Africa, once a vibrant continent of untapped potential, has now become the battleground for an escalating global and regional power rivalry, igniting a new era of strategic competition.
As the world awakens to the immense economic and geopolitical significance of Africa, major powers vie for dominance, carving their spheres of influence with calculated precision. Amid this backdrop, a captivating dance unfolds, where established giants and emerging players lock horns, each aiming to shape the destiny of a continent on the rise. The scramble for resources, the quest for strategic partnerships, and the pursuit of geopolitical advantage intensify, transforming Africa into a theater where the clash of ambitions reverberates, captivating the world's attention.
In this landscape of heightened competition, Africa stands at a crossroads, its destiny hinging on the delicate balance of power, as old alliances are tested and new alliances forged, while the African nations navigate their path toward a future defined by their own agency.
Iran, which has been keeping its silence for a while in this competitive environment, has focused on increasing its effectiveness in Africa with an opening policy. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi embarked on an African tour between July 11-13, covering Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe. This visit has great importance as Raisi is the first president who went to Africa after 11 years. As it will be remembered, Hassan Rouhani, who was in power before Raisi, did not go to any African country during his two-term rule. However, during the Raisi period, the moderate atmosphere in relations with the Gulf and Arab countries, with the influence of China, has the potential to strengthen Iran's policies in Africa. It is expected that Egypt, which has a significant influence in Africa, will not oppose Iran's attempts on the continent in this moderate atmosphere.
The outline of Raisi's trip to Africa is the determination to strengthen cooperation with Africa, the criticism of the historical exploitation of the Western resources on the continent, and the emphasis on cooperation in the technical and scientific fields. During this trip, many agreements were signed between Iran and Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe in different fields, and a determined stance toward the development of bilateral relations was displayed at the news conferences.
It is possible to say that the reasons that motivated this trip and the issues that attracted African states to cooperate with Tehran are largely compatible. Because, since 2012, Iran has been subjected to harsh sanctions by Western actors with the claim of preventing it from developing nuclear weapons. For this reason, Iran turns to the African continent to get rid of the isolation and to have an impact on the international arena in political and economic fields. For these purposes, it tries to convince the continental states with its scientific and technical expertise in the field of nuclear, petrochemistry and agricultural technologies. On the other hand, if the three African countries where the trip took place are analyzed, they all have the aim of diversifying the actors with which they cooperate in the international arena. It is also known that especially Kenya and Uganda are closely interested in nuclear energy projects. Therefore, cooperation with Iran, which has advanced technology and expertise in this field, is attractive. Similarly, Iran's openness to cooperation in the petrochemical and automotive industries attracts the attention of African parties who want to strengthen their industrialization in this field. Finally, Zimbabwe aims to get rid of the heavy sanctions imposed by the U.S. through the relations it will develop with Iran.
When we analyze Raisi's Africa trip from a general perspective, today Iran operates in only 21 of 54 African countries. The total trade volume with the continent is approximately $1.2 billion. This corresponds to 1% of the foreign trade volume of the entire continent. For this reason, we can say that Iran is trying to close the gap in Africa, where it has been away for a long time, with strategic sectors such as energy, mining, automotive and agriculture. In its initiatives in these areas, Iran is expected to follow a de-dollarization strategy against the U.S. It can be argued that this strategy is essentially compatible with the policies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), which Iran is considering joining. At this point, Iran's moves in Africa may support its presence in BRICS as well.
On the other hand, it is possible to foresee that Iran's contact with Africa may lead to some critical consequences in the region. As it is known, Israel, which we can define as one of Iran's biggest rivals, has announced that it officially recognizes Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, where it has recently taken a step toward normalization. The Western Sahara issue has been causing discussions among various actors, especially Morocco and Algeria, for many years. Following this statement by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a statement in favor of Algeria may come from Iran, which is trying to increase its influence in Africa. In this case, it may cause the Western Sahara issue to become a more complicated cause of Iran and Israel.
In addition, after Iran's 1979 Revolution, the Tehran administration supports Shiite religious formations in some countries in Africa. It is even claimed that some of these formations have ties to the Hezbollah network. These activities of Iran cause serious security concerns in the continental states. In this new period, in which Iran aims to increase its impact on Africa, continuing its support of religious formations against the continental states will cause the perception that it is not a reliable partner here.
As a result, Africa appears as an enormous cooperation area for Iran to strengthen its political and economic presence in the international arena. However, Iran does not yet have the potential to compete with powerful actors such as China, the U.S., Russia and European states here. At this point, Iran should first create an area of existence for itself with discourses and actions that will strengthen the perception that it is a reliable and fair partner.