The Battle for Strategic Resources in Africa Heats Up

Guest Post by Nick Giambruno

“We came, we saw, he died.”

That was Hillary Clinton’s sociopathic spin on veni, vidi, vici, Roman leader Julius Caesar’s famous saying, which means “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

Hillary said those words as she cackled on national TV, recalling the gruesome death of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. US-backed rebels reportedly sodomized him with a bayonet and shot him in the head.

Using “humanitarian concerns” as their flimsy pretext, the US government and France led an effort to overthrow Gaddafi in 2011, turning one of Africa’s most prosperous countries into a chaotic hellhole.

However, thanks to WikiLeaks’ release of Hillary Clinton’s emails, we now know the real reason for their Libya intervention wasn’t so benevolent.

According to her leaked emails, the US and France feared Gaddafi would use Libya’s vast physical gold reserves in Tripoli—estimated at around 4.6 million ounces—to create a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar.

Gaddafi intended to use this new gold currency to provide an alternative to the CFA franc, a French-controlled currency used by 14 countries in Central and Western Africa.

After Gaddafi’s death, plans for the gold-backed currency and Libya’s 4.6 million ounces of gold vanished.

With Gaddafi out of the way, the CFA franc and the West’s geopolitical influence over the vast reserves of strategic commodities in Central and Western Africa seemed secure… until recently.

Today, global power is shifting… Central and Western Africa are on the front lines of these historical changes.

That’s because the current US-led world order—in place since the end of World War II—is breaking down at an accelerating pace.

World orders are nothing new and simply describe the architecture for international political relations between countries. It’s how the big global powers have set the rules of the game for centuries.

On a smaller scale, it’s similar to when the most powerful criminal groups in a given city—like mafias and street gangs—come together and agree on how to divide their activities and neighborhoods among themselves.

Sooner or later, though, these agreements always break down. Then, there is a violent power struggle until the criminal groups reach a new agreement reflecting the new power balance.

A similar dynamic is at play with the most powerful countries and world orders.

Wars among the most powerful countries typically lead to a breakdown and restructuring in the world order.

Here is a brief overview of some of the most recent world orders.

You can think of them as epochs or distinctive historical periods reflecting the shifting power balance among the biggest global players.

Peace of Westphalia (1648 to 1803): This agreement ended the Thirty Years’ War and set the framework for international relations in Europe for over two centuries by preserving the balance of power among major European powers. It brought together the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, France, Sweden, the Dutch Republic, and various German territories. This world order largely lasted until the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars, which led to the need for a new international arrangement among the big powers.

Congress of Vienna (1814 to 1914): The military defeat of French Emperor Napoleon I led to this world order. It enshrined the British as the dominant global power. The Congress of Vienna formed the basis for European international politics until the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

Treaty of Versailles (1919 to 1939): The victors of World War I created this world order, which featured institutions like the League of Nations. It broke down after Germany, Italy, and Japan tried to overturn it and make their own world order during World War II.

The Current US-Led World Order (1945 to Today): The Allies crafted the current world order in the aftermath of World War II with the US as the leader. It features institutions like the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund—all located in the US. The current world order has been largely unipolar, with the US exercising significant influence over international policies and decision making.

Changes to the world order are historical events with enormous investment implications.

Countless millions throughout history were wiped out financially—or worse—as the world order changed because they failed to see the correct Big Picture and take appropriate action.

But what if you get the Big Picture right as the world order changes?

You can not only avoid disaster but set yourself up to potentially make life-changing profits.

Getting the Big Picture right and finding the best ways to get positioned is my primary objective in my investment research. It’s crucial because we are now going through one of those rare historical moments where the world order changes. It’s a time of great danger but also tremendous opportunity.

In short, the current world order is transforming from US-led and unipolar to multipolar.

As I see it, two main geopolitical blocks are competing.

First, there are the countries that are part of or allied with the West. I’m reluctant to call this block “the West” because the people who actually control it have values antithetical to Western Civilization.

A more fitting label would be NATO & Friends.

The other block comprises Russia, China, and other countries favorable to a multipolar world order.

Let’s call them the BRICS+.

BRICS+ is not a perfect label, but it’s a decent representation of the countries favorable to the emerging multipolar world order.

While there already is friction in free trade—sanctions, tariffs, export bans, nationalizations, embargoes, strategic competition, etc.—between NATO & Friends and BRICS+, I expect it to grow substantially as the multipolar world order emerges.

That will have serious consequences for commodities, which BRICS+ dominates.

As tensions between NATO & Friends and BRICS+ continue to rise, I expect it to disrupt commodity trade between the two further. We already see this manifest worldwide, including in Central and Western Africa.

Here’s the bottom line. Supply disruptions mean higher prices. That’s an outcome I think we can bet on.

I expect countries in both geopolitical blocks will increasingly focus on securing critical commodities and ensuring their access to stable supplies.

In short, I think the geopolitical competition between the two blocks will cause increased demand and unstable supplies.

That’s why obtaining exposure to strategic commodities as the world order changes could be a winning move.

That’s where Central and Western Africa come in. These countries have strategic commodities such as gold, uranium, and cobalt. They recently found themselves on the front lines of this escalating geopolitical competition.

Seven Coups in Three Years

Western allies are falling like dominoes in Africa as the geopolitical competition heats up.

Since 2020, military coups have replaced pro-Western governments in Burkina Faso, Sudan, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Gabon, and Chad with neutral governments or regimes aligned with Russia and China.

Below is the geopolitical map of Africa as I see it (click to enlarge).

Of particular interest is the recent coup in Niger, one of the larger uranium producers in the world.

It’s an excellent example of the scramble for strategic resources as the world order changes.

Niger has produced uranium commercially since 1971—over 52 years. Even though Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, it has a well-developed uranium industry.

Today, Niger is responsible for 5% of global uranium production and is crucial for European supplies. Analysts estimate that 24% of European Union uranium imports come from Niger.

Take France, for example. According to the World Nuclear Association, nuclear power generates around 70% of the overall electricity in the country.

Analysts estimate that imports from Niger account for around 33% of France’s uranium needs or that one in every three light bulbs in France is powered from uranium from Niger.

As a result of the military coup, European energy security is at higher risk. The uranium market is already tight, and finding alternative supplies is difficult. It typically takes ten years to bring a new uranium mine online.

In short, uranium has a situation with precarious supply and growing demand.

There is only one way for this situation to resolve itself: for the uranium price to go up, precisely what has happened recently.

That is exactly the outcome I have been expecting and has been beneficial to some of the uranium stocks in the Financial Underground: SPECULATOR model portfolio.

It illustrates the case for investing in strategic resources as the world order changes.

That’s precisely why I just released an urgent new report with all the details.

It’s called The Most Dangerous Economic Crisis in 100 Years… the Top 3 Strategies You Need Right Now.

Click here to download the PDF now.

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