, reducing the Gulf’s source of such destructive wealth. Otherwise, thousands of civilians in Africa, Yemen and further afield will pay the price.
*Rebecca Tinsley is the founder of www.WagingPeace.info
