Chinese Port-Building Spree Advances Beijing’s Africa Ambitions, Experts Say
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China’s initiatives to deepen its economic engagement and influence in Africa are continuing apace, with Beijing celebrating its rapid construction of port facilities along the continent’s coasts at recent diplomatic and trade events.
Observers warn that the growing Chinese presence in Africa—which overlaps closely with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) bankrolled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—furthers the trend of debt entrapment, resource exploitation, and environmental damage for countries on the continent.
As of this year, China is involved in constructing, financing, or operating 78 ports in 32 African countries—around a third of the 231 commercial ports operational across Africa, according to the African Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS).
Davy J. Wong, a Chinese economist living in the United States, told The Epoch Times that Chinese port projects support Beijing’s other initiatives in Africa, mainly rail and highway infrastructure, as well as industrial parks.
Serving CCP’s ‘Global Visions’
On June 11, receptions for the 25th Anniversary of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation and the fourth China–Africa Economic and Trade Expo were held in Changsha, Hunan Province, in southern China. The next day saw the opening of the Trade Expo. In attendance were Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his counterparts from several African countries, and several African leaders, including Ugandan Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja and Liberian Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung.Chinese state media reports on the events touted the country’s ability to build ports across Africa while repeating CCP slogans about “innovative development models for the Global South” and saying that “Africa fully endorses the global visions” of Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping.
Wong noted the concentration of Chinese port projects in West Africa, numbering 35 compared with the 17 in East Africa, 15 in Southern Africa, and 11 in North Africa, based on the ACSS report. By securing the far coasts on the North Atlantic and the Gulf of Guinea, the Chinese regime commands critical shipping lanes for transporting oil, gas, and other resources to China.
In addition to direct financing and construction, China holds operating concessions for 10 African ports, according to the ACSS.
For example, China Merchants Port Holdings, a subsidiary of China Merchants Group, acquired a 50 percent stake in the Lomé Container Terminal in Togo through a wholly-owned subsidiary, gaining operational control of the Port of Lomé—the only deep-sea port in West Africa at the time of its construction.
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‘Killing Three Birds With One Stone’
Wong added that China’s port developments elsewhere in Africa further “strengthen the CCP’s global shipping routes” by expanding its presence over the Indian Ocean, “especially its strategic influence near the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.”The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, are crucial maritime chokepoints for global trade and energy transport.
Su Tzu-yun, director of Strategy and Resources at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), told The Epoch Times that the CCP’s port strategy in Africa is intended to secure Beijing’s economic, diplomatic, and military position—a move he described as “killing three birds with one stone.”
“Economically, it involves exporting manufactured goods and importing raw materials,” including metals such as nickel and copper, Su said.
“This is a comprehensive strategic plan, spanning economic, diplomatic, and future military needs,” he noted. “Investment creates debt relationships with Beijing, which then enhances China’s real diplomatic influence.
Strategic Competition and Dominance
By establishing itself as the dominant power in Africa, China’s projects also serve the purpose of reducing American global diplomatic strength.Wong noted the dual civilian-military ramifications of Beijing’s expansion.
“It tightly integrates resource acquisition, trade system entrenchment, and control over security chokepoints, and will have profound effects on both African regional stability and global geopolitical competition,” he said. Currently, China operates only one overseas military base, at the Port of Djibouti in East Africa. Opened in 2017, it sits on the southern entrance to the Red Sea between Africa and the Middle East, controlling a key shipping lane linking Asia, Africa, and Europe.
The port has become a textbook example of the so-called debt trap created by the CCP’s BRI scheme. Wong noted that Djibouti’s debt to China accounts for 80 percent of its GDP.
He said the CCP’s massive investment in Africa’s ports has “caused local governments to lose control over critical infrastructure,” raising serious “sovereignty and security concerns.”
Chinese economic activity in Africa has been criticized for its emphasis on extracting resources from the continent at the expense of developing value-added industries or environmental protections. Working conditions in China–African collaboration are often poor.
“China’s deepwater fishing fleet already plunders fish stocks up and down the West African coast,” it reads.
Su said, “This is just another form of exploitation” in the CCP’s development model for Africa. He noted a recent wave of attacks on Chinese-owned enterprises by local militant groups in Africa.
“Many African citizens feel exploited and target Chinese workers and companies in retaliation,” Su said.
“China will face many challenges in Africa” in the longer term, he said.
