U.S. warned not to neglect Africa by Lee Davidson
The first president of the island nation of Seychelles told University of Utah students Monday that America is not giving it — and all of Africa — enough attention. So the United States is losing influence there while China is gaining it through gifts, big spending and personal attention.
And John Price, the Utah millionaire who was ambassador to the Seychelles from 2002 to 2005, added that terrorists are also exploiting U.S. inattention in Africa.
“If we’re not careful, the biggest export from eastern Africa is going to be terrorism. ... As we drive them out of Iraq, they’re going to Africa,” Price said.
Sir James R. Mancham was the first president of the Seychelles, a former British colony in the Indian Ocean, in 1976-77. He was deposed while on a trip to London as opponents accused him of being a lackey of the West, in part for helping build a U.S. tracking station there that helped spy on the old Soviet Union.
Mancham said in a speech at the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University, where he was introduced by Price, that the United States is making some serious diplomatic mistakes in Africa, including the Seychelles.
That includes not reopening many embassies and missions to African nations that were closed after the Cold War, in part to afford new embassies in former Soviet Bloc nations.
“That sends the wrong message,” Mancham said.
He said that showed America is interested in “its own national interests, but not in international diplomacy.”
Meanwhile, he said, China has expanded its presence in Africa and the Seychelles. And Chinese President Hu Jintao — president of the world’s most populous country — recently visited the Seychelles, one of the world’s smaller countries with just 82,000 people.
As he arrived, Hu gave the island $20 million. In comparison, the United States had just given it $25,000 for a mortuary, and Britain had given it $2,000 to fight mosquitoes, Mancham said. China has since given the Seychelles another $25 million for a power plant and announced intentions to improve relations — including military relations.
Mancham said, “So that is why when Hu Jintao goes to Seychelles, it makes the point that China will not be (just) a fair-weather friend.”
Since America closed its embassy in the Seychelles, the nearest U.S. ambassadors have been based hundreds of miles away in Mauritius. (Price was ambassador to both countries and the Comoros islands.)
Price told the Deseret Morning News, “Most ambassadors don’t spend any time in these countries (where embassies were closed).” He said he went to the Seychelles and Comoros three or four times a year each and assigned staff to spend at least eight days a month there.
“That’s one thing the State Department does not encourage, because it’s not in the budget. I spent my own money to do these things,” Price said.
Price said the United States needs to pay more attention to Africa and to how China is gaining more access to natural resources through its diplomacy in the region. He also noted the Seychelles are near a key U.S. military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and are strategic also.
Mancham also said, “The United States is in Diego Garcia. If the Chinese come (to the Seychelles), they will neutralize the importance of Diego Garcia.”
Price said, “We’re not paying attention. We’re distracted.”
