Similar agreements are reportedly being readied with Ghana and the Economic Community of West African States, part of a series to be extended across Africa. On March 16, in Washington, President Clinton opened a U.S.-African ministerial meeting, held at the State Department, to which ministers from 46 African countries had been invited. This was matched on March 11 by a highly significant meeting in Abidjan, Ivory Coast between British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who was himself on a tour of Africa, with French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine. Also attending the meeting were the British and French ambassadors to Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Angola, Tanzania and Namibia, plus the British High Commissioners in Malawi, and Lesotho and the French envoys to the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso. That is all finished.
Today there are no longer exclusive spheres of influence.
It was clearly evident that what was being recognized was the threat of the U.S. drive in Africa. The African people were not consulted. Today they have to be dealt with, but the imperialist approach to Africa has only been modified. Virtually all African states are burdened by massive foreign debts due to deliberate western lending policy of destroying their independence, and they have little bargaining power. The state assets are primarily in mineral resources.