The UAE: A Sub‑Imperial Power in Africa
In recent years, the UAE has quietly transformed from a small Gulf state into a decisive sub‑imperial actor across Africa. Through targeted investments, land acquisitions, military operations, and strategic partnerships, Abu Dhabi has positioned itself not as a traditional empire, but as a neo‑colonial power shaping African geopolitics to serve its own cross‑continental ambitions.
1. Ports & Logistics: Strategic Control of Access
UAE-linked giants like DP World and AD Ports operate coastal ports in Northern (Egypt, Algeria), Western (Senegal, Guinea, Angola, DRC), Eastern (Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique) and Red-Sea (Somaliland, Puntland, Djibouti) Africa—and dry-hubs far inland. These serve as hubs for global trade and military deployment alike. Through these facilities, the UAE commandeers vital maritime routes and trade arteries, positioning itself as a gatekeeper over African commerce.
2. Land & Agribusiness: Land and Water Grabs
Struggling from dependency on food imports, the UAE has secured massive farmland across Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Namibia and Uganda. Channels like ADQ, Mubadala, and IHC direct these acquisitions predominantly for livestock fodder and carbon-offset plantations—often to the detriment of local communities. What is framed as “food security” also doubles as resource extraction, reinforcing a neocolonial pattern that prioritizes Emirati needs over African livelihoods.
3. Mining & Illicit Gold Trade
The UAE has been a major buyer of African minerals, including gold, cobalt, uranium and other critical resources from Angola, DRC, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Uganda. Dubai’s gold imports starkly exceed official African export data, suggesting a large-scale informal—and likely illicit—trade. Smuggling networks funnel hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of valuable minerals out of Africa, enriching Emirati refiners and reinforcing ties to conflict economies.
4. Military Bases & Mercenary Networks
With military facilities in Libya, Somalia, Chad, Eritrea, and past ties in Sudan and Eritrea, the UAE not only projects power, but backs armed militias on the ground. In Libya, it supported Khalifa Haftar; in Sudan, the RSF; in Somalia and the Sahel, it funded local forces. These military engagements coincide with arms deals, UAV exports, and direct involvement in regional conflict—signaling that Abu Dhabi’s reach extends far beyond infrastructure, into active conflict shaping.
5. Strategic Alignment: Sub‑Imperial Positioning
The UAE’s rise as a sub‑imperial power is characterized by its role as both dependent (on the US for defense, hosting American bases) and independent (diversifying with Chinese, Russian, South Korean partnerships, and adopting yuan trade). It balances between global superpower alignments and regional influence operations, gaining the privileges of the former while leveraging the local muscle of the latter.
6. Soft Power & Greenwashing
UAE-funded think tanks, Western public relations campaigns, sporting events, and sponsored cultural institutions—ranging from Chatham House to the COP summits and Abu Dhabi Sports—serve to polish its image. Yet investigative scrutiny reveals that beneath the veneer lies severe resource extraction, forced evictions, environmental destruction, and support of authoritarian regimes aligned against democracy and local self-determination.
7. African Resistance & Global Solidarity
To counter this sub‑imperial reach, activists and policy groups must spotlight the UAE’s exploitative investments, demand transparency in contract terms, ban illicit resource trading, and hold Western governments accountable for facilitating these deals. Pushing for stricter foreign influence legislation and halting military collaboration with Abu Dhabi can degrade its coercive capacity. Celebrity boycotts, sports divestments (F1, tennis), and investor pressure on UAE-linked corporations are crucial levers of accountability.
