Authored by Antonio Graceffo via The Epoch Times,
China’s increasing dominance of African ports, particularly along the Atlantic coast, along with strengthening military partnerships and an aggressive propaganda campaign, poses a growing threat to U.S. national security…
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in July 2025, Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin Anderson cautioned that Africa is evolving into a crucial battleground in global competition, with China, Russia, and terrorist organizations posing escalating threats to U.S. national security.
Anderson, who was nominated to lead U.S. Africa Command, highlighted China’s transition from purely economic engagement to an expanding military presence and aggressive information warfare tactics throughout the continent. He specifically raised concerns about Chinese investments in African ports, especially those along the Atlantic coast, which could potentially limit U.S. access during times of conflict.
Chinese state-backed enterprises currently hold ownership stakes in approximately one-third of Africa’s 231 ports, with 78 facilities spread across 32 countries, predominantly concentrated in West Africa where there are 35 ports compared to 17 in East Africa. Several of these ports have already been utilized by the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) for military exercises. This growing control includes major ports in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Namibia.
A substantial Chinese presence in West African ports would significantly increase the PLAN’s reach into the Atlantic region, placing it within the U.S. security perimeter, an area that is more challenging to defend compared to the Pacific due to fewer islands and resupply points. Africa is only 3,000 miles away from the U.S. East Coast, a distance similar to that between New York and California, suggesting that a Chinese resupply base on the Atlantic coast could position submarines within striking range of cities like New York, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.
Although Chinese nuclear submarines have the capability to remain at sea for extended periods, they currently lack the capacity to refuel or replenish supplies in the Atlantic. Establishing a base would address this issue, enabling prolonged deployments as well as pre-positioning for intelligence gathering, reloading of containerized missiles, and disruption of U.S. or allied operations.
Since 2000, PLAN vessels have made 55 port calls across Africa, including visits to West African nations like Morocco and Mauritania, indicating China’s intentions to expand military use of these facilities. A Chinese foothold on the African coast would offer the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) a significant platform to influence global trade and project power across both sides of the Atlantic.
Beijing has already demonstrated its readiness to transform commercial ports into military installations, as evidenced by its 2018 venture in Djibouti, where the state-owned China Merchants Group constructed a PLAN-exclusive base adjacent to a commercial port. Seven additional African ports, spanning the Atlantic and the West Indian Ocean, have been identified as probable prospects for future Chinese military utilization.
In addition to infrastructure development, China is rapidly expanding its military cooperation in Africa. In 2000, less than 5 percent of African weaponry originated from China. Presently, Chinese-made armored vehicles are employed by 70 percent of African armed forces, making China the primary arms provider on the continent. The trend extends to officer training, with the number of African officers trained in China increasing from under 200 at the start of the century to over 2,000 today.
Since 2006, China has conducted 20 joint military exercises with African forces, progressively expanding in scale and complexity, including notable exercises like the August 2024 land and sea drills with Tanzania and Mozambique, as well as recent joint air force exercises with Egypt. In the subsequent month, Beijing pledged a 1 billion yuan military grant to bolster African armed forces, train 6,000 personnel, and host 500 young officers for joint operations, patrols, and exercises.
To make its expanding military footprint in Africa more acceptable, the CCP heavily relies on a coordinated propaganda campaign aimed at reshaping African perceptions. Through state-controlled media outlets such as CGTN and Xinhua, partnerships with local news agencies, journalist training initiatives, and satellite networks like StarTimes, the Chinese government promotes an image of itself as a benevolent, non-interfering partner while subtly undermining the United States.
These initiatives are part of Beijing’s broader strategy of “media warfare,” which involves providing free or low-cost international content to African media outlets, funding media exchanges and workshops, and establishing the China-Africa Press Center where African journalists are placed in Chinese newsrooms for 10-month rotations to report on CCP activities, reinforcing pro-Beijing narratives. The CCP increasingly relies on African journalists as the face of its messaging, a departure from the dominance of Chinese reporters in the 1990s, giving Chinese propaganda a sense of local authenticity.
From port control to military training to propaganda campaigns, the CCP is systematically working to undermine the United States and achieve naval equality. Africa has emerged as a strategic battleground for Beijing’s long-term objectives, spanning military, economic, and ideological domains. Without a coherent counterstrategy from the United States, critical access and influence in Africa and beyond the Atlantic could be at risk.
Opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.
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