Why It Matters
A recent CRS report released on August 6 examines China’s expanding footprint <a href="https://absafricatv.com/a-total-of-673m-was-raised-across-15-fintech-deals-this-week/” title=”A total of $673m was raised across 15 FinTech deals this week”>across sub-Saharan Africa, laying bare a strategic competition that is reshaping the continent’s economic and geopolitical alignment, with significant implications for U.S. foreign policy and congressional oversight.
China has become Africa’s largest bilateral creditor, with African governments owing the country $77.6 billion as of 2024, and holds the largest share of arms sales to the region. An Afrobarometer survey found 62% of respondents across 38 African countries viewed China favorably, compared to 52% for the United States; the current administration did not request country-specific foreign aid for most African countries and ended Prosper Africa, a multi-agency initiative designed to counter Chinese economic influence. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) supplies 76% of global cobalt output, and People’s Republic of China (PRC) firm China Molybdenum Company (CMOC) controls several of the DRC’s largest copper-cobalt mines.
The Big Picture
China’s engagement in sub-Saharan Africa has grown substantially since the early 2000s across political, economic, diplomatic, and security dimensions. Between 2000 and 2024, China extended 1,286 loans totaling $180.87 billion to African countries, first surpassing U.S. trade with Africa in 2009. The breadth is comprehensive: China maintains active diplomatic missions in every African country except Eswatini, hosts thousands of African university students, operates Confucius Institutes across the continent, and has established its first overseas military base in Djibouti since 2017. At the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit, Beijing pledged $50.8 billion over 2025-2027. China extended zero-tariff treatment to all African countries except Eswatini as of May 1, and the Administration imposed tariff surcharges on African nations, stacking on top of baseline MFN tariffs. The report notes that China has shifted toward smaller, lower-risk projects in Africa while actively promoting its renminbi as an alternative to the U.S. dollar.
Congress has responded through hearings, legislation, and oversight activities. Lawmakers reauthorized the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) through 2026, and have authorized the Countering PRC Influence Fund across multiple congressional sessions. The current administration has launched Project Vault for critical minerals reserves and the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement, signaled interest in a longer-term AGOA deal with reciprocal tariff arrangements, and mediated a DRC-Rwanda peace agreement with a regional economic integration framework. It has negotiated bilateral health memoranda of understanding with several African countries, engaged with Sahelian countries that have undergone coups, and explicitly criticized the previous administration for the emphasis it placed on civilian rule and elections as preconditions for engagement.
The Bottom Line
China’s strategy treats Africa as integral to its broader goal of expanding international influence, securing natural resources, and challenging U.S. global leadership, framing itself as a non-conditional development partner precisely as Washington’s withdrawal from the continent has created a narrative vacuum. For Congress, the challenge is no longer whether China is competing in Africa, but whether existing tools like AGOA and the Countering PRC Influence Fund can be scaled and sustained against a competitor deploying capital, military presence, and soft power simultaneously.
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