U.S. Africa Command established a Defense Economics Office to integrate economic tools into security operations and disrupt adversary revenue streams. The new office aims to explore policy reforms and methods to generate security impacts by targeting the financial networks of competitors in Africa.

The initiative comes as China, Russia, and the United States compete for influence and access across the continent. Gen. Dagvin Anderson, Commander of U.S. Africa Command, cited insurgencies, rising terrorism, Russian and Chinese military and economic investments, critical resource extractions, and maritime trafficking threats as key challenges facing the region.

Officials discussed the establishment of the office at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference. "It’s a new capability that Africom is bringing online to really think about how economics, commerce, and finance factors into security," said a U.S. government official. "Whereas, you’ve seen a lot of press releases on domestic industrial policy, munitions, the defense industrial base — our contribution is sort of upstream," U.S. government official said. "Because most of the software being used for counter-threat finance is developed with counter-narcotics money, whereas a big lion’s share of counter-threat finance we want to disrupt is outside the counter-narcotics mission space," U.S. government official said.

The Defense Economics Office will collaborate with the Commerce Department and other federal entities to identify infrastructure and investment decisions that yield strategic security returns in Africa. Anderson clarified the scope of the new unit relative to existing civilian agencies. "We’re not looking to replace what Commerce does, by any means," he said.

Col. Joshua Stinson serves as U.S. Africa Command’s lead for defense economics. Stinson previously served in the Pentagon’s Defense Economic Unit, which Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg created earlier in 2026. That unit leads Defense Department efforts to integrate economic leverage into joint military planning and operations.

"There’s a lineage between Africom’s new office and the Pentagon’s EDU, which is bringing the full suite of American economic power into the security apparatus," said a U.S. government official. Another official noted the operational distinction between the two entities. "We, down at the theater level, work very closely with colleagues in the Economic Defense Unit, but our perspective on it is very focused on the theater and our African partners," the official said.

The office is working to advance commercial diplomacy and economic agendas while addressing specific vulnerabilities in the region. "So we’re trying to de-risk value chains with critical minerals into the defense industrial base, all the way over to we’re trying to find new creative ways to disrupt our adversaries in the economic domain," said a U.S. government official.

To achieve these goals, the Defense Economics Office will explore digital asset mapping technologies and modern analytic approaches to monitor and disrupt illegal financial flows. Officials noted the evolving nature of illicit finance during the conference. "But we’re in a whole new world. We have digital assets. Our adversaries are moving [cryptocurrency] around," said a U.S. government official.

The office is also shifting from criminal-evidence standards to civil burdens of proof to focus on seizing assets from illegal actors. This shift addresses limitations in current funding structures for counter-threat finance operations. "Right now, the preponderance of appropriation that we have for counter-threat finance is very specific to counter-narcotics," said a U.S. government official.

Officials indicated that broader legislative support may be required to fully realize the office's potential. "So what would be a great thing for our colleagues in [Congress] to think about as we’re thinking about broadly disrupting adversary capital in these new contexts is how do we get an appropriation that’s broader than sort of a narrower counter-narcotics authority?" said a U.S. government official. The official added that most software used for counter-threat finance is developed with counter-narcotics money, whereas a significant portion of the target activity falls outside that mission space.

The geographic scope of the command presents unique logistical challenges for monitoring these flows. "From an Africom standpoint, we have 19,000 miles of coastline," said a U.S. government official. "Like, the eastern seaboard of Somalia is equal to the United States eastern seaboard," the official said.

Economic engagement remains a central component of U.S. strategy in the region. "A lot of times just the economic investment that we have done [with our African partners] is what provides us the ability to gain access or to be able to bring in ships and fueling, [and] allows us to be able to have that communication," Anderson said. He emphasized the strategic importance of the continent.

"The world will be magnified by the future of Africa," he said. "And so, folks, understand that this is a global crossroads."

U.S. Africa Command is reducing its physical troop presence across Africa while adopting a strategy focused on partner-led operations. This approach involves training, intelligence-sharing, surveillance, targeted air campaigns, and supplying commercial technologies. Pressure campaigns in the Western Hemisphere are allegedly causing increased flows of narcotics and illicit items into Africa.

Why It Matters

The establishment of the Defense Economics Office reflects a broader shift in how the U.S. military approaches competition in Africa, where China, Russia, and the United States are vying for influence. By integrating economic tools into security operations, the command aims to protect critical resource value chains and disrupt adversary revenue streams without relying solely on traditional kinetic measures. This aligns with recent legislative actions, such as President Trump extending the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for two years, until 2028, via the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act signed on September 2.

The office operates within the framework of U.S. Africa Command, one of the Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Armed Forces, which was established in 2007. The African Union, established in 2002 as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity, represents a key regional partner in these efforts. The new office seeks to address gaps in counter-threat finance capabilities by leveraging civil burdens of proof and digital asset mapping, moving beyond the narrow scope of counter-narcotics appropriations that currently limit software development and operational reach.

What's New

President Trump extended the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for two years, until 2028, via the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act signed on September 2. United States Africa Command is one of the Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Armed Forces.