June 9, 2004

Sao Tome Rises in Strategic Importance for U.S.

The tiny African island nation of Sao Tome & Principe is rising in strategic importance for the U.S. military, it appears, from this May 31 report from Voice of America of plans to include the region in naval exercises later this year. (Radio version of the VOA report here.) An excerpt from the VOA report is at the end of this post. Meanwhile, the London Telegraph reported recently that the U.S. government funded a feasibility study into building a deep-sea port and air hub on Sao Tome. The Telegraph also has a story on how Sao Tome aims to cash in on its huge oil reserves.

For my previous writings about Sao Tome and its importance, click here.

The U.S. Navy is expected to deploy an aircraft carrier strike group for exercises in the Gulf of Guinea off West Africa for the first time later this year. A senior military official says the Pentagon will announce on Tuesday that seven aircraft carrier strike groups will be deployed in the next few months to five regions worldwide. It is intended to be a massive demonstration of the Navy's global quick deployment capability, and it is expected that one of the groups of U.S. naval vessels will visit the Gulf of Guinea.

The senior military official and other Pentagon sources, speaking to VOA on condition of anonymity, have confirmed plans for the exercises. They stopped short of identifying specific destinations for the carrier strike groups, but said the waters off West Africa were likely to be visited by one of them.

A clearer indication of Africa's inclusion came from the secretary of the Navy, Gordon England. During an appearance in Washington last week, in which he mentioned the coming exercises, Mr. England said the Navy was looking to enhance its operations in what he termed "the ungoverned areas of Africa." In that context, the Navy secretary said, "the Gulf of Guinea, for example, is an area where a Navy presence would constitute a strong message."

... Defense officials have recently spoken of the need for security and stability in the Gulf of Guinea, in part because of the growing number of offshore oil operations there. The senior U.S. military officer involved in African affairs, General Charles Wald, has likened Sao Tome in potential strategic importance to the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, a key staging base during recent U.S. military operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He also told reporters last year, Sao Tome could be an ideal site for one of the Pentagon's so-called Forward Operating Locations, bases available for temporary use by American forces in the event of a crisis.