Has Africa become a battleground for the new cold war? It’s China vs America in Mother Continent

From mining to road construction to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) to economic and political governance model training, China is ubiquitous in Africa. The West, espeically the US, today sees China as its principal challenger almost everywhere but despite the flare-ups in the Pacific particularly the South China Sea, the simmering tension is equally palpable in Africa.  

The US-led West might have missed the trick but China’s Africa story begins in the 1950s, when Western powers rivalled, at times one another, to maintain their superiority in Africa. China — along with India — vouched for freedom and self-reliance of African countries through several channels and platforms including the most-famous Bandung conference hosted by Indonesia.

Seven decades later, the communist China’s heft and growing presence in Africa have set up a race of one-upmanship in the Mother Continent. It is rivalling the US, the leading economic super-power in the world.

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Why call it a new cold war

The intensifying rivalry, particularly between China and the US over the African continent, bears striking resemblances to the Cold War of the 20th century. Asia was the battlefield then as the US and the USSR, Soviet Russia, rivalled for hegemony. This time, the key players are not the United States and the Soviet Union, rather the US and China. Africa has emerged as a critical theatre in this geopolitical contest.

Incidentally, the new cold war, if we can call it so, involves post-Soviet rising communist power which like the former seeks to challenge the leading capitalist power on the globe. Back then, Asia was seen as the hunting ground for its known exploitable natural resources and manpower, Africa is now viewed as the new minefiled to dig prosperity and security from.

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However, the crucial question remains: Is Africa really becoming the new battleground in this global power game?

How China has expanded its footprint in the Mother Continent

Africa is called the Mother Continent as the theory of evolution tells us that humanity sprang from the earlier branches of humans that shot from eastern African roots. In the post-War age of ideological expansion, China set its eyes on Africa as the USSR and the US-led West were involved at various points in Asia, East Europe and Central and Latin Americas.  

China’s relationship with Africa has been building for decades. At the Bandung conference, representatives from 29 Asian and African countries gathered to voice their opposition to colonialism and to seek economic cooperation among the Global South —- back then called the “Third World”.  

In early decades, China’s interest in Africa was primarily driven by a sense of solidarity with other nations that were also shaking off the chains of colonial rule.

Fast forward to post-Cold War, especially after the 2008 global meltdown, and China’s presence in Africa has grown immensely. The country has poured billions into the continent, building roads, railways, ports, and power plants.  

China gradually in the middle years, and in recent years electrifyingly, overtaken the United States as Africa’s biggest trading partner, and its investments continue to shape the continent’s economic landscape. But these investments often come with strings attached, such as requiring African countries to use Chinese companies and materials for their infrastructure projects, further cementing Beijing’s influence.

This isn’t just about business — it’s also about strategy. Africa’s wealth of natural resources, from oil and minerals to fertile agricultural land, is vital to China’s booming economy. In return for access to these resources, China has offered financial aid, loans, and development assistance to African nations.

This hands-off approach made China a popular partner for many African leaders, even as it draws criticism from those who worry about the lack of transparency, environmental damage, and the support of authoritarian regimes.

China’s game in Africa has moved in phases — solidarity in early decades to investments and low-interest loans in middle years to complete domination in trade and now to political governance training, something that African leaders earlier accused the US and its allies of doing. China earlier policy of non-political interference helped it edge out the Western countries in developing cooperation with African countries.

According to the African Centre for Strategic Studies (ACSS), “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has escalated its training of African party and government officials as part of CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping’s ‘new model of party-to-party relations,’ particularly in the Global South.”

“An indication of this renewed emphasis is the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School. Launched in 2022, the Nyerere School trains ruling party members from the Former Liberation Movements of Southern Africa (FLMSA) coalition—Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe,” it says.

However, political training by China is not new as they began this programme back in the 1960s. But the recent and rapid change is the emphasis on propagating the governance idea of Xi Jinping.  

The Nyerere School is the first institute to be modeled after the CCP Central Party School, which trains China’s top cadres and leaders. It is also the first of its kind to cater to multiple African political parties.  

“This school parallels the China-Africa Institute, a continental CCP initiative to train African party and government leaders. The Institute, which started in 2019, is based within the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing and the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa [Ethiopia],” says ACSS.

Why America is concerned and how it responds

The US seems increasingly alarmed by China’s growing influence in Africa as Washington DC sees Beijing as a challenge to American interests on the continent. For a long time, the US has been used to calling the shots in Africa. Now, with China’s rise, that dominance has been seriously challenged. In several countries — from Ethiopia to Uganda to Angola — China has practically come to dictate market terms.

American leaders, though overtly critical of China’s action in the South China Sea, have been particularly concerned that China is exploiting Africa in ways that mirror the colonial powers of the past. There are fears that Chinese loans are leading African countries into a debt trap, potentially compromising their independence. The recent Kenya riots — following an economic crisis linked to Chinese debts — were seen as fitting similar patterns witnessed in countries like Sri Lanka.

The US has also accused China of propping up corrupt and authoritarian regimes, turning a blind eye to human rights abuses, and undermining democratic institutions—all in pursuit of its own economic and strategic goals.  

Of late, the US has also courted some of the African dictators to counter Chinese influence on the continent. For example, US President Joe Biden hosted President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea reportedly to fend off China’s efforts to build a naval base in that country.  

The naval base would give China a new military foothold in the Atlantic Ocean on the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of West Africa. Biden ignored America’s own complaints of human rights abuse against the regime led by the world’s longest-serving ruler.  

Incidentally, Equatorial Guinea, too, is facing acute economic crisis and 82-year-old Obiang, who has been in power for 44 years, has appointed a former banker as the prime minister this week to fix economic woes of the country.

The US, on its part, has been trying hard to counter China’s influence with its own initiatives — including the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), which aim to promote economic development and good governance in Africa.  

Additionally, the US has expanded its military presence across the continent, establishing a network of bases and partnerships designed to combat terrorism and protect its strategic As America continues to influence Africa in the face of China’s relentless economic engagement, the cold war narrative looks only natural on the continent.

What Africa is doing to stave off two rival powers

While China and the US compete for influence, African nations are not just passive bystanders in the new geopolitical struggle. Several African leaders have become adept at playing both sides, using their relationships with China and the US to secure benefits for their countries. However, this balancing act is fraught with challenges, given their rivalry heats up over even a seemingly minor issue.

Africa’s home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies — including Niger, Senegal, Libya, Rwanda, Ethiopia and the Gambia — and holds vast reserves of the natural resources that, in the first place, make both China and the US interested in the region.  

Its rapidly growing population and increasing urbanisation makes Africa a massive future market for goods and services. At this junction, African countries usually take a middle path but that is also fraught with risks, given their sandwiched situation between Chinese money and America’s muscle.  

How the new cold war may shape up Africa

It is a difficult proposition to predict the future of Africa in this new cold war as the post-Covid realities of the world are changing at a rapid rate. China’s economy is stagnating. The country is witnessing a flight of big companies as Beijing continues to antagonise the West, which is home to most of the top multinational firms.  

However, there is another possibility that Africa may actually benefit tremendously from the increased attention and investment not only from rivals China and the US but also from emerging economic giants such as India and Brazil.

For Africa to emerge stronger from this geopolitical oneupmanship, its leaders look for ways to pass through these turbulent waters carefully. The sudden collapse of growing economies like Sri Lanka have driven home the point that too much dependence on opaque Chinese loans may endager their long-term prosperity.  

Whether Africa can extract benefit from this China-US or communist-capitalist tug-of-war and build a secure future depends on how its current crop of leadership explores and chooses their options. For, the continent has to find solutions to its food, energy, environmental, and social crises that threaten to devastate not just Africa but potentially the entire world.