Gulf countries are becoming major players in Africa

Mining IndabaBP UAE, Africa’s biggest mining conference, is a geological jamboree. But the latest bash, held in Cape Town in February, was also a geopolitical spectacle. For as well as the usual Chinese and Western firms there were arrivistes from the Gulf. Manara Minerals, a state-backed Saudi Arabian fund, has up to $15bn to spend on foreign mines. Also browsing is the International Holding Company, an Emirati conglomerate with a market capitalisation of $240bn, around that of Blackrock and combined; in November its minerals arm bought a 51% stake in a Zambian copper mine.Gulf interest in African mining is part of a broader trend. The United Arab Emirates (), Saudi Arabia and Qatar are increasingly influential in Africa. The continent is a destination for their capital, an arena for their rivalries and a test of their global ambitions. Dubai has become the crucial financial hub for African elites. As African leaders seek alternatives to dwindling Chinese loans and Western aid, the Gulf’s rise is reshaping geopolitics on the continent, with effects good and bad.