Oil resources and neo-colonial rivalry in Africa : a new scramble for Africa

Abstract EN

Securing energy resources has been part of security concepts which has emerged after the Cold War; It re- shaped foreign policy of the great industrial powers.

This led to rivalry for oil, in different world regions, between the U.

S., China, Russia, and many industrial countries.

Following 9/11, the African continent started to gain much attention from the great powers for its goepolitical, strategic, and economic potentialsespecially oil resources.

Since the African represents a strong substitute for the Middle Eastern one, international rivalry has risen for both African oil and natural resources.

This competition is expected to take a new perspective in the coming years as rivalry in the continent has shifted, during the Cold War, from the ‘zero game’, which means a gain to a certain power is a loss to the other ; to the ‘profit for all’, following the Cold War, in the sense of partnership in sharing influence and power on the continent.

This factor explains the change in developmental policies, which did not take into account the African interests, of the major powers and tools used in the continent, but were drafted from the perspective of the conflict between competing international powers.

This paper analyzes oil resources as a crieterion of neo- colonial rivalry in the African continent after 9/11; for among the priorities of the great powers in their relationships with Africa relies on securing its imports from oil and natural resources, and then turn Africa into a market for its goods and products.

This is regarded as a highly strategic factor which shows the interests of these great powers, and in return the intention of the African countries to benefit from these great powers as a source of investments, aids, and high technologies.

This represents a great challenge to the future of the African continent and will have impacts on political, economic, and social levels.