Deterring the spread of terrorism in Africa and countering China’s push to influence African governments got a lot harder after the Trump administration cut off billions in foreign aid earlier this year, officials say.
U.S. Africa Command, which does everything from helping the Somalian military target strikes on al-Shabaab to sending Army civil affairs soldiers to build schools in Cameroon, is working out what their new role on the continent will look like as the U.S. halts aid that was meant to stabilize those countries and make it easier for them to defend themselves.
“Some things that we used to do, we may not do anymore,” AFRICOM commander Marine Gen. Michael Langley, speaking from the 2025 African Chiefs of Defense Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, told reporters Thursday. “So we’re asking you to step up and burden-share with us.”
For two decades, U.S. troops have deployed to Africa for exercises like African Lion and Flintlock, which improve the U.S.’s ability to operate in Africa at the same time as it trains up local militaries to be able to defend themselves against their biggest threats.
“Let me speak plainly about the threats we’re facing, especially in the Sahel region—including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger—it is the flash point of prolonged conflict and growing instability,” Langley said. “It is the epicenter of terrorism on the globe.”
ISIS and al-Qaida-affiliated groups are “thriving” in the Sahel, he added. Burkina Faso’s government has lost control of vast swathes of their own territory.
“Extremist groups are gaining ground and also expanding their ambitions,” he said. “Therein lies the threat to the homeland, as they gain in capability and capacity.”
In that vein, the U.S. has for decades worked with those countries to train their militaries as well as provide aid for education, food and clean water, ensuring populations have basic necessities that keep them from turning to terror groups to survive.
Groups like al-Shabaab, al-Qaida’s biggest and most well-funded affiliate, are already anticipating an opportunity to amp up operations as Somalia loses U.S. Agency for International Development funding.
“Well, I’ll just say this, what I’ve seen with al-Shabaab—they’re making assumptions that there’s going to be gaps in aid in certain regions across Somalia, and there’s shadow governments,” Langley said. “They’re trying to exploit that scene. But the quicker the federal government of Somalia steps up and goes in those areas—and they’re already continuing operations in those areas, so time will tell.”
With that aid pulled, AFRICOM is urging partner nations to step up where the U.S. has fallen back.
“Now, we recognize that direct U.S. assistance must adapt to an updated strategy aligned with national defense priorities,” Langley said. “Our goal is not to do more for Africa. It’s to help Africa do more for itself. African nations must assume more responsibility for their security. The U.S. will continue to support, but support will be on our overlapping security interests and must be matched by local leadership.”
U.S. military support will continue to include intelligence sharing, Langley said, as well as partner exercises, the “most credible” way to increase African countries’ military capacity while also benefitting U.S. troops.
At the same time, China can and has stepped in to provide aid to Africa and otherwise fill gaps left by the U.S., though their influence model depends more on lending to African governments.
“Last September at the forum on China and Africa cooperation, Chairman Xi [Jinping] said they’re going to step up their engagements across Africa,” Langley said.
African troops attend professional military education programs in Beijing, he said, similarly to the U.S.’s International Military Education Program.
“Then they also said they’re going to increase security and training in a number of countries, so they’re trying to replicate what we do,” he said. “They’re stepping it up and trying to replicate every type of thing, whether it be advise-and-assist type of training and specialized military domains, or putting on exercises like they did in the fall.”
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