CHINA’S growing military footprint in Africa now extends beyond nations that have distanced themselves from Paris, with Senegal and Ghana, long aligned with France and Western security partners, having stepped up acquisitions of Chinese defence systems.
At the same time, Burkina Faso and Mali, under post-coup governments, are ramping up defence procurement from China amid worsening insurgencies. According to a report in ‘Mekong News Myanmar’, the shift is most evident in the Sahel region in Africa, where Chinese suppliers have targetted a niche providing military juntas confronting persistent insurgencies with affordable, rapidly deployable and low-maintenance equipment.
“The withdrawal of French forces from the Sahel and Russia’s reduced export capacity due to the Ukraine war have combined to create what analysts describe as a ‘military vacuum’ across West and Central Africa. That space is not empty for long. China has moved swiftly to consolidate its position,” the report detailed. “The shift began after the wave of coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from 2020 onward. These upheavals dismantled long-standing security partnerships, particularly with Paris. France’s counter-terrorism mission, once central to regional security architecture, has wound down,” it added.
A January report in China Military to Civilian described the French exit as creating ‘space’ for China’s military trade expansion. The report, attributed to the state arms exporter China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation, argued that Beijing is leveraging costeffective systems and flexible financing to penetrate African markets.
