Erik Prince, a former US Navy officer and founder of the American private military company Blackwater, has stirred controversy with his recent remarks suggesting that African countries should undergo recolonization. In a clip shared by ‘Africa Facts Zone,’ Prince argued that due to what he perceives as corruption and selfishness among African leaders, it may be time for these nations to be invaded once again.
Prince believes that African leaders often prioritize personal gain over the welfare of their citizens, leading to governance challenges. He suggested that if incapable leaders persist, it may be justified to reimpose foreign governance, stating, “It is time for us to just put the imperial hat back on to say we are going to govern those countries if you are incapable of governing yourself because enough is enough.”
When questioned if he was advocating for colonialism, Prince affirmed, “Absolutely, yes.” His comments have sparked outrage and debate, with many criticizing his perspective as advocating for a return to a colonial era widely regarded as a dark chapter in African history.
What You Should Know About Blackwater and Its Recent Expansion to Congo
Academi, formerly known as Blackwater, is an American private military contractor founded by Erik Prince on December 26, 1996. It was renamed Xe Services in 2009, then Academi in 2011 after being acquired by private investors. In 2014, Academi merged with Triple Canopy to form Constellis Holdings.
Constellis and its predecessors provide contract security services to the US federal government, including the CIA since 2003. In 2013, its subsidiary, International Development Solutions, received an approximately $92 million contract for US State Department security guards.
In 2007, Constellis (then Blackwater) gained notoriety for the Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, when its employees killed 17 Iraqi civilians and injured 20. Four employees were later convicted in the US and pardoned on December 22, 2020, by President Donald Trump.
Recently, a company run by Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater, registered a subsidiary in the Democratic Republic of Congo with a mandate to extract minerals and timber and conduct financial operations, according to corporate filings. Prince, who has run Hong Kong-based Frontier Services Group (FSG) since 2014, has close ties to the state-owned Chinese investment company CITIC and provides security, aviation, and logistics services to Chinese firms operating in Africa.
FSG has owned a small Congolese trucking company called Cheetah Logistics in Congo since 2015, but the new subsidiary, Frontier Services Group Congo, has a more expansive mandate, including “the exploration, exploitation, and commercialization of minerals,” forest logging, security, transport, construction, and all financial, investment, and project financing operations, both public and private.
Frontier Services Group Congo was registered on Aug. 20, 2018, and formally established on Nov. 13, 2018. In its 2018 annual report, FSG listed Congo, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia as countries it had identified for investment, in connection with China’s Belt and Road global development strategy.
Besides his work for FSG, Prince has been involved in a plan to deploy a private army to help topple Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, and has tried unsuccessfully to convince the Trump administration to replace U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan with security
contractors. FSG owns aviation companies based in Kenya and Malta and provides security training to companies in China. Prince aims to raise up to half a billion dollars through a new fund to invest in mining metals like cobalt, copper, and lithium that are needed for electric car batteries.
