US must pay attention to risks posed by China in Africa: US AFRICOM chi

Washington: General Stephan Townsend, Chief of the US Africa Command, warned that China has expanded its base in Djibouti. Moreover, the Chinese economic and military investments in Africa are on the rise. In this scenario, it is not affordable for the United States to ignore the increasing Chinese threat in Africa. Simultaneously, General Townsend criticised that the US military withdrawal from Somalia has adversely affected the counter-terrorism campaign in that country.

Chief of the US Africa Command, General Townsend, appealed that the United States should not ignore the African continent while talking to a US news channel. General Townsend said that Russia and China are not ignoring the African continent, which is enough to prove the importance.’ General Townsend gave references to show how the investment in the African continent will benefit the United States from an economic point of view.

There are 54 countries on the African continent. General Townsend pointed out that 13 Out of the 25 countries making rapid progress worldwide are from Africa. The world as a whole is facing the challenge of climate change. In such times, 60% of the world’s fertile land is in the African continent. Simultaneously, there are large deposits of very important metals like Cobalt, Chromium, Tantalum in Africa. General Townsend informed that investments in the African continent would prove beneficial for the United States in view of all this.

The importance of the African continent has also increased from a freight movement point of view. For this, a few weeks ago, General Townsend referred to the incident in the Suez Canal. All the three important marine sectors cornering the international trade movements are connected to Africa. The AFRICOM Chief informed that these include the Bab al-Mandab Strait in Yemen, Sicily of Italy, Libyan marine region and the Strait of Gibraltar.

General Townsend said that, therefore, the United States should have its bases in Africa to ensure the security of international freight movement. Till the last year, the United States had 29 bases in only 15 African countries. These included five bases in Somalia alone. Other than these, the United States has bases in Tunisia, Niger, Mali, Kenya, Cameroon and Libya. But the United States withdrew from Somalia in the beginning of this year. General Townsend claimed that this had a major adverse impact on the campaign against the terrorist organisation Al-Shabaab.

China has instead increased the number of military bases in Africa and has expanded them. General Townsend noted that the Chinese base in Djibouti has been expanded. Moreover, China is building military and naval bases in the East African countries. The AFRICOM Chief warned that ignoring the African continent will not be in the interest of the United States in this scenario.

Meanwhile, in the last week, US President Joe Biden announced a complete military withdrawal from Afghanistan. There is a dense possibility of the Biden administration announcing a similar decision for Africa. Against this background, the AFRICOM Chief seems to have issued a warning to the Biden administration.