This is a quick one I wanted to put out. I was talking with friends the other day about the Ugandans in Iraq, and how significant their work is to the economy of Uganda. The money brought in from security work, surpasses what is made off their chief export called coffee, and that is pretty significant. So the question is, what happens when the work dries up in Iraq? All of these Ugandan guards are going to be looking for work, and most of the security work in Afghanistan is going to the local nationals.
So this is what I am starting to piece together, and I am going to take a guess as to where all these guards are going to go next. I think the plan all along was to professionalize Ugandans for a whole slew of tasks that AFRICOM and the west has in mind for East Africa. From dealing with Jihadists in Somalia with the AU force, to providing recruits for the Ugandan Army so they can deal with the LRA and others, to protecting this new ‘hot oil zone’ in East Africa. Ugandans are gonna be in high demand, and we have effectively trained them up with the work in Iraq. Intentional or not, I thought it was interesting to make the connection for the big picture.
This is not to say that this was the official strategy of the US and AFRICOM all along. But you have to look at these three stories below, and not think ‘how convenient’? lol The coming resource war is all about securing our place at the oil trough and making sure there are competent forces to protect that stuff. Thanks to Iraq, we now have a ton of ready made guards or ‘soldiers’ to make that happen. Let me know what you guys think. –Matt
Edit: 06/11/2010- This is an excellent run down of the current dynamics of oil in this East Africa region. Good job to Jody.
By Jody Ray Bennett for ISN Security Watch
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East Africa is next hot oil zone
March. 10, 2010
NAIROBI, Kenya, March 10 (UPI) — East Africa is emerging as the next oil boom following a big strike in Uganda’s Lake Albert Basin. Other oil and natural gas reserves have been found in Tanzania and Mozambique and exploration is under way in Ethiopia and even war-torn Somalia.
The region, until recently largely ignored by the energy industry, is “the last real high-potential area in the world that hasn’t been fully explored,” says Richard Schmitt, chief executive officer of Dubai’s Black Marlin Energy, which is prospecting in East Africa.
The discovery at Lake Albert, in the center of Africa between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, is estimated to contain the equivalent of several billion barrels of oil. It is likely to be the biggest onshore field found south of the Sahara Desert in two decades.