A top U.S. general is making a rare trip to Africa to discuss ways to preserve some of the U.S. presence in West Africa after the Republic of Niger decided to kick-out the U.S. military in favour of partnering with Russia in a major setback for Washington.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, told reporters before landing in Botswana on Monday for a gathering of African Chiefs of Defense, that he was going to speak with several partners in the region. “I do see some opportunities. And these are countries that we’re already working with in West Africa,” Brown told reporters traveling with him.
Building on those relationships may “provide opportunities for us to posture some of the capability we had in Niger in some other locations,” he added.
Brown declined to say which countries were under consideration. But, a U.S. official told Reuters that President Joe Biden’s administration has had initial conversations with countries including Benin, Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Still, the U.S. military is not expected to be able to replicate its muscular counter-terrorism footprint in Niger anytime soon. In particular, its ejection means losing Air Base 201, which the U.S. built near Agadez in central Niger at a cost of more than $100 million.
Until Niger’s military coup last year, the base had been key to the U.S. and Niger’s shared fight against insurgents who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more.
A second U.S. official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said not to expect another big U.S. base or wholesale relocation of U.S. troops from Niger to somewhere else. “We do not expect a large military construction announcement, or a significant new base to appear anywhere,” the second official said.
The changing political landscape in West and Central Africa presents a dilemma for the United States. The region has seen eight coups over four years, including in Niger and its neighbors Burkina Faso and Mali.
The juntas now ruling many of those countries are less willing to work with Western countries including the United States – whose military is legally barred from supporting governments that seized power through coup. They are increasingly looking to Russia, which faces no such constraints.
The extent to which America’s modified goals will allow it to address the threat from terrorist groups expanding across the arid, impoverished Sahel region remains unclear.
“The terrorist threat is alarming,” the second official said.
So far, the U.S. withdrawal from Niger is being completed on schedule ahead of a Sept. 15 deadline, U.S. officials say, with only about 600 troops remaining at Air Base 101, which is next to Diori Hamani International Airport in the capital Niamey.
As the U.S. exits, Russia has deployed a number of military forces to the same base, where they are carrying out training activities. U.S. officials say U.S. and Russian troops have no contact with each other.
Brown held out hope that even after the U.S. withdraws there might be a way to maintain some kind of future security relationship with Niger, given the years-long investment in military ties.
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