China’s expansion of its network of private security companies in Africa is unfolding in a legal gray area, analysts say.
These companies, known as PSCs, are widening their reach without a strong regulatory framework, which poses risks such as lack of transparency, weak national controls and undue influence on governments, according to Habib al-Badawi, a professor at Lebanese University.
“Domestic laws in China lack jurisdiction over PSCs operating abroad, and the enforceability of international laws remains a formidable challenge,” al-Badawi wrote in the Journal of Afro-Asian Studies. “The absence of a robust regulatory framework raises concerns about the need for greater accountability in the operations of Chinese PSCs on the African continent.”
Despite their description as private, all Chinese PSCs are state controlled and populated by former members of the People’s Liberation Army and People’s Armed Police — an extension of the Chinese Communist Party’s principle that “the party controls the gun.”
The PSCs are in Africa to protect tens of thousands of Chinese working on Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative projects, which produce more than $50 billion in revenue each year for state-owned Chinese companies, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
Between 2007 and 2020, China invested $23 billion in infrastructure projects in Africa. The initiative projects enhance Beijing’s footprint on the continent, and the use of PSCs to protect them is “a clever ploy by China to maintain a discreet military presence in Africa and avoid being seen as another colonial power,” analyst Valerio Fabbri wrote for geopolitica.info.
Chinese workers in Africa sometimes face violence. In July 2024, militia fighters killed nine Chinese nationals at a Chinese-linked mining site in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province. Analysts say incidents like this — and a 2023 attack that killed nine Chinese nationals at a gold-mining site in the Central African Republic — resulted in the deployment of more Chinese security companies.
Under Chinese law, most PSCs are banned from using weapons, but the companies find ways around restrictions. They often collaborate with local private security companies or local militias to provide security. “By means of collaborating with local militias, you’re basically taking sides” in local conflicts, Jasmine Opperman, an independent security consultant based in South Africa, told Voice of America.
Despite weapons restrictions, Chinese security companies have been involved in shootings and other violent incidents in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These events “underscore the potential risks and ethical dilemmas associated with the operations of Chinese PSCs, sparking debates about their adherence to internationally accepted standards,” al-Badawi wrote
The increasing presence of Chinese security companies “could potentially lead to increased Chinese interference in Africa, besides violation of human rights and increased illegal activities,” Fabbri wrote. “In times to come, Beijing’s PSCs, backed by rising Chinese military footprint in Africa, are on their way to transform into ‘Private Military Companies.’”
PSCs and private military companies (PMCs) are not the same, as PMCs primarily provide military-related services such as training, combat support and logistics to governments and private clients, often in conflict zones. Some critics say China’s use of private security companies in Africa is violating its own principle of noninterference and are used “as a proxy to advance [Beijing’s] strategic interests and influence in Africa,” Military Africa analysts wrote. “Others warn that China’s PMCs could pose a threat to the sovereignty and stability of African countries, and that they could become involved in conflicts or human rights violations.”
Chinese contractors have been directly involved in military operations in Sudan, where a civil war has raged since April 2023, and South Sudan, where the specter of civil war looms.