China's Strategic Interests in Africa

The Washington-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies published on 17 January 2019 an article titled "Chinese Hard Power Supports Its Growing Strategic Interests in Africa" by Paul Nantulya.

China's growing military footprint in Africa is part of a policy that has at its core the rejuvenation of China as a great power. The author concluded that tension between African citizens and governments is likely to grow as China, in its drive to restore itself as a great power, seeks to expand its influence in Africa's security arena.

Drawing on this piece, Kenya's Daily Nation published on 27 January 2019 an article titled "China in Bid To Extend Africa Trade Success into Military Sphere" by Kevin J. Kelley.

China Turning Namibia into Shipping Hub for Region

XinhuaNet published on 21 May 2018 an article titled "Chinese Projects Firing Up Namibia's Logistics Hub Ambition."

The article provides a status report on the major port facility being constructed at Walvis Bay by the China Harbor Engineering Company. The goal is for the new harbor to serve not only Namibia, but Zimbabwe and Botswana as well.

Chinese Port Projects in Walvis Bay, Namibia (in French)

The China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) is building a container terminal and an oil terminal at Walvis Bay in Namibia. A Chinese paper published a long interview in Chinese with Feng Yuanfei, CHEC director in Namibia and chief of project. The Chine-Afrique website recently posted a translation in French of the interview titled "Apprentissage, internationalisation, indigenisation" courtesy of Thierry Pairault, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.

China in Namibia: A Force for Good or Not?

The New York Times Magazine published on 2 May 2017 an extensive account focused on Namibia titled "Is China the World's New Colonial Power?" by Brook Larmer.

The author suggests that for some Namibians the flood of Chinese loans and investments doesn't look so much like freedom as it does a new form of colonialism. The new infrastructure projects have saddled the economy with debt and done little so far to alleviate the nearly 30 percent unemployment rate. Somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 Chinese nationals now live in Namibia. Reflecting on China's image in other African countries, the author concludes that China can be seen by others, in the same instant, as a blessing and a curse.

Namibia: Persistent Reports of China's Interest in Military Facility

The Kenya-based Mail & Guardian Africa published on 13 December 2015 an article titled "Are the Chinese Seeking a Second Africa 'Military Base' in Namibia? Influential Paper Reports Top Level Talks."  There have been persistent reports out of Namibia for more than a year that China is in discussion with the government on a military facility in Walvis Bay, following confirmation that it is in discussion with Djibouti for a facility.  While both Namibian and Chinese officials dismiss the stories, they don't go away.