Africa: Whose on first, China, Europe, or US

There appears to be a tug of war going in Africa between the United States and China. "The tension between these competing powers is escalating as, in an attempt to overcome their economic and energy crises, developed countries look more towards Africa's unexplored mineral and energy resources. In addition to long-time energy giants such as Angola, Nigeria and Libya – all of which have close ties with China – recent colossal discoveries of oil and gas along the East African coast have upped the stakes in the renewed scramble for Africa." But how the two fight for the attention of the Dark Continent is telling; "China is simply doing it through financial and economic muscle. The West uses military muscle." An article goes say, "[a]ccording to Pat Barnes, a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), Camp Lemonnier serves as the only official U.S. base on the continent. “There are more than 2,000 U.S. personnel stationed there,” he told TomDispatch recently by email. “The primary AFRICOM organization at Camp Lemonnier is Combined Joint Task Force -- Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA). CJTF-HOA's efforts are focused in East Africa and they work with partner nations to assist them in strengthening their defense capabilities.” "Barnes also noted that Department of Defense personnel are assigned to U.S. embassies across Africa, including 21 individual Offices of Security Cooperation responsible for facilitating military-to-military activities with “'partner nations.” He characterized the forces involved as small teams carrying out pinpoint missions. Barnes did admit that in “several locations in Africa, AFRICOM has a small and temporary presence of personnel. In all cases, these military personnel are guests within host-nation facilities, and work alongside or coordinate with host-nation personnel.'”