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China-Africa relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China arms sales cement its economic and security ties in Africa: study

  • Washington-based think tank finds Chinese military exports to sub-Saharan African countries dwarfed those from US over past decade
  • Researchers noted that the top five buyers were the same ones who have benefited the most from China’s infrastructure spending

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A report from the Atlantic Council think tank said Beijing has started selling more advanced weaponry to Nigeria, highlighting the country’s centrality to China’s geopolitical calculations in the region. Photo: AFP
Jevans Nyabiage
China transferred or sold more arms to countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) than its rival the US over the past decade, as Beijing cemented its economic and security cooperation with the continent, a new study shows.
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The Washington-based Atlantic Council think tank report said that between 2010 and 2021, China accounted for 22 per cent of the US$9.32 billion in total arms exports to the SSA countries south of the Sahara.

At US$2.04 billion, Chinese sales were second only to Russia, and almost three times the amount exported to the region by the US, according to the study based on data compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Russian arms exports made up 24 per cent of the total, at US$2.24 billion, while US sales over the decade came to just 5 per cent, with US$473 million, said the report by macroeconomist Amin Mohseni-Cheraghlou and consultant Naomi Aladekoba, both from the Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Centre.

The researchers also found that between 2017 and 2020, China exported almost three times as many arms to SSA than the United States.

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“It is interesting to note that China’s arms exports to SSA reached an all-time high of US$423 million in 2013, which coincides with the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative,” the report said.

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