Actually, Africa does have oil. Quite a bit of it, in fact. Hence the interest of Shell Oil in Nigeria, for one.

West Africa already supplies about 15% of U.S. crude oil imports. US interest in the region includes the large offshore oil deposits in the Gulf of Guinea. The US continually denies persistent reports that it intends to build a military base on the tiny west African island state of Sao Tome, which lies just off the west African coast midway between the big oil producers Nigeria and Angola.

Of course, the 60 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in the Gulf of Guinea isn't as large as Saudi Arabia's 250 billion of reserves, but some believe the governments in the region to be more malleable to US influence. Many came to visit during the "Coalition of the Willing" talks prior to the war. Remember how Bush rolled out the White House red carpet for African heads of state in recognition of their work "on behalf of peace"?

And only Nigeria is currently a member of OPEC, so the Bush administration likes the idea of doing more business with them. US oil companies are lobbying Nigeria hard to leave OPEC. Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations are lobbying hard for the G8 countries and their multi-nationals currently looting the oil regions, to adhere to agreed human rights standards. Right now that seems about as likely to happen as Ken Saro-Wiwa rising from the dead.