China donates military equipment to Benin in a bid to expand its influence in Africa

In an effort to expand its influence in Africa, China has donated military equipment to the Beninese Armed Forces, helping their efforts to fight terrorism in the region. China’s ambassador to the African nation Peng Jingtao confirmed the news and stated that Beijing has mostly donated howitzers and their accessories to the region.

Benin’s Brigadier General Fructueux Gbaguidi, chief of general staff of the Beninese Armed Forces, expressed gratitude upon receiving the donations and said that the equipment would help strengthen the military’s arsenal and was “a strong symbol of the friendship that binds the Chinese and Beninese peoples”.

The armed forces of the African nation are currently embroiled in fighting jihadists in the north of the country near the border with Burkina Faso and Niger. Benin insisted that the equipment would “enable the units of the Beninese army to better respond to operational challenges on the ground in the fight against the terrorist threat”.

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“This support from China is part of military cooperation between the two countries which is strengthening and diversifying every day,” the army furthered, South China Morning Post reported.

Not the first time 

Interestingly, the move came a year after China donated around four Norinco PMR-50 drones to Benin. The drones were gifted so that the African nation could improve security in the border areas. For years, China has sought to improve military ties with African nations by both selling and donating lethal and non-lethal military equipment.

Not only, this China has also provided several African countries with training and financing infrastructure and military aircraft. Experts believe that with these donations, the Chinese leadership are finding ways to provide cost-efficient ways to build trust and promote strategic cooperation between the People’s Liberation Army and other armed forces.

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“Donating arms, training and equipment is viewed in Beijing as a way to foster mutually beneficial relations with African countries, and to promote economic and political exchanges in the long term,” Dr Ilaria Carrozza, a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo told SCMP. “In the case of equipment that is, allegedly, being used to fight terrorism, this is also seen as an opportunity for boasting that China contributes to the provision of global public goods," she added.

In the past, China has donated vehicles and engineering equipment to Kenya. Last year, China gave Zimbabwe equipment worth US$28 million that included armoured vehicles, patrol boats, sniper rifles, machine guns and minibuses. Meanwhile, Nigeria and Sierra Leone have received navy patrol boats from China, while Ghana early this year received rocket artillery and armoured vehicles from Chinese defence company Poly Technologies.

As per the Peace Research Institute Oslo report, published in 2022, China has provided nearly all African nations with security force assistance, worth millions of dollars, in an effort to build strong ties.

“This is part of China’s strategy to build relations with the continent,” said David Shinn, a China-Africa specialist and professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. He noted that African nations are welcoming these donations since they would help curb terrorism in the region.

“Only ending the root causes of terrorism will rein it in – not the provision of artillery howitzers,” he added.

With inputs from agencies.