U.S. vs. China: Mapping Trade Dominance in Africa (2003-2023)

Kayla Zhu
2025-05-16 10:44:00
www.visualcapitalist.com

Trade With Africa: China vs. U.S.

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China has steadily expanded its global trade footprint and now surpasses the U.S. as the leading trading partner in many regions around the world.

In Africa, for instance, China overtook the U.S. as the continent’s top trading partner back in 2009—a position it continues to hold today.

This graphic visualizes whether each African country trades with the U.S. or China more in 2003 versus 2023.

Data comes from the Observatory of Economic Complexity and UN Comtrade via the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 2023 or the latest data available was used.

African Countries Are Choosing China over the States

Below, we show which country (U.S. or China) each African country traded with more in 2003 versus 2023.

Country	Trades more with? (2003)	Trades more with? (2023)
Algeria	United States	China
Angola	United States	China
Benin	China	China
Botswana	United States	China
Burkina Faso	United States	China
Burundi	United States	China
Cameroon	United States	China
Cape Verde	United States	China
Central African Republic	China	China
Chad	United States	China
Comoros	United States	China
Republic of the Congo	China	China
Democratic Republic of the Congo	United States	China
Djibouti	China	China
Egypt	United States	China
Equatorial Guinea	United States	China
Eritrea	China	China
Eswatini	China	United States
Ethiopia	United States	China
Gabon	United States	China
The Gambia	China	China
Ghana	United States	China
Guinea	United States	China
Guinea-Bissau	China	China
Côte d’Ivoire	United States	China
Kenya	United States	China
Lesotho	United States	United States
Liberia	United States	China
Libya	China	China
Madagascar	United States	China
Malawi	United States	China
Mali	United States	China
Mauritania	United States	China
Mauritius	United States	China
Morocco	United States	China
Mozambique	United States	China
Namibia	United States	China
Niger	China	China
Nigeria	United States	China
Rwanda	China	China
São Tomé & Príncipe	China	China
Senegal	United States	China
Seychelles	United States	China
Sierra Leone	United States	China
Somalia	China	China
South Africa	United States	China
South Sudan	United States	China
Sudan	China	China
Tanzania	China	China
Togo	China	China
Tunisia	United States	China
Uganda	United States	China
Zambia	China	China
Zimbabwe	China	China

In 2003, China was the preferred trading partner over the U.S. for 18 African countries or 35% of the continent.

Fast forward 20 years, 52 out of the 54 African countries (97%) trade more with China than with the U.S. as of 2023.

China-Africa trade climbed to $295 billion in 2024, marking a 6% year-on-year increase.

Beyond trade, China has also increased its foreign direct investment (FDI) into the continent, with annual FDI flows rising from about $75 million in 2003 to nearly $4 billion in 2023, focusing on sectors like agriculture, light manufacturing, and services.

China has proactively sought to improve China-Africa relations through major initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which are designed to boost trade by investing in infrastructure, streamlining trade processes, and strengthening African value chains.

However, China has also faced criticism for alleged “debt-trap diplomacy,” a practice in which it is accused of providing loans to countries that may struggle to repay them, including many of Africa’s poorest countries.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about China’s trade relations, check out this graphic that visualizes the country’s exports by region from 2000 to 2022.

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