China and Modeling of the “New Geopolitical Reality†in Africa

The article is devoted to the analysis of China’s potential in Africa in the geopolitical, trade-economic, financial-investment and military strategic dimensions and their implementation to the Sino-African policy. The geopolitical and economic parameters of the development of Sino-African relations remain stable, while the military factor tends to increase. The data, provided by the authors, allow us to analyze, which of the countries-followers of the PRC are under the strategic geopolitical guardianship of China to the extent that allows them to protect Chinese interests in these countries comprehensively, that is, both politically and militarily. The authors conclude that stable and strong relations between the African countries-followers of China and the PRC in the foreseeable future will inevitably come into conflict with the interests of other global players in Africa, primarily the United States. The economic content of the concept of a follower-country is increasingly colored by a neocolonial meaning, when overcoming the backwardness of African follower-countries from their leader-countries not only did not decrease, but also artificially preserved and even increased. The positive meaning of the concept of a follower-country was devolved so much that a country could be a follower of not necessarily one, but two or even more global geopolitical players. In the period from 2017 to 2022, the military aspect in the justification of the PRC’s foreign policy took an important place, and in the conflict zones of Asia and Africa came out on top, thereby completing the design of the Chinese geopolitical doctrine of global leadership.