China Links Communist Party to China-Africa Cooperation

 Ethiopia's Capital published on 12 July 2026 an op-ed titled "A 105-year Journey of Struggle: The Code of China's Development and a New Chapter in China-Africa Cooperation" by Ambassador Jiang Feng, head of China's mission to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  

The op-ed begins: "On July 1st, the Communist Party of China (CPC) marked the 105th anniversary of its founding.  For the Chinese people, it is an important occasion to reflect on the nation's journey of struggle and achievement while looking ahead to the bright prospects.  For our African friends who are interested in China's development, it also offers an important opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the key to China's development."  

The op-ed continues to praise the progress made by the CPC and suggests that China's model of development offers lessons for African countries.

Comment:  The Mission of China to the African Union website posted the same op-ed on 7 July.  It is not clear if Capital published the op-ed because it considered the ambassador's remarks newsworthy or there was some other incentive.

China-Africa Agricultural Cooperation

 Xinhua published on 28 October 2025 an article titled "Chinese, African Experts Join Force to Advance Collaboration on Food Security, Agricultural Modernization."

Experts representing the China-Africa Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Alliance met in Addis Ababa in October where they focused on cooperation concerning Africa's food security and agricultural modernization.  

Comment:  This is an area where USAID once had the lead in Africa.  Is the United States abandoning the field to China? 

China-Africa Artificial Intelligence Cooperation

 BABL AI posted on 2 October 2025 an article titled "China, Africa Outline Joint AI Governance and Innovation Plan" by Jeremy Werner.  

China and African nations announced last month a plan that outlines initiatives to expand artificial intelligence (AI) research, governance, and capacity-building across the continent. China will host annual China-Africa Digital Economy and Cybersecurity Seminars, offering training in AI data security and new technology applications.

Ethiopia's Culture of Confrontation and Aggression

 Ethiopia Insight published on 1 October 2025 a commentary titled "The Grammar of Aggression: Ethiopia's Culture of Confrontation" by Daniel Hailu, a multidisciplinary researcher.

The author argues that aggression and confrontation are a major feature of Ethiopian society.  These characteristics eclipse behaviors such as cooperation, mediation, and restraint.  As a result, force governs Ethiopian society.

The author concludes that "only by addressing the emotional, psychological, and cultural underpinnings of aggression can Ethiopia create the conditions for lasting social cohesion."

Ethiopian Government Paper Praises Relations with China

 The government-sponsored Ethiopian Herald published on 6 May 2025 an article titled "The Deepening Strategic Relations between Ethiopia, China."

The article summarizes recent cooperation between China and Ethiopia in the fields of financing, infrastructure, investment, trade, and space.  It concludes that "the overall trajectory of Ethiopia-China relations remains positive, characterized by mutual benefits and shared aspirations for economic development and modernization."  It suggests that the China-Ethiopia "partnership serves as a model for South-South cooperation."

Is US-China Cooperation in Africa Possible?

 The Asia Society Policy Institute posted this week a commentary titled "Avoiding Conflicts and Ensuring U.S.-China Cooperation in Africa: An African Perspective" by Abdeta Beyene, Centre for Dialogue, Research and Cooperation in Addis Ababa.

The author argues that the United States and China have the potential to move beyond competition and instead foster meaningful cooperation in Africa.  He suggests a number of ways that China-US collaboration could work to the benefit of Africa.

Comment:  The author is correct that there is the potential for US-China cooperation in Africa and a number of years ago there actually was some modest cooperation.  The prospect for US-China cooperation in Africa is dependent, however, on the existing Sino-American bilateral relationship, which has been severely strained in recent years.  Until there is significant improvement in the China-US bilateral relationship, there is almost no prospect for collaboration in Africa.   

American and Chinese-financed Railway Projects in Southern Africa: Competition or Cooperation?

 The Center for Strategic and International Studies published on 10 October 2024 a commentary titled "Two Railroads, One Vision" by Judd Devermont.

The US has mobilized over $4 billion to develop the Lobito Economic Corridor, including refurbishing Angola's Benguela rail line and supporting a rail line expansion between the southern DRC and Zambia.  This project will improve the movement of minerals and goods to the Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic coast.  China is making available $1 billion to revitalize the Tanzania-Zambia Railway built in the 1970s that terminates in Dar es Salaam in the Indian Ocean.

While these projects are being framed in the context of great power competition, they offer the possibility of serving as an example of great power cooperation and one that accomplishes a Pan-African goal for a transcontinental rail link from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic that will expand economic development throughout the region.  This could be done by connecting the two projects if all parties were to agree.   

China and US Compete for Space Cooperation in Africa

 The Africa at LSE blog posted on 19 April 2024 a commentary titled "China and America Woo African Space Agencies in the New Space Race" by Scott Firsing.

China and the United States are trying to leverage their strength in space to foster partnerships with African countries that support Africa's development agendas.  This kind of competition could well work to the advantage of African governments.  

Chinese and Russian Relations with Africa

 The Foreign Policy Research Institute published in November 2023 a paper titled "The Dragon and the Bear in Africa: Stress-Testing Chinese-Russian Relations" by Robert E. Hamilton, U.S. Army War College.  

This report analyzes Chinese and Russian diplomatic, military, and economic activity in Africa, the interests each activity is designed to advance, and how Beijing and Moscow interact in each of these areas.  The report is based on a chapter in an upcoming book.

The report concludes that diplomatically and economically, China dwarfs Russia in Africa.  Militarily Russia still retains a significant, if unconventional and unacknowledged, presence.  While they share the goal of undermining Western influence, for Russia this goal overrides all others.  Where China seeks to promote its model of governance, Russia seeks to undermine that of Western countries.  

Chinese-Russian interaction in Africa is a mixture of cooperative, complementary, compartmented, and competitive behavior.  Rather than coordinate their activities so that they are independent but mutually supporting, the two often simply stay out each other's way, both functionally and geographically.  While China and Russia do not overtly compete in Africa, some of their objectives are misaligned which could cause problems moving forward.  

China and Sustainable Fisheries in West Africa

 The Stimson Center published in July 2023 a major report titled "Charting a Blue Future for Cooperation between West Africa and China on Sustainable Fisheries" by Sam Geall, Carolyn Gruber, Regina Lam, Lily Schlieman, Lauren Shea, U. Rashid Sumaila, and Sally Yozell.  

Over the past decade, Chinese owned and flagged distant water fishing vessels have expanded their presence in West Africa.  The Stimson Center coordinated a comprehensive review of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, fisheries management, and the role of China in the development of West Africa's sustainable blue economy.

This report offers the governments of West African states and China clear, concise, and actionable recommendations to foster sustainable fisheries management and counter IUU fishing in the Gulf of Guinea and beyond.

Military Cooperation and Competition in the Indian Ocean

 The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) published on 2 June 2023 a paper titled "The State of Defence Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region" by Antoine Levesques and Viraj Solanki.

Looking to the early June IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, the authors noted the increased tempo of defense cooperation initiatives in the Indian Ocean region as relations between Bejing and New Delhi became more conflictual beginning in May 2020 in the aftermath of border clashes that led to a zero-sum mentality.  India thus turned to the US-aligned Quad to bolster its regional strategy while China took a series of tangible steps in the Indian Ocean region to improve its security presence.  

China-Russia Cooperation in Africa and the Middle East

 The Diplomat published on 3 April 2023 a commentary titled "China-Russia Cooperation in Africa and the Middle East" by Mercy A. Kuo, Pamir Consulting.

China and Russia are undermining U.S. leadership and challenging NATO.  Africa and the Middle East provide conducive conditions--autocratic governance, restricted media, authoritarian capitalism, surveillance states, weak rule of law, etc.--for China and Russia to advance their shared and separate agendas.  They are pursuing different strategies toward Africa but share a convergent goal of bolstering authoritarian regimes and undermining U.S. and European influence on the continent.  China-Russia cooperation represents a tactical alliance that serves China's long-term strategic advantage.  

Nile River, Basin, Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, and Climate Change

Nature Climate Change published in January 2023 a study titled "Cooperative Adaptive Management of the Nile River with Climate and Socio-Economic Uncertainties" by ten experts in the United Kingdom. 

This technical study presents a planning framework for adaptive management of the Nile infrastructure system, combining climate projections; hydrological, river system and economy-wide simulators; and artificial intelligence multi-objective design and machine learning algorithms.  It concludes that if Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt compromise cooperatively and adaptively in managing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the national-level economic and resilience benefits are substantial, especially under climate projections with the most extreme streamflow changes.  

China Not Mentioned at US-Africa Leaders Summit, But Is Unspoken Part of Agenda

 The New York Times published on 14 December 2022 an article titled "The U.S. Wants to Counter China's Moves in Africa.  But American Officials Say Not to Mention That" by Edward Wong.  

By design, China is the unstated topic at the US-Africa Leaders Summit, but most of the media coverage of the event brings up the topic anyway.  

Comment:  It is hard to ignore China's role in Africa even when the topic of the day is US-Africa relations, but the US-China competition component is being blown way out of proportion of its true importance.  

US and Chinese Forces Actually Get Along in Djibouti

 Business Insider published on 29 July 2022 an article titled "Despite Rising Tensions, US and Chinese Troops Worked Together to Put Out a Garbage Dump Fire, a Top US General Says" by Christopher Woody.  

The US and China have military bases a few miles apart in Djibouti.  In spite of the tension in US-China relations, the outgoing commanding general of US forces in Africa recently commented that US and Chinese troops coexist and generally get along.  

US-China Competition and Cooperation in Africa

 Two George Washington University student groups--U.S.-China Strategic Studies Organization and the Onero Institute--hosted a one hour podcast on 23 February 2022 titled "U.S.-China Competition and Cooperation in Africa: A Moderated Discussion with Ambassador David Shinn" moderated by GW student Tsung Han Tsai.  

This was a wide ranging discussion comparing China-Africa and US-Africa relations, competition between China and the United States in Africa, and the ability or inability of China and the United States to cooperate on the continent.  

Event: US-China Competition and Cooperation in Africa

 The Onero Institute China Program and the US China Strategic Studies Organization are hosting on Wednesday, 23 February, from 6:00 to 7:00 pm EST at George Washington University a session with me titled "US-China Competition and Cooperation in Africa" moderated by Tsung-Han Tsai.   

It is open to the public via Zoom; the link will be emailed after registration.  Ambassador Shinn and Dr. Joshua Eisenman of Notre Dame recently completed the draft of a second book on China-Africa relations, which is undergoing peer review.  

China/Russia Cooperation/Competition in Africa

 The Eurasia Daily Monitor published on 29 June 2021 an analysis titled "China and Russia Both Cooperating and Competing in Africa" by Paul Goble.

The author concludes that Russia is likely to fall even further behind China in Africa because Beijing is pursuing a much longer-term approach that involves integrating the continent into the Belt and Road Initiative.  

Major Power Rivalry in Africa

 The Council on Foreign Relations published in May 2021 a study titled "Major Power Rivalry in Africa" by Michelle D. Gavin, senior fellow for Africa at the Council.  

The study covers the United States, China, Russia, EU, UK, India, Japan, Gulf States, and Turkey.  The author concludes that major power rivalry cannot be ignored, but it also should not dominate the Biden administration's vision for US-Africa relations.  

China-US Military Cooperation in Djibouti?

Michael Walsh, research fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, posted on 17 November 2017 on the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative "A Field Note On How U.S. Military Officials View The People's Liberation Army Security Base in Djibouti."

Based on interviews in Djibouti, the author concluded that U.S. military officials are genuinely committed to finding ways to promote increased cooperation with their Chinese counterparts; however, they are frustrated by the way Chinese military officials approach their interactions with their U.S. counterparts.