Military basesForeign military bases in Africa

Published 15 April 2017

In recent years Africa has become more important to Western security for two reasons: terrorism and migration. The two areas on which the West’s attention is focuses are the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. U.S. drones and French soldiers have helped African armies to fight Islamist militants and push them into the hinterlands.

In recent years Africa has become more important to Western security for two reasons: terrorism and migration.

The two areas on which the West’s attention is focuses are the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. “It’s where Europe touches Africa, and where Africa touches the Middle East,” the Africa director for the International Crisis Group, Comfort Ero, told IRIN.

The migration routes which convey young men and women across the Mediterranean to Europe run through the Sahel – and it is also the area where al-Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram, and their various affiliates operate. Moreover, the Sahel is not only vast – it is, to a large extent, ungoverned because off the limited resources available to the region’s governments.

IRIN notes that from bases across the region, U.S. drones and French soldiers have helped African armies to fight Islamist militants and push them into the hinterlands.

“The challenge is, despite the rise of new security structures in the last few years, they haven’t done much to change the [political] dynamic on the ground,” Ero told IRIN.

Here is a list of military bases on the continent, operated by non-African states:

China
Djibouti: China is building its first overseas military base at the port of Obock, across the Gulf of Tadjoura from the US Expeditionary Base at Camp Lemonnier. It’s the latest in China’s $12 billion investments in Djibouti, including a new port, airports and the Ethiopia-Djibouti rail line. The base will have the capacity to house several thousand troops, and is expected to help provide security for China’s interests in the rest of the Horn of Africa.

France
Chad: Headquarters of the anti-insurgent Operation Barkhane. The roughly 3,500 French troops operate in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

Cote d’Ivoire: The facility at Port-Bouët, a suburb of Abidjan, is to be expanded from 500 to 900 men and form a forward operating base for West Africa.

Djibouti: A long-standing French military presence, now comprising roughly 1,700 personnel.

Gabon: A key base that has contributed troops to France’s interventions in Central African Republic.

Germany
Niger: An air transport base at Niamey international airport to support Germany’s growing troop contribution to the UN mission in Mali.

India
Madagascar: India’s first foreign listening post was set up in northern Madagascar in 2007 to keep an eye on ship movements in the Indian Ocean and listen in on maritime communications.