The China Africa Project's Cobus van Staden interviewed Paul Nantulya, Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, on 18 May 2022 in a piece titled "Africa's Role in China's Global Military Expansion - Defense Expert Unpacks a Thorny Issue."
Nantulya argued that China has the intention to transform the PLA Navy from a largely coastal force that played second fiddle to the PLA Ground Force into a blue water navy capable of operating and projecting power globally in support of China's expanding overseas interests. As for Africa, the countries that come up in Chinese debates about new bases have been in the Indian Ocean and include Kenya, Tanzania, and Seychelles. Namibia on the Atlantic Ocean has been the subject of intense local speculation as a potential basing partner. Everything China does in this arena is incremental and modulated.
