ACCRA, Ghana — In a country teeming with resources the world covets, President Bush sought yesterday to soothe African fears about American interests on the continent. He said the U.S. isn't aiming to make Africa into a base for greater military power or a proxy battleground with China.

The desire for Africa's vast raw materials has a long and often violent and exploitative history. That's especially true in this resource-rich nation on the shores of West Africa, now the site of a new offshore oil discovery.

So Bush's talk about how U.S. generosity has made strides against disease and poverty encountered some skepticism here about the underlying American agenda. Some of those questions arose during Bush's appearance with Ghana's leader at Osu Castle, once a hub of slave-trading and now the seat of government.

At a news conference, Bush sought to deal with suspicions about the creation of a new U.S. military command dedicated to Africa.

Nations such as Libya, Nigeria and South Africa have expressed fears that the plan signals an unwanted expansion of American power on the continent or is a cover for protecting Africa's oil on behalf of the U.S. Bush said Ghana's president, John Kufuor, told him that "you're not going to build any bases in Ghana."

"I know there's rumors in Ghana, 'All Bush is coming to do is try to convince you to put a big military base here,' " Bush said. "That's baloney. Or as we say in Texas, that's bull. ... I want to dispel the notion that all of a sudden America is bringing all kinds of military to Africa."

Instead, Bush said, the new command is aimed at more effectively reorganizing U.S. military efforts related to Africa, and to strengthen African nations' peacekeeping, anti-terror, anti-trafficking and other efforts.

For now, the administration has decided to continue operating AFRICOM out of existing U.S. bases on the continent and directing it from Stuttgart, Germany.

On China, Bush insisted "we can pursue agendas without creating a sense of competition."