Amid Africa’s accelerating push for industrial advancement and digital transformation, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) emerges as a pivotal force, driving infrastructure expansion, technological diffusion, and economic integration. Embedded within this cooperation, however, is the strategic deployment of Chinese surveillance technologies, raising urgent questions about digital sovereignty, governance, and dependency. Drawing on qualitative analysis and regional case studies from Western and Southern Africa, the chapter critically unpacks the duality of FOCAC’s promise and peril. It advocates for a reimagined African engagement that embraces innovation while safeguarding autonomy against techno-authoritarian entanglements and surveillance-induced vulnerabilities.