China’s largest weapons producer, Norinco – the seventh-largest military equipment supplier globally – has opened a new sales office in Senegal, according to a South China Morning Post report published August 21.The company already has offices in Nigeria, Angola and South Africa.
Beijing also plans to set up offices in Mali and the Ivory Coast – where it already sells arms – with a physical presence for maintenance, repair and overhauls of vehicles and military equipment, specialist news site Military Africa reported on August 1.
The arrival of the weapons giant on Senegalese soil has also been reported in Chinese media, where it has been heralded as an advance for Chinese influence in West Africa and a challenge to the existing influence of Russia and France.
