Africa matters, especially for American policy priorities. The rights and well-being of Africans across the continent have a direct impact on peace and prosperity around the world and can curb mass migration, bolster security and resilience, and promote trade and economic growth. The U.S. has a long history of effective engagement across Africa and should designate the continent as a foreign policy priority.
Recommendation:
The U.S. administration and Congress should continue to strengthen U.S. defense and counterterrorism efforts in Africa, emphasizing both traditional security objectives and investments that improve the human condition in at-risk communities. These include but are not limited to programs that support education, healthcare, opportunity, and the protection of human rights.
Security: Reprioritizing U.S. Partnership in Africa
- U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has worked alongside dozens of regional allies to strengthen military partnerships, counterterrorism efforts, and U.S. and African readiness capabilities. This includes the facilitation of African Lion, AFRICOM’s largest annual exercise, engaging over 8,100 participants across 28+ countries and NATO.
- Building the capacity of African partners, programs like the Partnership for Regional East Africa Counterterrorism (PREACT) and the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) have worked to marginalize instability and deter malign influences across the continent, keeping African countries and the United States safer.
- U.S. investments in Africa’s water and energy sectors through platforms like the Development Finance Corporation, the Millenium Challenge Corporation, and Power Africa have improved stability and access for millions of African homes. They have also created tens of thousands of jobs and advanced key infrastructure throughout Africa, improving opportunity, quality of life, resilience, and good will toward the U.S.
- Efforts like the Global Fragility Strategy and the Prevention and Stabilization Fund mitigate conflict, promote reconciliation, strengthen justice systems, and build resilience in at-risk communities. According to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, it is estimated that for every $1 the United States spends to prevent conflict, we save $16 in response costs.
Security: Countering Russia and China in Africa
Russia and China are actively spreading their authoritarian influence across the African continent — to the detriment of regional and global stability, peace, and prosperity. These adversaries are filling a void left by the lack of American engagement over the past decade to advance their interests at the expense of U.S. national security.
Russia
- Russia is the largest arms supplier to sub-Saharan Africa, providing 21% of arms imports.
- According to unofficial reports, there are nearly 20,000 Russian mercenaries in Africa.
- In exchange for mineral contracts, Russia has engaged in bilateral defense agreements with governments across the Sahel, dispelling U.S. and French allies in the process.
It’s estimated that the Wagner Group has earned approximately $2.5 billion from illicit gold dealings with countries like Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan, and Mali since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
- More than 40 million people have been forcibly displaced across Africa and a majority of countries with the highest levels of population displacement are targets of Russian influence and interference.
- Russia has facilitated military cooperation agreements with over 40 African countries including arms sales and military personnel training and consulting. In Niger alone, 100 military instructors arrived in the spring of 2024.
- Russia uses barter exchange that trades military assistance for access to natural resources with ostracized actors, such as juntas or other autocrats, to bypass international sanctions and financial isolation.
- Over the last 10 years, Russia has leveraged political unrest, anti-colonial sentiment, and rising issues of insecurity to promote Russian military bases in countries like Eritrea, CAR, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Sudan.
- Russian interference and engagement across the continent have resulted in significant, forceful withdraws of U.S. and Western military presence. Niger, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Chad, Burkina Faso, and others have turned away from U.S. and allied support in favor of Russian security.
China
- China is the second largest arms supplier to sub-Saharan Africa, providing 18% of arms imports.
As part of its Belt and Road initiative, Chinese companies are seeking to expand their digital footprint across the continent. In Kenya, for example, CCTV systems are created, installed, and operated by Chinese technology giant, Huawei.
- Chinese firms are active in at least 78 African ports. The Chinese military has also constructed military facilities near economic interests, demonstrating the integration of security and commercial interests by the CCP in Africa and beyond.
- China has facilitated policing agreements with more than 40 African countries — this accounts for over a third of foreign security forces receiving support from the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security.
