Image by Alex Shuper on Unsplash
What started as a single night of strikes has now spiraled into a war pulling in nations across the Middle East, forever. The US and Israel started a military campaign to break down Iran’s military infrastructure, such as missiles, before it could pose a global threat. This came to be known as Operation Epic Fury, which started on February 28, 2026. In response, Iran started attacking US military bases next to its neighboring countries (Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, etc.), which led to a series of counterattacks, significantly increasing the depth of this war. Eventually, this caused the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, leaving the Eastern Hemisphere vulnerable to petroleum shortages. Additionally, nations such as Qatar have halted LPG production due to frequent conflicts on their territories. Ultimately, this event has reminded us just how fragile the Middle Eastern lands are and how dependent countries are on them. Against the backdrop of surging oil prices, however, we must now ask ourselves a familiar yet urgent question: where else can we turn?
For a growing number of forward-thinking nations, the answer is not another country—it’s an ancient continent that the rest of the world has generally overlooked: Africa. While global attention has been fully focused on getting their ships toward the grueling route through the Strait of Hormuz, a quiet yet powerful shift has been underway, as some of Europe’s most strategic nations have already moved their pieces toward Africa.
While countries in Asia and Europe have been investing in Africa for years, what is remarkable about this phase is who they are bringing to the table and what they are bringing to the table in direct response to this conflict.
China
Since China is currently being affected by the disruptions of oil supply in the Middle East, Beijing has accelerated its dual-track strategy towards North Africa by deepening fossil fuel procurement (sourcing) while expediting green energy development in countries like Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt. Since these Middle Eastern supply chain shortages are threatening China’s oil supply management and spiking domestic transportation and production costs, this has forced Beijing to secure alternative measures to prevent public distress over rising utility/transporation costs. To build these secure networks, Morocco, for example, has served as a strategic location for green energy developments, with Chinese firms taking lead roles in billions of dollars’ worth of projects covering green aluminum, green hydrogen, solar power, and wind.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
The GCC (comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE) has begun to accelerate its investments in African renewable energy, agriculture, and logistics to diversify its portfolio against security risks like shifting energy markets, helping the council make use of this vulnerable situation. For example, early in this war, Saudi Arabia announced plans to invest over $25 billion in Africa by 2030, with a strategy that includes digital infrastructure, AI projects, and overseas connectivity between the east coast of Africa and the western coast of the Middle East. In short, the GCC aims to reduce its dependency on oil, so it wants to diversify its investments to ensure that when one sector fails, the others remain stable and balance the economy.
Europe
For decades, Europe has been a key investment partner to Africa, providing aid and support, but now, the tides have turned. Even before the war, in 2025, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared that “Africa is the future that is already here.” And after this war, we now recognize the importance of this saying. According to Euronews, Italy’s Prime Minister announced closer energy cooperation with Algeria to increase gas supplies to Italy, with more than 30% of Italy’s natural gas needs met by Algeria. Now, for Portugal, over half of its LNG imports are coming from Nigeria. Analysts believe that deepening energy ties between Europe and Africa could rapidly change the flow of investments as well as create unique interdependencies and economic fortunes in Africa.
Although there are unique features of Africa after the US-Iran War, what resources and strategic advantages does Africa really have? Without this stimulation of the war, would Africa have transformed anyway? Well, for a fact, Africa currently holds 20% of the world’s mineral value (minerals such as cobalt, lithium, etc.), which are essential to the 21st-century clean energy economy, as oil was important to the 20th century. Despite the fact that the continent currently holds only a fraction of the economic returns of these specific minerals, the rise in demand for these critical minerals will create around 2.3 million jobs and raise the GDP of Africa by roughly 12%. With the boost from this US-Iran War, Africa is projected to outgrow the progress of Asia for the first time due to commodity value, a young population that, if used, will significantly spike productivity, and investor confidence.
This economic and political shift towards Africa shows the world that it can’t rely on just one region for all of its resources. By leveraging its vast mineral wealth and green-energy focus, Africa is now emerging as a new center of global power. While this war might have initiated this shift, the era of the Middle East’s monopoly on oil energy officially began the rise of Africa, setting Africa up to become the world’s next great leader. This change guarantees that the future of global technology and economic stability will be determined throughout the vast trading hubs of Africa, a continent full of opportunity.
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