【明報文章】The African continent has long served as a space for great power competition. Yet beyond such traditional powers as the United States, China, Russia or the European Union, there are now other smaller actors which vie for influence in logistics, arms supplies as well as security cooperation across Africa. The UAE, Iran, and Turkey are among relative newcomers, but their activism underscores the growing importance of the continent to the security of the Middle East. More importantly, Africa’s congested geopolitical space often leads to rivalry between the Middle Eastern powers among which the UAE-Iran competition stands out as relatively quiet but nevertheless important as it spans large parts of eastern half of Africa.