How Many Foreign Bases Are in Africa?

AFRICA · SECURITY EXPLAINER

At least seven foreign powers keep an openly acknowledged military base or training site in Africa, in three countries: Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya. No official source publishes one continental total, because the answer depends on what counts as a base.

The United States has one permanent base, Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, which the State Department calls the only enduring US military presence in Africa, though smaller US sites exist. France, China, Japan and Italy each keep a base in Djibouti too, and counting any foreign troops, at least eleven African countries host them.

For US readers the count shows that Washington’s only permanent base in Africa is one leased camp, a few miles from China’s base. The Africa hub follows the wider continent, and every figure below comes from published documents.

Djibouti Hosts Five Foreign Powers

Djibouti, a country of about 1.1 million people at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, hosts the only permanent US base in Africa. The US Navy says Djibouti allowed American use of the former French camp after talks in 2001, and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) wrote in 2019 that a 30-year lease signed in 2014 costs US$63 million a year.

France keeps close to 1,500 troops in Djibouti, its defence ministry says, under a defence treaty renewed on Wednesday 24 July 2024 for 20 years. China opened its first overseas military base there in 2017, with roughly 400 marines and a pier that the Pentagon assesses can likely take aircraft carriers.

Japan opened a base in 2011, its first permanent overseas base since the Second World War, and Italy followed in 2013, SIPRI wrote. The explainer on the Djibouti bases covers each one.

Beyond Djibouti

Turkey opened a military base in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Saturday 30 September 2017 and treats it as a training camp, and SIPRI wrote in 2019 that more than 200 Turkish personnel were reported there. Britain runs the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) at Laikipia Air Base East, and in February 2021 its government counted around 230 military personnel based permanently in Kenya, most of them at BATUK.

Kenya also hosts US forces at Manda Bay, where Kenyan and US troops held a combined base defense exercise on Thursday 27 August 2026. A US military caption called it the first to involve the whole installation.

Russia’s Reach and Western Exits

Russia’s Africa Corps, a force run by Russian military intelligence that replaced the Wagner Group mercenaries, has its largest deployments in the Central African Republic, Libya and Mali, the Congressional Research Service, the research arm of the US Congress, says in an update of Wednesday 8 April 2026. It lists smaller contingents in Burkina Faso, Niger and Equatorial Guinea.

The service puts Russian personnel at about 1,500 in the Central African Republic in early 2026 and reportedly as many as 2,500 in Mali, while Libya’s numbers are uncertain. Russia reportedly sought a naval base on Sudan’s Red Sea coast, but its ambassador there said in late 2025 that the plan was on hold.

France keeps about 100 personnel each in Gabon and Côte d’Ivoire, its defence ministry says, after a military exit from the Sahel that began in Mali in 2022. The United States withdrew more than 1,000 troops from Niger, once the site of its second-largest African presence.

Why It Matters to Washington

General Dagvin Anderson, who now leads the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), wrote in answers for his Senate confirmation hearing of Tuesday 22 July 2025 that the command would look to counter any additional Chinese military basing in Africa, especially on the West coast. He added that Russian deployments and influence organizations “severely limit USAFRICOM’s placement and access throughout the region.”

In the same answers he cited the lack of a contingency location for crisis response in central and southern Africa. The Congressional Research Service records that in 2023 the AFRICOM commander called China’s Djibouti base a marginal threat to US interests but warned it could help project power in an armed conflict.

What It Means for You

Ethiopia, a landlocked country of well over 100 million people, sends over 90% of its trade through Djibouti, so investors and shippers watching the Red Sea have a stake in its ports. Djibouti’s public external debt rose to 68% of its economy by 2023, largely through Chinese lending.

For US readers the practical test is access, meaning whether American forces keep Camp Lemonnier and smaller sites such as Manda Bay alongside Chinese and Russian ones. The State Department says the camp was established by formal agreement in 2003, and SIPRI wrote in 2019 that Japan’s base sits next to it.

What Is Not Known

No official source reviewed here publishes one list of foreign bases in Africa, and SIPRI’s detailed survey of the Horn of Africa dates from April 2019. Current numbers for the Turkish, Japanese, Italian and British sites are not published in the sources used.

Russian numbers in Libya are uncertain, and the Sudan naval base plan was on hold in late 2025. The sources used do not show whether the 2021 UK and Kenya defence agreement, signed for five years, has been renewed, or whether China will seek a second base.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many foreign military bases are in Africa?

No official source gives one total. Counting only acknowledged bases or training sites, at least seven foreign powers hold them in Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya, and foreign troops are present in at least eleven African countries.

Which countries have military bases in Djibouti?

The United States, France, China, Japan and Italy have facilities there, the Congressional Research Service says. The US base, Camp Lemonnier, is the only permanent American base in Africa.

Does Russia have a military base in Africa?

Russia has thousands of personnel in the Central African Republic, Libya and Mali, plus smaller groups in three more countries, and its Sudan naval base plan was on hold in late 2025. The Congressional Research Service also reports military logistics facilities there.

Has France left Africa?

Not entirely, because France keeps about 1,500 troops in Djibouti and about 100 personnel each in Gabon and Côte d’Ivoire, its defence ministry says. It left Mali in 2022 and was finishing its Senegal withdrawal in the summer of 2025.

Sources: Congressional Research Service, China’s Engagement in Djibouti, updated 6 June 2025; Congressional Research Service, Russia’s Security Operations in Africa, updated 8 April 2026; US State Department, US Relations With Djibouti; US Navy, Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti; French Ministry of Armed Forces, French forces in Djibouti; French Ministry of Armed Forces, liaison detachment in Gabon; French Ministry of Armed Forces, liaison detachment in Côte d’Ivoire; French Ministry of Armed Forces, statement on Senegal, 12 June 2025; French National Assembly, defence committee record, 4 June 2025; SIPRI, The Foreign Military Presence in the Horn of Africa Region, April 2019; UK government, British Army facility in Kenya, 24 February 2021; UK government, Kenya defence cooperation agreement, 28 July 2021; US Senate Armed Services Committee, advance policy questions for General Dagvin Anderson; US Senate Armed Services Committee, Anderson opening statement, 22 July 2025; US Africa Command, General Anderson testifies before Congress, May 2026; US Air Force release, combined base defense exercise at Manda Bay, 27 August 2026; World Bank, Djibouti overview, updated 22 October 2026.

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