Lt. Col. Felipe Galvão Franco Honorato
Africa’s strategic centrality has evolved from a peripheral concern to a core consideration in U.S. national security strategy. The continent, projected to surpass 2.5 billion people by 2050, holds a wealth of critical minerals, including cobalt, lithium, and rare earth elements, that are essential to emerging defense technologies and digital systems.1 Its economic growth and demographic expansion make it a central battleground in global competition. From a military standpoint, Africa’s geography offers strategic advantages that few regions can match. Ports, maritime corridors, and forward operating sites across the Gulf of Guinea, the Red Sea, and East Africa directly impact U.S. global mobility and force projection. China’s first overseas military base in Djibouti, situated adjacent to the United States’ Camp Lemonnier, enhances Beijing’s regional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities and power projection. The 2022 National Defense Strategy identified the protection of strategic access as essential to integrated deterrence, particularly in regions where Chinese and U.S. interests intersect.
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