As former colonial powers like France and the United Kingdom lose their relevance in West Africa, the region is pivoting to China. This trend comes as China’s own confidence in West Africa is growing, despite relatively slow engagement compared to other parts of the continent.
A new policy brief from the Peace Research Institute Oslo, led by the prominent Africa-China researcher Ilaria Carrozza, compares China’s growing influence in two West African countries: Ghana and Senegal.
How China is Slowly Displacing Europe in West Africa:
- SENEGAL: “In 2020, China was Senegal’s second largest trading partner after France, with a share of 9.2%, compared to France at 15.6%. […] [R]elations with China have been growing. A significant move in this sense came in 2021 when Senegal announced that it would move all digital platforms and government data to the Chinese servers of Huawei. The PRC government also financed the building of a data centre in Diaminadio in cooperation with Huawei, which will serve both public and private sectors, thereby making Senegal’s digital infrastructure almost fully dependent on Chinese technology.”
- GHANA: “China–Ghana relations […] span across many sectors, including infrastructure, manufacturing, education, culture and security. As the country’s biggest trading partner at present, China seems to have established a sound presence in Ghana. This is particularly interesting when compared to the former colonial power Britain, which currently constitutes Ghana’s third largest export partner.”
