The Dragon Strengthens Its Influence on Africa. By Hosting the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, Xi Jinping promised to create “at least” one million jobs on the African continent. The Chinese president also guaranteed that he would provide African countries with $51 billion in various financing over the next three years, especially in the energy and infrastructure sectors. “We have jointly built roads, railways, schools, hospitals, industrial parks and special economic zones. These projects have changed the lives and fates of many people,” he said. According to CNN, the Chinese leader has also promised the continent $140 million in military aid.
Let us remember that Africa is both China’s largest trading partner and main creditor. However, the current objective of XI is not only economic, but also – and perhaps above all – geopolitical. It is no mystery that, especially in the last two years, relations between Beijing and Washington have cooled considerably. The Chinese president is therefore looking to Africa for two interconnected reasons: he wants to further take away geopolitical ground from the Americans and, above all, indirectly strengthen his own influence within the United Nations. Without then obviously neglecting that, by consolidating his own long arm on the African continent, XI It also aims to put pressure on the southern flank of the Atlantic Alliance.
For the West, this is a huge problem, also in light of the fact that Russia itself is increasing its influence in some areas of Africa: from Eastern Libya to various countries in the Sahel, such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. This is an area in which Iran is also gaining ground, which, in addition to being Moscow’s main Middle Eastern ally, also signed, in 2021, a 25-year cooperation pact with Beijing. This is a further worrying aspect that, once again, represents a potential threat to the southern flank of the Atlantic Alliance. Moreover, in recent months, the Sahel has been gradually abandoned by various Western military forces: French soldiers left Niger in December and American and German troops have recently done the same.
For this reason, NATO should pay more attention to what is happening in Africa. Furthermore, the local hyperactivity of the Chinese, Russians and Iranians makes the implementation of the Mattei Plan even more urgent: a project that could prove to be an effective third way between the postcolonial French arrogance and the hypocritical third-worldism of Beijing, Moscow and Tehran.
