За Африка

One has to know what Obama's intelligence people are telling him, to be sure, but the impression from the outside is, "Thus begins The Great Game for Africa."

The original one was a decades-long political and, at times, military battle fought in the 19th century by the British and Russian empires for the lands and resources of Asia. The fight was anything but gentlemanly. Benjamin Disraeli, Britain's Prime Minister, was said to have written to Queen Victoria suggesting it was the British Empire’s historic mission "to clear Central Asia of Muscovites and drive them into the Caspian Sea" ... One could say without too much exaggeration that the Great Game results determined who controls the resources of the vast region almost a century after the Brits and the Russians agreed to stop fighting in 1913.

Now, let's fast-forward to the 21st century. While the US was fighting costly and largely unsuccessful wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Chinese companies were quietly establishing themselves in Africa. Quietly, of course, if you use the Western media as a source. New projects like hydro-electric power in Ethiopia and Ghana, oil in Angola and Gabon, mining projects in Zambia and DR Congo are worth tens of billions of dollars a year and are big news for those concerned. The Chinese "Great March" in Africa is not limited to extracting resources. It’s also a massive and growing market for Chinese goods. Names like Lenovo and Huawei might be obscure in the sated rich world – but in Africa they are recognized instantly as cheaper but good-quality products. Haier, the world biggest appliance producer, even makes special “African” refrigerators that can keep groceries frozen for much longer during electrical outages, a common African problem.
What goes even less reported – but is surely noticed by the likes of the CIA and US military intelligence, is how many Chinese soldiers are on the ground in Africa. Of course China has no official military bases outside its territory. But as of late, China is one of the biggest providers of troops, police and observers for the UN peacekeeping missions. Some three-quarters of Chinese peacekeeping troops are stationed in various African countries. In Africa, where governments are often weak, it is the UN peacekeepers that determine the balance of power and control of resources...

How exactly such a base would help combat China’s peaceful but steady expansion is resolutely unclear. The most likely explanation is that the White House is simply getting frustrated with watching the continent falling into the hands of a strategic rival and feels that it needs to do something. To force Apple and GE to compete with Huawei and Haier would be impossible, unlike dispatching a small but meaningful armed force. Sahr Johnny, Sierra Leone’s ambassador to China, famously said a few years ago: "The Chinese are doing more than the G8 to make poverty history. If a G8 country proposes a project for Sierra Leone, there is an environmental assessment and evaluation of the human rights and governance situation. The Chinese just come and do it."

https://rt.com/usa/columns/namenotfound/us-africa-chinese-obama/