So, unnamed "U.S. officials" think they've done a decent job so far in keeping China out of the Atlantic side of Africa??

Think again. These are the same Biden officials who royally botched the Afghanistan withdrawal, which showed Putin he could invade Ukraine with impunity, whose fecklessness emboldened China to expand its China Sea footprint, who support Palestinian terrorists in their war against Israel, who did nothing to retaliate against repeated attacks on U.S. forces until our troops were maimed and killed, and then gave the enemy advance notice of our plans.