China has loaned USD 3.56 billion to African countries for military, domestic security and dual purposes. The 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, held in Dakar Senegal in November 2021 had indicated that China, under China-Africa Cooperative Partnership, was planning to launch 50 security assistance programmes under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) across law and order, UN Peacekeeping and counter piracy operations.
Nevertheless, China’s increased interest in the security of African countries, many believe, could not be seen as a good samaritan’s act alone. China’s BRI, as it is obvious by now to observers all around the world, is not only a “connectivity” programme for development of trade and investment, but it has surely underlying strategic intents. As China aspires to be a global power, it wants to expand the presence of its security apparatus and control directly or indirectly by participation in ports developments and operation and manning various projects and mines operated by Chinese companies with Chinese private security agencies.
According to World Port Index report, there are at least 46 existing or planned port projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, which are funded/built/operated by Chinese entities along the coast providing Chinese access to main maritime route and checkpoints. These ports could not be seen as driven only by the desire to enhance connectivity for trade and investment. The US think tanks have raised concern over the potential for host countries to cede sovereign control to Beijing. Beijing could also leverage these ports for strategic interest during turmoil.
According to the United States of Peace African countries are grappling with a wide range of cross-national security threats from illicit trafficking to extremist groups such as Boko Haram and al-Shabab. There are wide ranges of civil wars, often putting the elected governments at threat including coups. The complexity of the African security concern has also increased with the increase of Chinese and Russian engagements while US engagement is waning. While Ethiopia and Sudan have faced civil wars, the
Sahel, Lake Chad Basin, Somalia, Eastern Democratic Republic and Congo and Mozambique are facing the brunt of extremist threats. Russian mercenaries are operating in Central African Republic and have been asked by Malian government to render services in the Sahel. China has a base in Djibouti.
China’s offer of cooperation to ensure security in African countries is what many African countries have no choice but accept given lack of security wherewithals and even money to create a robust security system. But if such cooperation would have implications for sovereignty or tussle for increasing sphere of influence by the global powers, the choice of African countries would have to be calculated and cautious.
The Chinese funded/built/operated ports include Tin-Can Island Port Container Terminal Ltd., Tin-Can Island Port, Lekki Deep Sea Port (Nigeria), Tonkolili Iron Ore Project, Pepel Port & Tagrin Point Port, Kribi Container Terminal, Kirbi Deep Sea Port, (sierra Leon), Lome Container Terminal, Lome Port (Togo), Doraleh Multipurpose Port, Djibouti, etc. There are China assisted ports in Guinea, Mauritania, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Tanzania, Eritrea, Kenya and other countries. Such an overwhelming Chinese engagement in African ports has the potential to alter the geo- strategic balance. While African countries felt the construction of these ports as important for development, they are under obligation to agree to Chinese terms and conditions which erode their sovereignty and control over their own infrastructure, besides creating a heavy burden of debt.
Many Chinese private security agencies have been deployed by the Chinese companies to protect mines operated by them and Chinese workers working in them. With thousands of Chinese working in Africa since Xi’s BRI gave a big infrastructure push in 2013, their security and the protection of asset like mines and natural gas projects as well as railways and shipping routes have become key concerns for Beijing.
Notably more than 90% of security contractors in China deploying their personnel abroad, are ex-people’s Liberation Army or ex-special forces and ex-paramilitary police. They are characterized by state control and bound by
Chinese law. Yet some of them have been reported to have committed excesses against the local residents and workers who protested against displacement, destruction of environment, poor wages and working conditions.
Among the companies working in Africa are Beijing Dewe Security Service, Huaxin Zhong, a Security Group and China Security Technology Group. In Kenya, Dewe employs around 2000 security contractors just to protect the USD 3.6 billion China build Standard Gauge Railway. There is no objection in safeguarding the China funded projects in the host countries, but disproportionately large presence of the foreign security agencies personnel is sort of creating an outside and parallel police in the host countries who scare the local population and often brutalise. Many Africans would have liked to have local law implementing police for this reason.
Africa is on cross roads and it could hardly afford to rely on outside forces for security like past. A World Bank report has noted that the majority of armed conflict in West Africa since independence have been intrastate and incidents of civil wars. Even though the civil wars and large-scale conflicts have dropped off dramatically, political and election related violence, long- standing ethno-national conflict, drug trafficking, maritime piracy and extremism still continue in different degrees in different countries. Political instability and consequently lack of good governance and law and order is the main reason that the country has to depend on Chinese security agencies or Russian mercenaries, but this has its own repercussions for sovereignty and local people’s dignity and welfare. African policy makers need paying heed because outside security comes at its own price which increasingly aware and aspirational Africans no longer adore!
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