tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/us-africa-relations-11872/articlesUS-Africa relations – The Conversation2023-08-21T14:39:17Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2105162023-08-21T14:39:17Z2023-08-21T14:39:17ZAfrica is being courted by China, Russia and the US. Why the continent shouldn’t pick sides<p>Some three decades since the end of the Cold War, the world order is undergoing a structural transformation. At the heart of it is the challenge posed to the hegemony of the US. This is primarily being led by Russia and China which are discontented with Washington’s excesses across the global stage. The most recent example of this rebellion was the Russian <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60506682">invasion of Ukraine in 2022</a>. Fiona Hill, a British-American foreign affairs specialist, <a href="https://lmc.icds.ee/lennart-meri-lecture-by-fiona-hill/">observed that</a> the war was a “proxy for a rebellion by Russia and the ‘Rest’ against the United States”.</p>
<p>The African continent is an obvious contender for major power courting as this realignment takes place. This is for at least four reasons.</p>
<p>Firstly, it is the largest <a href="https://www.un.org/dgacm/en/content/regional-groups">regional bloc</a> in the United Nations, representing some 28% of all the votes in the General Assembly. Secondly, it possesses some crucial raw minerals that are found only in the continent. Thirdly, it possesses some important sea trade routes, particularly in east Africa. Finally, the continent is home to the fastest-growing youth demographic, and will account for about <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/09/why-africa-youth-key-development-potential/">42%</a> of the world’s youth by 2030.</p>
<p>I am a scholar of geopolitics and have conducted <a href="https://bhasondzendze.co.za/">research</a> on the continent’s trade ties to the major powers. My findings have led me to the conclusion that Africa can gain more by being neutral than by picking sides. </p>
<h2>The drivers</h2>
<p>Africa’s size in the UN General Assembly can’t be overstated. The continent sometimes struggles to respond in a co-ordinated way. Nevertheless, it has, in the past, been able to vote in sync in a way that has proved influential. The most notable example of this was the <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/192054?ln=en">1971 vote</a> for the resolution that <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/oct-25-1971-peoples-republic-of-china-in-taiwan-out-at-un/">brought mainland China into the UN and replaced Taiwan</a>. In total, there were 76 votes in favour, of which 27 came from African member states. </p>
<p>In today’s UN, having this large grouping on one’s side helps countries the most when it comes to passing – or defeating – resolutions. With the UN Security Council in gridlock because the five permanent members (China, France, Russia, the UK and the US) have veto power, there has been a shift towards the UN General Assembly, which works on one-member-one-vote. General Assembly votes are mainly symbolic. But they are a useful indicator of where the international community stands, and are a powerful moral weapon for any major power.</p>
<p>Africa’s other major attraction is, of course, its resource wealth. This has become even more pronounced and taken on extraordinary importance in the push towards alternative sources of energy, both renewable and non-renewable. And in the production of products driven by the rise in technological innovation, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo’s cobalt, which is needed to make device screens among other things. The DRC is the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/ev-cobalt-mines-congo/">world’s leading producer</a> of this crucial mineral.</p>
<p>At the same time the oil reserves of Algeria, Angola and Nigeria will become increasingly important as countries look to diversify away from Russia for natural gas, and from fossil fuels more broadly.</p>
<p>Then there are the trade routes. The Red Sea route, which straddles northeast Africa and links it to the Indian Ocean, <a href="https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/the-complicated-nature-of-red-sea-geopolitics/">constitutes 10% of annual global trade </a>. </p>
<p>The Red Sea route passes countries such as <a href="https://african.business/2023/07/apo-newsfeed/eritrea-president-isaias-afwerki-held-talks-with-president-putin">Eritrea</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/somalia-says-russia-grants-relief-debt-worth-684-million-2023-07-27/">Somalia</a>. Both have been actively courted by Russia.</p>
<p>For its part, China has earmarked the route through its <a href="https://www.mei.edu/publications/chinas-maritime-silk-road-and-security-red-sea-region">Maritime Silk Road </a> initiative. Its aim is to boost port infrastructure among countries with Indian Ocean coastlines. </p>
<p>Lastly, Africa is home to the fastest-growing youth population. This will be important in the search for future markets, particularly in sectors such as technology and education.</p>
<p>The US and Europe are also keen to tap this human capacity as their own populations age above the global average. Many are looking to Africa <a href="https://www.prb.org/resources/beyond-the-headlines-as-china-and-india-age-young-africa-has-potential-to-power-global-workforce/">as a source</a> of inward migratory flows.</p>
<h2>Africa’s ties with the major powers</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://www.trademap.org/Bilateral_TS.aspx?nvpm=1%7c842%7c%7c%7c7%7cTOTAL%7c%7c%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c1">2022</a>, the continent as a whole exported US$43.1 billion worth of goods to the US and imported goods worth US$30.6 billion.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.trademap.org/Bilateral_TS.aspx?nvpm=1%7c156%7c%7c%7c7%7cTOTAL%7c%7c%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c1">By comparison</a>, China exported US$164.1 billion to Africa and imported US$117.5 billion worth of African goods, in the same year. With African exports totalling US$661.4 billion, the US accounts for 6.5% and China 17.7%. </p>
<p>China, the notable growth story of the past half-century, has thus become the African continent’s single biggest trading partner, though the combined power of the European Union’s trading bloc of 27 countries <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1234977/main-trade-partners-of-africa/">still leads</a>.</p>
<p>China’s ties with the continent are the result of decades of diplomatic and commercial efforts to woo the continent through the <a href="http://www.focac.org/eng/">Forum on China–Africa Cooperation</a>. Part of this has been driven by its desire to counter the US. The other driving force has been to sustain its economy, given Africa’s untapped potential.</p>
<p>Russia has pursued a different strategy. Given that its trade with the continent is at a minimum – <a href="https://www.trademap.org/Bilateral_TS.aspx?nvpm=1%7c643%7c%7c%7c7%7cTOTAL%7c%7c%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c1">exports</a> and <a href="https://www.trademap.org/Bilateral_TS.aspx?nvpm=1%7c643%7c%7c%7c7%7cTOTAL%7c%7c%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c1%7c1">imports</a> were around US$18 billion in 2021 – it has rather sought to become a security partner, drawing on sentimentalised Soviet history.</p>
<p>Washington’s principal instrument for growing trade, and encouraging good behaviour, in Africa is the <a href="https://agoa.info/about-agoa.html">African Growth and Opportunity Act</a>, set to expire in 2025. The framework is a lever. But, as <a href="https://african.business/2022/11/trade-investment/us-trade-with-africa-in-decline-but-aid-remains-stable#:%7E:text=The%20overall%20value%20of%20US%20exports%20to%20the%20continent%20fell,the%20United%20States%20Census%20Bureau.">the data show</a>, trade is in evident decline. </p>
<p>The general picture can obscure some nuances. Some African states are more deeply intertwined with the US than others. For example, Djibouti has an <a href="https://politicstoday.org/djibouti-surrounded-by-military-bases-of-china-us-france-uk-germany-others/">American military base</a> (along with other states, though not Russia at this point). And Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa are also among the <a href="https://afr-ix.com/comparison-of-fdi-in-africa/">top recipients</a> of US direct investment. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Eritrea, which was the only African state to brazenly vote against the UN General Assembly to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, seems to have no aspirations to be in America’s good graces. This <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-peace-will-mean-for-eritrea-africas-north-korea-100063">notorious</a> outlier aside, the world is deeply intertwined, with high interdependence even among the competing major powers. </p>
<p>The US and China, despite their trade war, have struggled to decouple from one another, with their bilateral trade <a href="https://www.china-briefing.com/news/us-china-trade-in-goods-hits-new-record-in-2022-what-does-it-mean-for-bilateral-ties/#:%7E:text=US%2DChina%20trade%20in%20goods%20in%202022,to%20reach%20US%24153.8%20billion.">reaching new heights</a> as recently as last year.</p>
<p>In light of the comparatively diminished US-Africa trade, the US may be looking to make use of third parties. It could potentially influence the EU to influence Africa. The Huawei issue demonstrates this. The US has successfully pressured quite a few of its allies to halt doing business with the Chinese technology giant. According to <a href="https://unctad.org/news/investment-flows-africa-reached-record-83-billion-2021">Unctad data</a>, France (US$60 billion) and the UK (US$65 billion) are the principal holders of African assets.</p>
<p>As these and other European states seek to “<a href="https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20230720113914406">de-risk</a>” from China, there may be third-party consequences for Africa. This might include undue pressure on the continent to behave in certain ways towards China and towards Russia.</p>
<h2>Picking sides isn’t the best option</h2>
<p>Recent research, including my own on <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-98076-4">US-China trade “competition”</a> over Africa, shows that the prevailing notion that smaller countries need to “pick sides” in polarised global contexts is false. Africa is best served when it conducts trade with as many partners as possible. </p>
<p>Indeed, as shown, the major contenders are themselves conducting <a href="https://www.china-briefing.com/news/us-china-trade-in-goods-hits-new-record-in-2022-what-does-it-mean-for-bilateral-ties/#:%7E:text=US%2DChina%20trade%20in%20goods%20in%202022,to%20reach%20US%24153.8%20billion.">record-breaking trade</a> with one another. </p>
<p>All the while, Europe continues to conduct trade with Russia following the war against Ukraine (indeed, it is <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/numbers-delayed-impact-eu-european-union-war-sanctions-russia-vladimir-putin/">growing</a> in some respects). </p>
<p>The continent can, therefore, afford to be neutral. What it cannot afford to do is pick sides and preclude any partnerships. In the oncoming multipolar order, there are no self-evident, African-specific needs to pick sides. All options can be on the table.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210516/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bhaso Ndzendze does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The African continent is an obvious contender for courting by major powers.Bhaso Ndzendze, Associate Professor (International Relations), University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1945422022-11-24T10:40:29Z2022-11-24T10:40:29ZSandton terror alert: time for South Africa to improve its intelligence sharing channels with the US<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497044/original/file-20221123-14-zh8q6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C19%2C4324%2C2440&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South African foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, right, hosts US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, for the SA-US Strategic Dialogue in Pretoria, in August 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jacoline Schoonees/Dirco</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The announcement <a href="https://za.usembassy.gov/security-alert-u-s-embassy-possible-attack/">in October 2022</a> by the US embassy in South Africa of a possible terror attack caused a lot of confusion, concern and, in some cases, anger in the country. The alert advised US citizens and personnel to stay away from large gatherings around Sandton, Johannesburg’s financial centre.</p>
<p>Three major events were planned for the weekend of the purported terror attack. These were a major <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sport/soccer/2022-10-27-extra-precautions-bomb-sweep-at-fnb-stadium-for-soweto-derby-after-us-terror-alert/">soccer match in Johannesburg</a>, the <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/watch-police-assure-people-that-zulu-kings-coronation-is-safe-to-attend-amid-terror-threat-in-sandton-b6133587-effa-421f-8b7a-110da2e8ad42">coronation</a> ceremony of the Zulu king, Misuzulu kaZwelithini in Durban, and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/29/thousands-attend-south-africa-pride-despite-terror-warning">Pride parade</a> in Sandton. All three events went ahead without any incident, prompting some to say the terror alert might have <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2022/10/31/us-terror-alert-served-its-purpose-as-there-was-no-attack-security-expert">deterred any attack</a>. </p>
<p>Some derided South Africa’s <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2022/11/03/mandy-wiener-our-intelligence-services-shouldn-t-be-the-butt-of-comedians-jokes">intelligence agencies</a> for failure to pick up the terror threat. Others accused the US of <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/opinion/us-terrorism-alert-undermines-solidarity-sas-sovereignty-e5351618-d7e8-4f02-a0a5-7332c04a0e02">undermining South Africa’s sovereignty</a>. While the government recognised that the alert was a <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/press-statements/government-notes-us-terror-alert">standard communication</a> by the US directed at its citizens, it argued that such information should have been communicated to the local authorities through “normal channels”.</p>
<p>According to Zizi Kodwa, the deputy intelligence minister, the <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-10-27-us-was-out-of-line-theres-no-direct-terrorist-threat-to-sa-right-now-says-deputy-state-security-minister-zizi-kodwa/">US ambassador should have informed</a> the local authorities about the potential threat. The onus would then be on them to announce such an alert or take necessary measures. This procedure was not followed.</p>
<p>The South African parliamentary <a href="https://www.parliament.gov.za/news/south-africa-must-make-firm-response-us-following-terror-attack-announcement">committee</a> responsible for international relations even called for firmer unspecified reaction to the perceived undermining of the country’s sovereignty.</p>
<p>Based on my expertise in defence policy, intelligence and international security strategy and reform, it is my view that the criticism of the US over the terrorism alert was misguided. It ignored a few fundamental facts that are worth noting.</p>
<h2>Duty to protect</h2>
<p>Firstly, the security threat alerts are a common feature of US security practices both at home and abroad.</p>
<p>Since 2020, the <a href="https://za.usembassy.gov/">US embassy</a> in South Africa has issued at least nine security alerts. They have warned of <a href="https://za.usembassy.gov/security-alert-u-s-embassy-south-africa-recent-crime-at-numbi-gate/?_ga=2.242772170.914651504.1669013147-250618191.1669013147">criminality</a>, civil <a href="https://za.usembassy.gov/security-alert-the-u-s-mission-to-south-africa-continues-to-closely-monitor-security-developments-in-kwazulu-natal-gauteng-and-across-south-africa/?_ga=2.206129371.914651504.1669013147-250618191.1669013147">unrest</a> and <a href="https://za.usembassy.gov/security-message-for-u-s-citizens-bomb-threat-at-rosebank-mall-in-johannesburg/?_ga=2.252641601.914651504.1669013147-250618191.1669013147">bomb</a> threats.</p>
<p>A security alert was also issued on 23 October in Nigeria about a possible terror attack in <a href="https://www.blueprint.ng/us-terror-alert-nigeria-south-africa-and-conspiracy-theories/">Abuja</a>. </p>
<p>Secondly, every nation has a primary responsibility to protect its citizens, regardless of where they are located. Countries like Britain, Germany, France, and Australia have issued similar alerts for their citizens abroad. <a href="https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/breaking-sandton-terror-uk-issues-warning-johannesburg-embassy-thursday-27-october/">They</a> did the same for their citizens in South Africa.</p>
<p>Thirdly, more attention should be paid to the performance and capacity of South Africa’s own intelligence services in sharing intelligence with the embassies it hosts. </p>
<p>South African citizens should be able to expect a similar or comparable alert system from its intelligence or security structures. In the absence of such a system, foreign embassy alerts are the only way for citizens to get terror warnings. </p>
<h2>Fixing South Africa’s intelligence services</h2>
<p>Various reports have recommended fixing South Africa’s intelligence services. They include those by the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201903/high-level-review-panel-state-security-agency.pdf">High-level Review Panel on the State Security Agency</a>, the <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/site/files/announcements/667/OCR_version_-_State_Capture_Commission_Report_Part_V_Vol_I_-_SSA.pdf">Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture</a> and the <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/content/report-expert-panel-july-2021-civil-unrest">Expert Panel into the July 2021 civil unrest</a>. </p>
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<p>While the review panel report highlighted the politicisation of the State Security Agency, the state capture commission revealed large-scale corruption within the agency. The report on the 2021 unrest highlighted the lack of coordination among the nation’s intelligence services. This resulted in poor and late response to the mass looting and destruction in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces.</p>
<p>The combined effect of these reports shows serious governance, operational and structural deficiencies in the intelligence services. These require urgent attention. </p>
<p>The government has since taken some steps which may help restore public confidence in the country’s intelligence services. These include the relocation of <a href="https://mg.co.za/politics/2022-01-17-president-puts-mondli-gungubele-in-charge-of-state-security-agency/">political oversight responsibility for the State Security Agency</a> to the minister in the presidency. Leadership vacancies have also been filled. </p>
<p>The recent appointment of <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/press-statements/statement-appointment-state-security-agency-director-general">Ambassador Thembisile Majola</a> as the agency’s new director general and <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/press-statements/president-appoints-mr-imtiaz-fazel-inspector-general-intelligence">Imtiaz Fazel</a> as the Inspector-General of Intelligence, signals a strong commitment towards ensuring an efficient and effective intelligence capability. Unlike his predecessor, <a href="https://www.saiga.co.za/saiga/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Prof-Dr-Dintwe.pdf">Setlhomamaru Dintwe</a>, who was appointed after the post had been vacant for two years, Fazel was appointed timeously at the expiry of Dintwe’s five-year term.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-provides-fertile-ground-for-funders-of-terrorism-heres-why-194282">South Africa provides fertile ground for funders of terrorism. Here's why</a>
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<p>A stable intelligence service community will ensure that the discovery, monitoring and exposure of people with criminal or terrorist intent is not left to foreign intelligence services. Better still, these can then be identified and brought to justice.</p>
<p>For example, on 7 November 2022 the <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1084">US Treasury</a> announced that it had identified and imposed sanctions on four individuals and their eight companies in South Africa’s port city of Durban. It accused them of providing technical, financial and material support for ISIS operations. There has been no indication that the country’s intelligence services were alert to the individuals’ actions.</p>
<p>The country also runs the real risk of being subjected to additional governance scrutiny by the international Financial Action Task Force (or <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/business/2022-10-02-sa-cannot-escape-greylisting-says-financial-intelligence-centre-chief/">grey-listing</a>) because of failures in its financial system to detect illicit financial transfers, terrorist financing and money laundering.</p>
<h2>United States and South Africa relations</h2>
<p>Tensions between the US and South Africa – this time over the terror alert – are nothing new. Their relations have always had highs and lows since South Africa became a democracy in 1994.</p>
<p>They have tended to converge on socio-economic issues, but diverge on the global political outlook. But the two nations have been consistent in safeguarding their mutual interests.</p>
<p>From an economic perspective, the US is South Africa’s second largest <a href="https://www.worldstopexports.com/top-south-african-import-partners/">trading partner</a>, after China, with a total of US$13.1 billion of exports destined for the US. </p>
<p>On the political front, South Africa has disagreed with a number of US policies. One is Washington’s approach to the Palestine issue. For its part, the US would, for example, have preferred South Africa to take a strong position against Russia <a href="https://theconversation.com/african-countries-showed-disunity-in-un-votes-on-russia-south-africas-role-was-pivotal-180799">in the Ukraine conflict</a>.</p>
<p>But the US will not be reckless by pushing South Africa out of its diplomatic fold. This, in my view, would only benefit countries like Russia and China. As a regional leader, South Africa provides geostrategic and geopolitical value to the US. Washington continues to support Pretoria economically and technically.</p>
<p>That said, South Africa should spare no effort to prevent it from becoming a safe haven for <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-provides-fertile-ground-for-funders-of-terrorism-heres-why-194282">funding terrorism activities</a>. This will also help reduce the possibility of diplomatic misunderstanding between itself and the US on financial security matters.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194542/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Moses B. Khanyile does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tensions between the US and South Africa – this time over the terror alert – are nothing new. Their relations have always had highs and lows since South Africa became a democracy in 1994.Moses B. Khanyile, Director: Centre for Military Studies, Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1945392022-11-15T14:00:44Z2022-11-15T14:00:44ZUS midterm elections deserve Africa’s attention – but not for reasons of foreign policy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495070/original/file-20221114-18-wfiqzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Americans vote In the 2022 midterm elections on 8 November. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Africans normally pay little attention to American elections when the presidency is not at stake. But the midterm polls – such as the <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/midterm-election-results-livestream-voting-11-08-2022/index.html">8 November 2022</a> one – deserve Africa’s attention. </p>
<p>During midterms, US voters elect 435 members of the House of Representatives for a two-year term and one-third of the senators, the 100-member upper house, who serve for six years. The two houses are collectively known as the <a href="https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/about-congress">US Congress</a>. Some governors, and other officials, including those responsible for elections of the 50 states, also seek a mandate during this period. </p>
<p>Midterm elections take place halfway into the president’s term of office. Typically, they are taken as a judgement on his performance. President Joe Biden’s national approval rating on the day before the midterms was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-approval-ticks-lower-democrats-brace-midterm-losses-reutersipsos-2022-11-07/">only 39%</a>. This suggested there would be another big win for the opposition Republicans. Instead, the Senate <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63613264">remains narrowly Democratic</a> and the House likely will have a slim Republican majority when all votes are finally counted. </p>
<p>America is still deeply divided. I believe, however, that the electioneering showed democracy’s resilience, which should be a boost for democracy advocates across Africa. </p>
<p>The “wild card” in this election was the role of Donald Trump. He and his supporters managed to get their candidates nominated in many states. Most promoted his false claim that the 2020 presidential election had been “stolen” and Biden was an illegitimate president. They also favoured the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a woman’s right to an abortion. Both issues, electoral integrity and human rights, are of concern to democrats everywhere, including Africa.</p>
<h2>Foreign policy was not an issue</h2>
<p>Voters understand that foreign policy is rarely an issue in midterm elections. Presidents retain wide discretion in foreign policy. </p>
<p>Current <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/U.S.-Strategy-Toward-Sub-Saharan-Africa-FINAL.pdf">US strategy towards sub-Saharan Africa</a> will continue to frame US foreign policy at least until 20 January 2025, when the next administration is inaugurated. But African governments and their citizens have many other interests and values at stake in relations with America.</p>
<p>What matters to African countries are the social forces at work in the US that may affect the long term relations between the US and Africa. America is becoming more pluralistic. The African diaspora is becoming more integrated. A backlash from those Whites fearful of losing status seems inevitable. Whether and how Americans manage this peacefully and democratically should interest the world’s most diverse continent. </p>
<p>I recall, for example, how the <a href="https://blacklivesmatter.com/">Black Lives Matter</a> campaign <a href="https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/06/12/black-lives-matter-africa">resonated across Africa</a>. </p>
<h2>The Trump factor</h2>
<p>The foremost US domestic issue that should concern Africa is whether Donald Trump’s role in shaping this election will affect his own prospects of reelection in 2024. Many of his supporters ran, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/09/trump-endorsed-candidates-republicans-midterm-performance">many of them lost</a>. This could reduce his chance to be the Republican nominee <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2022/11/09/what-do-the-2022-midterms-mean-for-2024/">in 2024</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man wearing a suit, shirt and tie is shown speaking into a microphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495313/original/file-20221115-11-f6vr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495313/original/file-20221115-11-f6vr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495313/original/file-20221115-11-f6vr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495313/original/file-20221115-11-f6vr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495313/original/file-20221115-11-f6vr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495313/original/file-20221115-11-f6vr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495313/original/file-20221115-11-f6vr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">US President Joe Biden.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chip Somodevilla/via Getty Images</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Three aspects of these hotly contested races that are salient for sustainable democracy in Africa are already clear. </p>
<p>First, in highly polarised but diverse societies, close elections are to be expected, and demand nonviolent and just democratic discipline.</p>
<p>Second, electoral integrity matters and must be transparent and authoritative. Citizens need to be confident that all their votes will be counted. Trump and his allies denigrated the certified electoral results in 2020 and the <a href="https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.32N83JF">accuracy of voting last week</a>. But voting in all 50 states went off with <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/09/midterms-homeland-security-no-voter-fraud">very few glitches</a>. </p>
<p>Third, candidates must “play by the rules”. The most important of which is to concede when informed by election officials that you have lost. If candidates fail to do this, the risk of violence becomes acute, as it did in the assault on the US Capitol by Trump supporters <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/one-year-jan-6-attack-capitol">on 6 January 2021</a>. Voters in the midterms showed that they <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/11/09/voters-push-back-against-election-deniers-in-key-states">rejected “electoral denialism”</a> without proof.</p>
<p>A divisive but decisive issue that motivated high turnout in several US several swing states was whether women have a human right to decide for themselves whether to have an abortion, within democratically agreed rules. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-us-policy-on-abortion-affects-women-in-africa-182525">How US policy on abortion affects women in Africa</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Many other democracies, including South Africa, constitutionally guarantee this right. Republicans have long <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2013/09/abortion-restrictions-us-foreign-aid-history-and-harms-helms-amendment">imposed abortion restrictions on women’s health</a> programmes sponsored by the US Agency for International Development. During the Obama Administration they were removed, but Trump <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/15/trump-abortion-rule-mexico-city-policy">reimposed them</a>. </p>
<h2>US elections and the world</h2>
<p>The 2022 US midterm election at least offers hope that constitutional or civic nationalism – not white racial nationalism – will define US democracy. The country is demographically <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/41486/chapter/352889533%5DProf">becoming more ethnically diverse</a>, in that sense more like Africa. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man wearing a suit, shirt and tie appears in a pensive mood." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495312/original/file-20221115-23-jblmdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495312/original/file-20221115-23-jblmdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495312/original/file-20221115-23-jblmdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495312/original/file-20221115-23-jblmdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495312/original/file-20221115-23-jblmdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495312/original/file-20221115-23-jblmdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495312/original/file-20221115-23-jblmdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Former US President Donald Trump. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images</span></span>
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<p><a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/race-ethnicity/2022/01/20/the-caribbean-is-the-largest-origin-source-of-black-immigrants-but-fastest-growth-is-among-african-immigrants/">America has a large and growing African diaspora</a>. According to exit polls, eight in 10 black Americans voted for Democratic candidates in the 2022 midterm election, although Republicans are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/11/black-asian-latino-voter-turnout/">making some inroads</a>. Many are recent immigrants from Africa who continue to maintain close family and cultural ties to their <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/01/27/key-findings-about-black-immigrants-in-the-u-s/">countries of origin</a>. </p>
<p>African scholars and diplomats could learn important lessons from their diaspora’s hopes and fears about America’s version of democracy and federal system. </p>
<h2>Mutual learning</h2>
<p>All African governments are collectively committed to basic democratic principles under the <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/pages/34873-file-constitutiveact_en.pdf">Constitutive Act of the African Union</a> and the African Charter for Democracy, Elections, and <a href="https://au.int/en/treaties/african-charter-democracy-elections-and-governance">Governance</a>. </p>
<p>The United States, the world’s oldest democratic experiment, remains vulnerable to a populist demagogue, determined to defy the first principle of sustainable democracy: the peaceful transition of power. This alone should give African scholars incentives to learn more about the internal workings of American politics and why and how this principle showed resilience in the 2022 midterm poll. </p>
<p>This could inform their debates about which version of democracy is best for their nation, and might even yield fresh insights of value to American democrats as they strive to fulfil their constitution’s promise to <a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/us#:%7E:text=%22We%20the%20People%20of%20the,for%20the%20United%20States%20of">“form a more perfect union”</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John J Stremlau does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite America’s deep divisions, the electioneering showed democracy’s resilience. This should be a boost for democracy advocates across Africa.John J Stremlau, Honorary Professor of International Relations, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1881742022-08-04T14:28:19Z2022-08-04T14:28:19ZUS secretary of state Antony Blinken’s visit aims to reset relations with South Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477460/original/file-20220803-11072-ek8jmv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">US secretary of state Antony Blinken.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>US secretary of state Antony Blinken has embarked on a <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-travel-to-cambodia-the-philippines-south-africa-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-and-rwanda/">five nation tour</a> of Cambodia, the Philippines, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. </p>
<p>This is Blinken’s second trip to Africa; he visited <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/africa-reacts-secretary-blinkens-africa-tour">Nigeria, Senegal and Kenya</a> last November. The purpose of each national visit varies according to <a href="https://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00080254.html">local and regional circumstances</a>. </p>
<p>In South Africa he has two primary objectives, <a href="https://www.state.gov/east-asian-and-pacific-affairs-assistant-secretary-daniel-j-kritenbrink-and-african-affairs-assistant-secretary-molly-phee-on-the-secretarys-upcoming-travel-to-cambodia-the-philippines-sou/">according to assistant secretary Molly Phee</a>. One is to engage in a high-level “strategic dialogue” with his counterpart, international relations minister Naledi Pandor. And in Phee’s words:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Given South Africa’s leadership role, it’s an ideal location for the Secretary to deliver a speech announcing and describing the US strategy toward sub-Saharan Africa.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>South Africa has a long, complex, deep and vital history of relations with the US and its people. A series of dialogues at this level started <a href="https://www.gov.za/south-africa-united-states-america-strategic-dialogue">in 2010</a>, during the administrations of presidents Barack Obama and Jacob Zuma. They were suspended during the Donald Trump administration. </p>
<p>The Blinken-Pandor dialogue will include topics that have been vital to both nations since before the series began in 2010. Today, they are even more important: trade and investment, public health, agriculture, education, climate, water, science and technology, among others. </p>
<p>More Americans than ever visit South Africa. The US recently surpassed the UK and Germany as the source of South Africa’s <a href="https://www.getaway.co.za/travel-news/usa-overtakes-germany-and-uk-to-become-sas-biggest-overseas-tourists/">largest overseas tourism numbers</a>. </p>
<p>Reaffirming priorities now is important, considering domestic and international developments since the last high-level dialogue <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/minister-nkoana-mashabane-arrives-washington-us-sa-strategic-dialogue-meeting-15-sep-2015">in 2015</a>.</p>
<h2>A rocky road</h2>
<p>Relations between the US and South Africa were of little interest to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Donald-Trumps-Presidency-International-Perspectives/dp/1633916650">Trump</a>. He immediately cancelled Obama’s large financial commitment to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/06/02/trump-will-stop-paying-into-the-green-climate-fund-he-has-no-idea-what-it-is/">Green Climate Fund</a>. The fund was designed to assist African and other nations seriously affected by climate change. This caused consternation in South Africa. </p>
<p>So did his quick announcement that the US would <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/climate/trump-paris-climate-agreement.html">withdraw</a> from the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/paris-agreement">Paris climate change accord</a>, vital to Africa’s well-being, and to which South African scientists have been essential. </p>
<p>President Joe Biden has reversed many of Trump’s actions. But such shifts have raised questions regarding America’s reliability.</p>
<p>In South Africa, financial scandals and <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/">state capture</a> – the re-purposing and use of state organs for private gain – resulted in former president Zuma’s fall. </p>
<p>As COVID became a global pandemic, vaccine nationalism and travel bans further strained relations, even <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-impose-travel-curbs-eight-southern-african-countries-over-new-covid-19-2021-11-26/">into the Biden administration</a>.</p>
<p>Currently both nations face existential political crises, made worse by violence, xenophobia, extreme inequality, and rising voter frustration and apathy. </p>
<p>A question facing Blinken and Pandor is whether their efforts can deepen cooperation on issues of obvious practical importance to both nations, including those on the announced agenda. Reviving the high-level dialogues offers renewed opportunities to set priorities and guidelines favouring greater attention to overcoming inequalities and legacies of racial discrimination in both countries. </p>
<p>The shared goal would be to benefit national integration and support for institutions of democratic governance among <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2022-06-21/hierarchies-weakness-social-divisions">chronically disadvantaged groups of Americans and South Africans</a>. </p>
<p>On the margins of the meetings informal exchanges about priorities and commitments can be linked to their common goals to sustain nonracial, nonsexist and more equal and secure democracies. According to American University professor <a href="https://www.american.edu/sis/faculty/aacharya.cfm">Amitav Acharya</a>, progress on reconciling social divisions in the US can also yield a firmer national foundation for more effective and extensive foreign relations. </p>
<h2>Global tensions</h2>
<p>Deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman visited South Africa in May to prepare for Blinken’s visit and resumption of the strategic dialogue. She specifically downplayed any differences between the two governments over <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2022-05-04-us-and-sa-agree-on-negotiated-peace-says-visiting-us-deputy-secretary-of-state/">the war in Ukraine</a>. </p>
<p>The US and South Africa had hoped to hold the dialogue in the first quarter of this year. The invasion of Ukraine temporarily derailed planning on the US side, according to officials with whom I have spoken. One hopes that next week’s high-level discussions can also mitigate persistent tensions that may exist between the two countries. The talks may also help ensure that Africa does not become the victim of a new <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2022/05/19/africa-and-the-new-cold-war-africas-development-depends-on-regional-ownership-of-its-security/">Cold War</a> in the wake of the war in Ukraine. </p>
<p>South Africa has resisted taking sides in the dangerous and costly <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/govt-urges-south-africans-not-to-pick-sides-in-russias-bloody-invasion-of-ukraine-20220315">war in Ukraine</a>. Likewise, it has consistently resisted being drawn into taking sides on the <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2021-06-17-ramaphosa-demonstrates-shrewd-statesmanship-as-he-performs-a-delicate-g7-balancing-act/">China-US global competition for influence</a>. </p>
<p>And when Biden invited 16 African leaders to his virtual <a href="https://www.state.gov/summit-for-democracy/">“Summit for Democracy”</a> in December 2021, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa was <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-12-10-ramaphosa-gives-us-presidents-democracy-summit-the-cold-shoulder/">the only one to decline</a>. </p>
<p>On the US side, the House of Representatives recently passed by a large bi-partisan majority, <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57995#:%7E:text=Summary-,H.R.,undermine%20democratic%20institutions%20in%20Africa">“The Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act”</a>. It’s aimed at </p>
<blockquote>
<p>countering Russian efforts to undermine democratic institutions in Africa.</p>
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<p>I was told by South African officials that they will appeal to the Biden administration to kill this initiative in step with other African governments. Minister Pandor recently <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2022-08-02-south-africas-engagements-with-the-world-are-informed-by-our-national-interest">publicly described the bill</a> as </p>
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<p>intended to punish countries in Africa that have not toed the line on the Russia-Ukraine war.</p>
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<p>Perhaps in their meetings Blinken, Pandor and their advisers could ensure there are no misunderstandings about the nature and intent of the act. They also need to ensure that any remaining differences will not negatively affect progress on any of the agreed priorities in their strategic dialogue. </p>
<h2>Resetting US-SA relations</h2>
<p>The process to reset US-SA relations should begin with a few home truths. Prominent Americans have described their nation as <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/01/is-america-still-the-shining-city-on-a-hill/617474/">“The Shining City on a Hill”</a> or the world’s <a href="http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/idps/article/view/22430">“sole super-power”</a>. This seems to many other nations, especially in South Africa with a similar history of racial oppression, as arrogant and ignorant of the US’s own history.</p>
<p>But there are large numbers of progressive Americans willing to listen and learn from others. They are eager for a reset of relations with South Africa. To cite one pertinent example: in the influential journal <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/">Foreign Affairs</a>, scholar-diplomat Reuben Brigety II argues that Americans should begin by heeding their own advice to other countries and upgrade their own democracy.</p>
<p>He was recently confirmed to become America’s <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/africa/news/new-us-ambassador-to-sa-pledges-to-promote-ubuntu-diplomacy-20220723">next ambassador to South Africa</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188174/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John J Stremlau does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The meetings between Blinken and his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor could help iron out misunderstandings about the intent of the US targeting Russian ‘malign’ activities in Africa.John J Stremlau, Honorary Professor of International Relations, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1875682022-07-22T14:57:34Z2022-07-22T14:57:34ZFive essential reads on Russia-Africa relations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475656/original/file-20220722-26-p1kof8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L).</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Sean Gallup - Pool /Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, <a href="https://addisstandard.com/asdailyscoop-lavrov-set-for-africa-tour-ahead-of-russia-africa-summit/">will visit four African nations</a> – Ethiopia, Egypt, Uganda and Congo-Brazzaville – from Sunday 24 July. The visit comes ahead of the second Russia-Africa summit, expected to be held in Addis Ababa in October-November.</p>
<p>The first <a href="https://theconversation.com/russia-steps-up-efforts-to-fill-gaps-left-by-americas-waning-interest-in-africa-125945">Russia-Africa Summit</a> was held in Sochi, Russia in 2019 and attended by several African heads of state and government. </p>
<p>During his visit, Lavrov will meet heads of state and business, in what has been billed as a “working visit”.</p>
<p>The Conversation Africa has published numerous articles by experts on Russia’s relationship with Africa. Here we present five essential reads.</p>
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<p>Russia’s war in Ukraine has not attracted universal condemnation in Africa. So the visit is likely to be viewed as much more than a precursor for the upcoming summit and more as a charm offensive by Moscow. Theo Neethling sets out how Moscow has been growing its strategic influence in Africa.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-russia-is-growing-its-strategic-influence-in-africa-110930">How Russia is growing its strategic influence in Africa</a>
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<p>For a while now, competition among the world powers for influence in Africa has been seen as primarily between the United States and China. But research shows that President Vladimir Putin is intent on tilting the global balance of power in Russia’s favour, in line with his vision of restoring Moscow’s Soviet era status as a super power. On this view, Putin is determined to counter America’s influence and match China’s large economic footprint on the continent. János Besenyő examines whether Russia can offer an alternative to the US and China in Africa.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/russia-in-africa-can-it-offer-an-alternative-to-the-us-and-china-117764">Russia in Africa: can it offer an alternative to the US and China?</a>
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<p>The vision of the African Union is for the continent to act in concert on global issues. But there wasn’t much evidence of this pan-Africanist approach in the way the continent voted on United Nations resolutions to condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. John J Stremlau shows how some African nations voted either for or against Russia, while others, notably South Africa, abstained.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/african-countries-showed-disunity-in-un-votes-on-russia-south-africas-role-was-pivotal-180799">African countries showed disunity in UN votes on Russia: South Africa's role was pivotal</a>
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<p>Political and security analyst Joseph Siegle argues that Russia’s approach to Africa involves an <a href="http://democracyinafrica.org/russia-in-africa-undermining-democracy-through-elite-capture/">elite cooption strategy</a>, with the aim of serving Russia’s strategic objectives. Siegle explains that the interests of African citizens and nations give way to Russian priorities, with destabilising effects. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-fresh-warning-that-africa-needs-to-be-vigilant-against-russias-destabilising-influence-178785">Ukraine war: fresh warning that Africa needs to be vigilant against Russia's destabilising influence</a>
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<p>Military equipment is a key factor in the relationship between Russia and several African countries. In fact, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/russian-arms-exports-to-africa-moscows-long-term-strategy/a-53596471">almost half</a> of Africa’s imports of military equipment (49%) come from Russia. These include major arms (battle tanks, warships, fighter aircraft and combat helicopters) and small arms (pistols and assault rifles, such as the new Kalashnikov AK-200 series rifle). Defence analyst Moses Khanyile reveals how the sanctions imposed on Russia by the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance will disrupt sales. This will bring both risks and opportunities for the continent.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sanctions-against-russia-will-affect-arms-sales-to-africa-the-risks-and-opportunities-180038">Sanctions against Russia will affect arms sales to Africa: the risks and opportunities</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187568/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Five essential reads on Russia’s relationship with Africa.Thabo Leshilo, Politics + SocietyMoina Spooner, Assistant EditorLyrr Thurston, Copy EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1744852022-01-12T14:33:51Z2022-01-12T14:33:51ZAfricans and African-Americans would honour Martin Luther King by rekindling their bonds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440415/original/file-20220112-13-fulvzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bernice A. King, daughter of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, at a recent press conference preview the King Holiday observance in Atlanta, Georgia.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE/Erik S. Lesser</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>During an official visit to Washington DC in 1962, Cameroon’s founding President Ahmadou Ahidjo informed President John F. Kennedy of his <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/abs/equality-noninterference-and-sovereignty-president-ahmadou-ahidjo-and-the-making-of-cameroonus-relations/20C7C112F4588FFA414E0E0572ECFCA7">displeasure over anti-black racism in the US</a>. Ahidjo met and <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/abs/equality-noninterference-and-sovereignty-president-ahmadou-ahidjo-and-the-making-of-cameroonus-relations/20C7C112F4588FFA414E0E0572ECFCA7">praised</a> the leadership of the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lift-Every-Voice-Making-Movement/dp/B0096EQTG0">National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)</a>, the oldest African American civil rights organisation, for its willingness to unite with Africa “in a world-wide movement to fight against the evils of racial discrimination, injustice, racial prejudices, and hatred”.</p>
<p>He later <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Contribution-national-construction-African-political/dp/B0007K7TL6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2Q1HLGGZVNUVF&keywords=ahmadou+ahidjo%2C+contributions+to+national+construction&qid=1639875012&sprefix=ahmadou+ahidjo%2C+contributions+to+national+construction%2Caps%2C75&sr=8-1">wrote that</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Each time a black man [and woman] is humiliated anywhere in the world, all Negroes the world over are hurt. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>President Ahidjo called for a united front between Africans and African-Americans to confront anti-black racism. </p>
<p>He was not the first postcolonial African leader to make such a request. Ghana’s founding President Kwame Nkrumah’s <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313574089_Kwame_Nkrumah_and_the_panafrican_vision_Between_acceptance_and_rebuttal">Pan-Africanism</a> was a message about black upliftment and unity, and his close ally, Sekou Touré of Guinea, <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/national-orders/recipient/ahmed-s%C3%A9kou-tour%C3%A9-1922-1984">advocated similar objectives</a>.</p>
<p>Those calls for a crusade against anti-black racism were deeply rooted in the best of African nationalism. </p>
<p>On the other side of the Atlantic, calls for collaboration to end racism were also taking place. A leading proponent of that message was the <a href="https://www.grandcentralpublishing.com/titles/clayborne-carson/a-call-to-conscience/9780759520080/">Rev. Martin Luther King Jr</a>. He and many in his generation rejected the negative proscriptions of Africa, and called for Africans and African Americans to join forces in the anti-racism crusade.</p>
<p>They <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53360.A_Testament_of_Hope">spoke fondly</a> of their roots in Africa: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>we are descendants of the Africans…“our heritage is Africa. We should never seek to break the ties, nor should the Africans.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Africans and African-Americans must rekindle the spirit of collaboration and cooperation which existed among black nationalists over half a century ago to counter the rising tide of anti-black racism in the US. It was a relationship which came with mutual political, economic, and cultural benefits. </p>
<p>I am a scholar of modern African history with particular emphasis on Africa-US relations and have <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498502375/African-Immersion-American-College-Studen">published extensively in the field</a>. My <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/abs/equality-noninterference-and-sovereignty-president-ahmadou-ahidjo-and-the-making-of-cameroonus-relations/20C7C112F4588FFA414E0E0572ECFCA7">latest publication</a>, on Cameroon-US relations, among other things, addresses the importance of the collaboration between Africans and African Americans to uplift Black people. </p>
<h2>King’s eyeopening visit to Ghana</h2>
<p>King’s knowledge of Africa evolved slowly, and was initially peppered with the usual beliefs of African backwardness. But a trip to Ghana was transformative. In 1957, President Kwame Nkrumah <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trip-newly-independent-ghana-inspired-074416217.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall">invited him to his country’s independence ceremony</a>. </p>
<p>King honoured the invitation. During the ceremony King ”<a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trip-newly-independent-ghana-inspired-074416217.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVjb252ZXJzYXRpb24uY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIaZb_DR4jGxK6EFPgOGI9NAxQlgNssgDR1Urqw_22DKWDTH4oAwgLKZi3XDKQ8oeNxxG2BJHmkTuYPo5lJS8i79BcdCPlLceLsaiKj6syRmfTPgGwLugTIUkBOO_ABBsxQXXVcgUo4yFnCFViPTo31rBpDUaaZJ0kNuhVwpvVgL">started weeping… crying for joy</a>“ when the British flag was replaced with the Ghanaian flag. He spoke endlessly about the endurance, determination, and courage of the African people. The anti-colonial struggle in Ghana mirrored what was taking place all over Africa.</p>
<p>Later, King <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/birth-new-nation-sermon-delivered-dexter-avenue-baptist-church">noted</a> that Ghana’s independence </p>
<blockquote>
<p>will have worldwide implication and repercussions — not only for Asia and Africa, but also for America. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This gave African Americans new insights about the anti-colonial struggle. </p>
<p>Increasingly, King saw parallels between the anti-colonial movement in Africa and the civil rights struggle in the US. In his sermon, ”<a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/birth-new-nation-sermon-delivered-dexter-avenue-baptist-church">The Birth of a new nation</a>“, he stated that the Ghana example reinforced his belief that an</p>
<blockquote>
<p>oppressor never voluntarily gives freedom to the oppressed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He added that nonviolence was an effective tactic against oppression.
European colonialism of Africa and segregation in America were both "systems of evil”, he wrote, and <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/birth-new-nation-sermon-delivered-dexter-avenue-baptist-church">summoned all to work to defeat them</a>. </p>
<h2>African nationalism meets US civil rights movement</h2>
<p>While racial segregation remained entrenched in America, the tide of independence was changing quickly in Africa. In 1960, 17 African <a href="https://www.macmillanexplorers.com/national-and-regional-histories/history-of-africa/17078210">nations gained independence</a>. They took their anti-racism message to the United Nations, where they chastised the US for its failure to stop anti-black racism. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Marchers carry a poster demanding justice for George Floyd and another bearing his face." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440420/original/file-20220112-17-nryl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440420/original/file-20220112-17-nryl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440420/original/file-20220112-17-nryl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440420/original/file-20220112-17-nryl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440420/original/file-20220112-17-nryl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440420/original/file-20220112-17-nryl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440420/original/file-20220112-17-nryl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The murder of George Floyd by policeman Derek Chauvin angered the African Union.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE/ Craig Lassig</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>African representatives in the US were often victims of American racism. Given the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/strategies-of-containment-9780195174472?cc=us&lang=en&">Cold War</a>, US Secretary of State Dean Rusk stated that one of America’s major Cold War problems was the continuous anti-black racism in the country.</p>
<p>After Nigeria, King increasingly spoke of a sense of urgency. In his article, “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1961/09/10/archives/the-time-for-freedom-has-come-this-belief-dr-king-asserts.html#:%7E:text=%27The%20Time%20for%20Freedom%20Has%20Come%27%3B%20This%20belief%2C,By%20Martin%20Luther%20King%20Jr.%20Sept.%2010%2C%201961">The Time for Freedom has Come</a>”, he praised the independence movement in Africa while blasting the slow pace of change in the US. He referred to the independence movement in Africa as the </p>
<blockquote>
<p>greatest single international influence on American Negro students.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>African nationalists such as Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tom Mboya, Hastings Banda were “popular heroes on most Negro college campuses”, King stated. He <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53360.A_Testament_of_Hope">urged</a> African governments to do more to support the civil rights struggle of “their brothers [and sisters] in the US”. </p>
<p>In addition, newspapers in several African nations used the treatment of African Americans to question the role of America as the <a href="https://www.kentstateuniversitypress.com/2010/the-peace-corps-in-cameroon/">leader of the “free world”</a>.</p>
<h2>Ebb and flow</h2>
<p>King and his contemporaries took seriously the partnership with Africa. African American leaders, activists, and scholars alike turned to Africa for inspiration. For example, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/W_E_B_Du_Bois.html?id=-KkRAQAAMAAJ">WEB Du Bois</a>, whose credentials included being co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Pan-African movement, relocated to Ghana. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/16/us/stokely-carmichael-rights-leader-who-coined-black-power-dies-at-57.html">Stokely Carmichael</a> (Kwame Ture), who introduced the Black Power concept in the civil rights movement settled in Guinea. Many others immigrated to Africa. </p>
<p>Poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou was transformed by the African experience. <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/7921/maya-angelous-meeting-with-africa/">She wrote</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>For it is Africa that struts around in our rounded calves, wiggles around in our protruding butts, and crackles in our wide and frank laugh. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The 1960s and 1970s were decades of remarkable collaboration and cooperation between Africans and African-Americans.</p>
<p>American political leaders took note of the collaboration between Africans and African-Americans. President John F. Kennedy, the first American president to treat Africa with respect, created a more informed US foreign policy towards African nations – in part <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cold-War-Black-Liberation-1948-1968/dp/0826204589/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1C1CIDK16G45D&keywords=Thomas+noer&qid=1639886835&sprefix=thomas+noer%2Caps%2C90&sr=8-1">to woo the support of African-Americans in elections</a>.</p>
<p>Kennedy’s policy was later abandoned by his successors – some of whom reverted to referring to Africans as “<a href="https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=WsIIDJlKm6sC&pg=PA147&lpg=PA147&dq=Lyndon+Johnson+Africa+cannibals&source=bl&ots=bQBLUppsTF&sig=yZPq5JA4MdgbQH2LsdCke68rt3M&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Lyndon%20Johnson%20Africa%20cannibals&f=false">cannibals</a>” and “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Enchanting-Darkness-American-Twentieth-Century/dp/0870133217/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3LS3NS1GALRTI&keywords=an+enchanting+darkness%3A+the+american+vision+of+africa+in+the+twentieth+century&qid=1639879403&sprefix=an+enchanting+darkness+the+american+vision+of+africa+in+the+twentieth+century%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-1">genetically inferior</a>”.</p>
<p>Those new policies coincided with a deep level of ignorance about Africans by African-Americans and vice-versa. And little effort was made by each side to bridge the gap. African Americans increasingly saw Africans through a stereotypical lens invented by the western society to justify colonialism and slavery. </p>
<p>In turn, Africans accepted uncritically America’s <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498502375/African-Immersion-American-College-Students-in-Cameroon">mainstream society’s labels of African Americans</a>. The type of relations and advocacy forged by King’s generation had evaporated.</p>
<h2>Looking ahead</h2>
<p>But the tide may be changing. There was renewed interest following the release of the movie Black Panther which showed blacks as capable, determined, and <a href="https://apercu.web.unc.edu/2018/04/the-black-panther-to-african-american-society/">possessed civilisation</a>. Following the murder of <a href="https://theconversation.com/george-floyd-why-the-sight-of-these-brave-exhausted-protesters-gives-me-hope-139804">George Floyd</a> in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the African Union publicly condemned America for its continuous racism against blacks. </p>
<p>The spokesperson Ebba Kalondo <a href="https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20200529/statement-chairperson-following-murder-george-floyd-usa">issued</a> a strong condemnation of</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the continuing discriminatory practices against Black citizens of the United States of America.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Kalondo demanded a full investigation of the killing. </p>
<p>This new position may rekindle the spirit of cooperation and collaboration which characterised the King era. A major part of ending anti-black racism in the US is to learn about the role Africa played in shaping the idea of the west and <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Born-Blackness-Howard-W-French/9781631495823">Africa’s contributions to global civilizations</a>. </p>
<p>That knowledge will implode centuries-old myths of Africa’s backwardness and incapability. It is up to African Americans to champion that conversation in university classrooms and many other public spaces. </p>
<p>Finally, what King said about Africa as full of “rich opportunities”, inviting African Americans to “lend their technical assistance” to a rising continent remains as true today as it was when he said it nearly 60 years ago. </p>
<p>The failure to do so has increasingly ceded the ground to other actors <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/03/07/the-new-scramble-for-africa">who continue to exploit the continent</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174485/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julius A. Amin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>King saw parallels between the anti-colonial movement in Africa and the civil rights struggle in the US.Julius A. Amin, Professor, Department of History, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1726622022-01-06T15:29:30Z2022-01-06T15:29:30ZAfrica can use great power rivalry to its benefit: Here is how<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436610/original/file-20211209-136652-1fr1bvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Senegalese Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall in Dakar, Senegal.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Andrew Harnik /pool/AFP/via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Geopolitical competition between the United States and China is taking central stage in global affairs. Growing tensions and rivalry between the two are worsening in <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/dont-make-us-choose-southeast-asia-in-the-throes-of-us-china-rivalry/">South East Asia</a>, the <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/vietnam-asean-and-the-us-china-rivalry-in-the-indo-pacific/">Indo-Pacific</a>, the <a href="https://www.mei.edu/publications/coming-us-china-cold-war-view-gulf">Gulf</a> and <a href="https://www.cfr.org/article/latin-america-shouldnt-be-pawn-us-china-rivalry">Latin America</a>. </p>
<p>US President Biden has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pentagon-issues-directive-countering-china-offers-few-details-2021-06-09/">identified countering China</a> as one of the main strategic priorities of his foreign policy. This <a href="https://www.cfr.org/report/major-power-rivalry-africa">rivalry</a> is also playing out in Africa. </p>
<p>Former US secretaries of state Mike Pompeo and Hillary Clinton have often warned African leaders of the pitfalls of engaging with Russia and China. US officials are also dissuading African governments from <a href="https://www.cfr.org/report/major-power-rivalry-africa">relying on Chinese telecommunications leader Huawei</a> for security reasons. </p>
<p>Great power rivalry in Africa has been well <a href="https://www.cfr.org/report/major-power-rivalry-africa">documented</a>. But there’s another angle to consider – how can African countries use the rivalry to their advantage? </p>
<p>I explore this question in a <a href="https://afripoli.org/zero-sum-benefitting-from-great-power-rivalry-in-africa">recent article</a>. </p>
<p>I argue that African governments should avoid the zero-sum game, especially when dealing with US-China rivalry. They should adopt measures that strategically play rivals against each other. They should also implement long-term strategies and domestic policies for dealing with strategic partners like China.</p>
<h2>Avoid the zero-sum game</h2>
<p>China’s engagement with Africa is often presented <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/23526/mike-pompeos-africa-trip-is-about-china-not-africa/">as a spectre</a> by US officials during meetings with African leaders. In the past, both Republican and Democrat secretaries of state have warned of the dangers presented by China. The recent trip by Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State, suggested a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-china-antony-blinken-nigeria-ae944eaf8e5ecfbb3661651fce69784e">rhetorical shift</a>. Nevertheless, indirect criticism of China was still present. </p>
<p>Some <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/china-africa-to-avoid-falling-into-zero-sum-trap/">argue</a> that the US is attempting to put on a zero-sum game, disrupt China-Africa cooperation, and exclusively advance American interests in Africa.</p>
<p>In response, African leaders have stipulated that they don’t want to be used as pawns in a proxy rivalry. <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/african-leaders-question-us-position-on-china-at-investment-event-98347">Their main strategic priority</a> is partnership diversification.</p>
<p>This makes sense. African governments should avoid restricting their strategies to those of a mutually exclusive zero-sum game. African economies are facing a crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. They need several partnerships and should exploit the silver linings presented by great power rivalry. <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2021-05-21/competition-can-be-good-developing-world">As Branko Milanovic</a>, an economist at City University of New York, says, those who once played the US and Soviet Union against each other during the Cold War could do the same now with the US and China.</p>
<h2>Play one rival against the other</h2>
<p>African countries should be seeking to exploit rivalries to their advantage.</p>
<p>Here are some examples. </p>
<p>Indian and Turkish contractors compete with China for contracts in Africa. In Guinea, rivalry largely takes place between China and Russia in the mining sector. Negotiators there found <a href="https://resourcegovernance.org/blog/tips-african-negotiators-doing-deals-china-rebalancing-asymmetries">a silver lining</a> in pitting both parties against each other.</p>
<p>Chinese negotiators were keener to <a href="https://resourcegovernance.org/blog/tips-african-negotiators-doing-deals-china-rebalancing-asymmetries">reevaluate the clauses</a> of their contracts, and to comply with requests when the Guinean government played the “Russia card”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-negotiate-infrastructure-deals-with-china-four-things-african-governments-need-to-get-right-109116">How to negotiate infrastructure deals with China: four things African governments need to get right</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The strategy of playing one rival against the other also proved advantageous to Ethiopian negotiators in the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/63e0b8d0-34ed-4b9d-add6-67973c7f0838">allotment of the first telecom licenses</a> in 2021.</p>
<p>By requiring new operators to build their own infrastructure or lease it from the state company (<a href="https://www.ethiotelecom.et/">Ethio telecom</a>) instead of third-party tower operators, the Ethiopian government selectively limited the number of contenders by prioritising its national interests. This enabled them to circumvent final bids between the MTN/China-backed consortium and the US backed <a href="https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/home-banner/vodafone-safaricom-beat-mtn-to-ethiopia-licence">Safaricom-Vodafone company</a>. </p>
<h2>Implement long-term strategies</h2>
<p>African governments should determine how offers from rival partners can best align with their national development priorities. <a href="https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/kandeh-yumkella-covid-19-has-helped-people-understand-the-vital-connection-between-energy-and-health">Kandeh Yumkellah</a>, a Sierra Leonian development economist and former Director of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, put it this way: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Africa needs all partners. We need to be smart and eclectic, picking what works for us depending on time and context.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To achieve this, I argue that five key measures are required: </p>
<p>Firstly, the “take-it-all” mentality of accepting short term, opportunistic offers should be avoided. Loans, grants and donations should fit African countries’ national development plans. They must also translate into projects that will directly affect people’s living standards.</p>
<p>Secondly, African governments should adopt more integrated and comprehensive policies. Senegal adopted a <a href="https://www.sec.gouv.sn/dossiers/plan-s%C3%A9n%C3%A9gal-emergent-pse">strategic plan</a> that included sector-specific priorities via a <a href="http://www.big.gouv.sn/index.php/2020/03/24/bureau-de-prospective-economique-bpe-premiere-evaluation-du-niveau-demergence-globale-du-senegal/">special unit</a> attached to the Presidency. Members of the unit selectively choose which foreign partners have the best potential to carry out these priorities.</p>
<p>Diversifying partners via a selective and <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2021/11/29/africa-china-summit-continues-in-dakar/">strategic approach</a> also allowed Senegal to be less dependent on old partnerships with France or their newer partnerships with China.</p>
<p>Thirdly, geopolitical rivalry is also taking place in other regions such as Latin America and Southeast Asia. <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/us-china-rivalries-what-matters-asean">Learning how some of them</a> deal with this may present an opportunity to enhance <a href="https://developmentreimagined.com/portfolio-posts/china-africa-to-africa-china/">the strategies of African governments</a>.</p>
<p>Fourth, a coherent strategy requires enhancing the capacity of African bureaucracies to deal with China, Russia, Turkey and India. This, by building an internal pool of experts with knowledge of their modus operandi, cultures and languages. In the short term, African leaders can rely on the expertise of former African students who were trained in the universities of these countries to provide expertise and language skills. </p>
<p>Fifth, African governments should take the best of both worlds by promoting <a href="https://www.onas.sn/actualites/actualites-onas/lancement-des-travaux-de-depollution-de-la-baie-de-hann-coup-denvoi-de-la">more trilateral or quadrilateral cooperation</a> between new and traditional partners. Examples are the joint infrastructure projects <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5652847de4b033f56d2bdc29/t/5fa956eef6d3991188800be2/1604933359644/PB+50+Pairault+French+Chinese+Business+Cooperation+Africa.pdf">carried out by Chinese and French enterprises</a>.</p>
<p>Bridging rivalry through various forms of collaboration mobilises additional pools of finance and avoids project duplication. Furthermore, African governments should take their own citizens’ opinions on this topic into account.</p>
<p><a href="https://afrobarometer.org/publications/ad489-africans-welcome-chinas-influence-maintain-democratic-aspirations">A recent survey by Afrobarometer</a>, the pan-African surveys institution, across 34 countries showed that 63% see China’s influence in Africa as positive. This is similar to the 60% who said so in the case of the US. </p>
<p>This suggests that US-China rivalry may not constitute an either-or dilemma for ordinary African citizens, but rather a win-win situation. It is up to African governments to use the benefits these rivalries present.</p>
<p><em>This is an edited version of an article that was initially published by the <a href="https://afripoli.org/zero-sum-benefitting-from-great-power-rivalry-in-africa">Africa Policy Research Institute</a></em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172662/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Folashade Soule does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>African countries should adopt measures that strategically play rivals against each other. They should implement long-term strategies and domestic policies for dealing with strategic partners.Folashade Soule, Senior Research Associate, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1530482021-03-10T13:32:49Z2021-03-10T13:32:49ZChina’s ‘mask diplomacy’ wins influence across Africa, during and after the pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386239/original/file-20210224-13-187tfge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=239%2C35%2C3532%2C2568&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Zimbabwe leaders welcome Chinese COVID-19 experts at the Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare on May 11, 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/zimbabwe-minister-of-local-government-and-social-welfare-news-photo/1212652388?adppopup=true&uiloc=thumbnail_more_search_results_adp">Jekesai Njikizana/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Being Chinese in Africa was the worst possible <a href="https://chinaafricaproject.com/2020/03/03/chinese-in-kenya-face-stigmatization-and-discrimination-due-to-covid-19/">stigma for much of 2020</a>. </p>
<p>Africans vilified the Chinese, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-51770856">blaming them for the COVID-19 pandemic</a>. At the same time, China was blaming Africans for the pandemic, too. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-svwKWBkys">Viral videos</a> in March and April 2020 showed Chinese authorities forcibly evicting Africans from their homes in Guangzhou, China, for allegedly spreading COVID-19. </p>
<p>These actions sparked an <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/african-countries-respond-to-guangzhous-anti-epidemic-measures/">uproar on the continent</a>. On social media, there were calls for deporting Chinese residents in Africa. The Twitter hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DeportRacistChinese?src=hashtag_click">#DeportRacistChinese</a> trended throughout the continent.</p>
<p>Beijing sought to improve its pandemic-era image in Africa with “<a href="https://fsi.stanford.edu/news/covid-mask-diplomacy">mask diplomacy</a>,” an effort to supply the continent with <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-04/china-to-donate-coronavirus-vaccines-to-three-african-countries">vaccines</a>, <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-04/06/c_138951984.htm">medical equipment and personnel</a> – and it worked.</p>
<p>As a <a href="http://portfolio.du.edu/Hanaan.Dinko.Dinko/page/83655">doctoral student in geography</a> who has written <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016718520303043">extensively about Africa</a>, I recognize this “mask diplomacy” by China as part of its broader incursion into Africa that arose from <a href="https://newlinesinstitute.org/regional-politics/americas-global-retreat-and-the-ensuing-strategic-vacuum/">the United States’ global retreat</a>.</p>
<h2>China building Africa</h2>
<p>China’s rising economic influence in Africa has been in the works for two decades.</p>
<p>In North Africa, China has spent US$11 billion since 2015 on the <a href="https://www.au-pida.org/news/trans-maghreb-highway-facilitating-the-movement-of-people-vehicles-and-goods/">Trans-Maghreb highway</a> – from the Western Sahara to Libya – that will connect 60 million of the region’s 100 million people. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388547/original/file-20210309-13-r3occz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A section of the Maghreb highway in Algeria." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388547/original/file-20210309-13-r3occz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388547/original/file-20210309-13-r3occz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388547/original/file-20210309-13-r3occz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388547/original/file-20210309-13-r3occz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388547/original/file-20210309-13-r3occz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388547/original/file-20210309-13-r3occz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388547/original/file-20210309-13-r3occz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Algeria East-West Highway, a section of the Maghreb highway, built in part by a Chinese consortium.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/east-west-highway-wilaya-de-ain-defla-a-controversial-news-photo/601131320?adppopup=true">Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In East Africa, China built a network of roads and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/ethiopia-china-loan-idUSL5N1VS4IW">a rail line linking Ethiopia and Djibouti</a> that has facilitated trade.</p>
<p>In southern Africa, Namibia partnered with China and the African Development Bank in 2013 on a <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20190803-namibia-inaugurates-chinese-built-port-terminal">$300 billion port expansion</a>. And Angola will be benefiting from a <a href="https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/chinese-contractor-starts-45bn-angolan-hydropower-/">$4.5 billion Chinese-funded hydroelectric power plant</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/chinese-contractor-starts-45bn-angolan-hydropower-/">Similar infrastructure projects</a> are in the works in <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/14/africa/nigeria-china-hydropower/index.html">west</a> and <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3115249/chinese-companies-are-betting-heavily-democratic-republic">central Africa</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-china-africa/pompeo-says-chinas-africa-lending-creates-unsustainable-debt-burdens-idINKBN23V2S3">Some Western leaders</a> have described Chinese financing mechanisms as <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/25/chinas-debt-diplomacy/">debt traps</a>, suggesting they saddle African countries with high debts while increasing China’s power in the region. </p>
<p>But China’s willingness to fund Africa’s infrastructure has been viewed favorably by <a href="https://apnews.com/article/904c9563409542ab93c37694aced0872">African leaders</a> – especially as U.S. trade with Africa has <a href="http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=1846522568&Country=Gabon&topic=Politics">steadily declined for a decade</a>.</p>
<p>“They say China has lent too much to Africa,” <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-09/03/c_137439506.htm">Rwandan President Paul Kagame said in 2018</a>, “but another perspective of the issue is that those criticizing China on debt give too little, and Africa needs the funding to build capacity for development.”</p>
<p>In 2002, U.S.-Africa trade was <a href="http://www.sais-cari.org/data-china-africa-trade">nearly double</a> China’s trade with the continent: $21 billion, compared to $12 billion. By 2008, U.S.-Africa trade had surged to <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2018/04/16/competing-in-africa-china-the-european-union-and-the-united-states/">$100 billion</a>. </p>
<p>By 2019, however, it had dropped to $56 billion. Meanwhile, China-Africa trade rose from <a href="http://www.sais-cari.org/data-china-africa-trade">$102 billion to $192 billion</a> within the same 11-year period. Today, no other single country <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1122389/leading-countries-for-fdi-in-africa-by-investor-country/#:%7E:text=Leading%20countries%20for%20FDI%20in%20Africa%202014%2D2018%2C%20by%20investor%20country&text=Between%202014%20and%202018%2C%2016,of%20the%20total%20FDI%2C%20respectively.">comes close to matching China’s investments</a> across Africa. </p>
<p>The Trump administration ignored Africa as China exerted its influence. Trump never set foot on the continent as president – the first <a href="https://www.politico.com/gallery/2015/07/8-us-presidents-plus-a-retired-one-who-traveled-to-africa-002058?slide=0">U.S. president in 27 years</a> to avoid Africa. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386240/original/file-20210224-21-1bwnh1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Medical donations from China at Algiers International Airport" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386240/original/file-20210224-21-1bwnh1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386240/original/file-20210224-21-1bwnh1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386240/original/file-20210224-21-1bwnh1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386240/original/file-20210224-21-1bwnh1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386240/original/file-20210224-21-1bwnh1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386240/original/file-20210224-21-1bwnh1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386240/original/file-20210224-21-1bwnh1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Staff members unload medical donations from China at Algiers International Airport, Algeria, April 21, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/april-21-2020-staff-members-unload-medical-donations-from-news-photo/1210699240?adppopup=true">Xinhua/via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>China first in Africa</h2>
<p>Already Africa’s <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2019/10/09/figure-of-the-week-foreign-direct-investment-in-africa/">largest economic partner</a>, China was able to pivot quickly after the coronavirus hit to offer the region aid, attention and expertise.</p>
<p>The results were immediate. </p>
<p>Some African leaders who criticized China’s treatment of Africans in China during the early days of the pandemic have changed their tone. Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, for example, recently proclaimed that he was <a href="https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/t1844913.shtml">“satisfied with the progress of” Nigeria’s relationship with China</a>.</p>
<p>Additionally, Beijing is assuming powerful leadership positions within <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/05/china-global-influence-who-united-states/611227/">international institutions</a> that play important roles in Africa. Out of 15 United Nations agencies, China heads four of them, including the <a href="http://www.fao.org/director-general/en/">Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO,</a> and the <a href="https://www.unido.org/who-we-are-structure-director-general/biography#:%7E:text=LI%20Yong%2C%20Director%20General%20of,economic%20and%20financial%20policy%2Dmaker.">United Nations Industrial Development Organization</a>. No country rivals China in this sense. </p>
<p>China is also establishing international organizations that compete with the functions of the Western-dominated U.N., including the <a href="https://www.aiib.org/en/index.html">Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank</a> and the <a href="http://www.cdb.com.cn/English/">China Development Bank</a>. As of 2018, the China Development Bank had funded <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-09/22/c_137486141.htm">500 projects in 43 different African countries worth $50 billion</a>.</p>
<p>Beijing is also courting influence and favor in ways beyond lending. </p>
<p>China <a href="https://africa.cgtn.com/2019/01/23/china-writes-off-nearly-78-million-of-cameroons-debt/">canceled $78 million</a> in debt owed by Cameroon in 2019 – money borrowed for infrastructural development – <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2019/07/10/view-for-africa-there-s-more-than-just-money-to-repaying-chinese-debt/">allegedly in exchange for Cameroon’s support</a> for its candidacy as director-general of the FAO. Cameroon, an influential central Africa country, stands out with its <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/where-we-work/cameroon_en">diversified economy</a> and strong private sector.</p>
<h2>The importance of a new US-Africa relationship</h2>
<p>For the U.S., China’s surging influence in Africa has global implications. American companies are increasingly facing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/13/world/africa/china-loans-africa-usa.html">tough competition from state-backed Chinese</a> corporations as they bid for contracts in Africa. If left unmatched, Chinese companies could increasingly outcompete U.S. companies.</p>
<p>The Biden administration has vowed to <a href="https://www.voanews.com/africa/biden-signals-new-tone-us-africa-relations">engage more with Africa</a>, likely signaling a long-term U.S. strategy to counter China in Africa.</p>
<p>But China’s strategic <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-04/china-to-donate-coronavirus-vaccines-to-three-african-countries">vaccine</a> distribution and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-covid-vaccine-africa-developing-nations-11613598170">PPE donations</a> to African countries have built a lot of goodwill and embellished its reputation as a responsible global power acting to protect vulnerable populations in Africa – which the U.S. and Europe have largely overlooked during the pandemic. </p>
<p>The U.S. may be ready to recommit to Africa, but by the time it starts to reengage, it could be too late to outpace China. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153048/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dinko Hanaan Dinko is affiliated with Global Research Network as a Junior Fellow.</span></em></p>China is providing masks, vaccines, medical equipment and personnel to African countries ignored by the U.S. in recent years, positioning itself as an essential partner to the region.Dinko Hanaan Dinko, Ph.D. Student, University of DenverLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1498052021-01-27T13:27:35Z2021-01-27T13:27:35ZBiden faces the world: 5 foreign policy experts explain US priorities – and problems – after Trump<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380532/original/file-20210125-13-zei5us.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C26%2C4473%2C3019&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Can Joe Biden restore U.S. world leadership?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-elect-joe-biden-waves-as-he-arrives-to-deliver-news-photo/1229521571?adppopup=true">Agela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: President Joe Biden inherits from Donald Trump a United States that was simultaneously isolated from the rest of the world and openly hostile toward parts of it. Biden – <a href="https://theconversation.com/bidens-long-foreign-policy-record-signals-how-hell-reverse-trump-rebuild-old-alliances-and-lead-the-pandemic-response-143671">an internationally minded leader who has longstanding relationships with world leaders</a> – has already begun to rejoin treaties and alliances abandoned by Trump.</em></p>
<p><em>Dire domestic crises will keep Biden’s attention focused on home, at least early in his administration, but he says the U.S. is “ready to lead the world.” Here, experts assess the state of American relations with a world left skeptical of American leadership.</em></p>
<h2>Latin America</h2>
<p><em>Jennifer M. Piscopo, Occidental College</em></p>
<p>Latin America’s <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2018/04/12/fewer-people-in-latin-america-see-the-u-s-favorably-under-trump/">faith in U.S. leadership</a>, once buoyed by Obama’s <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/07/obama-to-meet-latin-american-leaders-amid-positive-views-of-u-s-in-the-region/">cooperative and collaborative approach</a>, declined under Trump. </p>
<p>The Trump administration ignored authoritarian behavior across the region – <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/04/18/714552854/trump-administration-announces-measures-against-cuba-venezuela-and-nicaragua">except in</a> leftist Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, where it levied sanctions and even threatened military intervention. Many saw those punishments, which evoke the United States’ history of interference in Latin America’s domestic affairs, as aimed more at <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/30/trump-venezuela-florida-policy-1138307">winning anti-Communist emigré votes in Florida</a> than helping citizens of those nations.</p>
<p>Nor did tightening the U.S.-Mexico border aid the region’s interests.</p>
<p>Trump made immigration harder while <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/09/17/761266169/trump-froze-aid-to-guatemala-now-programs-are-shutting-down">cutting foreign aid</a> to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras – none of which addressed the reasons people kept leaving Central America. Migrants were forced to wait out their U.S. asylum process in Mexico, leading <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/23/us/mexico-migrant-camp-asylum.html">refugee camps</a> to pop up along the border. In the United States, asylum-seeking children <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/us/politics/trump-family-separation.html">were separated from their parents</a>. Shoddy paperwork has so far made <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/11/immigrant-advocates-cant-locate-parents-separated-border-children/3896940001/">reunification impossible</a> for several hundred families. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380529/original/file-20210125-15-d97wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A migrant boy walks amid tents" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380529/original/file-20210125-15-d97wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380529/original/file-20210125-15-d97wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380529/original/file-20210125-15-d97wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380529/original/file-20210125-15-d97wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380529/original/file-20210125-15-d97wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380529/original/file-20210125-15-d97wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380529/original/file-20210125-15-d97wct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trump’s immigration policies created a humanitarian crisis in places like Tijuana.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/migrant-boy-walks-amid-tents-at-the-juventud-2000-migrant-news-photo/1230184596?adppopup=true">Guillermo Arias/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As Trump limited U.S. involvement and economic support in Latin America, China <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-latam-usa-china-insight/in-latin-america-a-biden-white-house-faces-a-rising-china-idUSKBN28O18R">stepped up its own</a>. Chinese money pays for the region’s mines, energy projects, telecommunications, agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, ports and, most recently, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/us/politics/coronavirus-southern-command-china-latin-america.html">access to the coronavirus vaccine</a>. The U.S. remains <a href="https://wits.worldbank.org/countrysnapshot/en/mex">Mexico’s largest trading partner</a>, but for the rest of Latin America, the honor goes to China. </p>
<p>Biden <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3gbvy/mexico-just-postponed-the-legalization-of-weed-to-2021due-to-covid">is expected to</a> reinstate the humanitarian support <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-cuts-millions-in-aid-to-central-america-fulfilling-trumps-vow/">Trump cut</a>. And unlike Chinese foreign investment, U.S. money comes <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/how-unconditional-is-chinas-foreign-aid/a-43499703">with conditions that enhance democracy</a> like fighting corruption or keeping elections free and fair.</p>
<p>Still, enthusiasm for democracy in Latin America is waning. Support for democratic governance dropped from about 64% in the mid-2010s to 57% in 2019, <a href="https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2019/10/14/support-for-democracy-in-a-slump-across-americas-according-to-new-survey/">according to polling by Vanderbilt University</a>. From Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro – dubbed the “<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/14/bolsonaro-brazil-trump-anti-democracy-elections/">tropical Trump</a>” – to hard-line leaders in <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-elsalvador-politics/el-salvador-presidents-power-play-stokes-democracy-concerns-idUSKBN2042M4">El Salvador</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/06/18/620888643/colombia-elects-right-wing-populist-ivan-duque-as-president">Colombia</a>, the Americas feel the allure of strong-man politics. </p>
<h2>Africa</h2>
<p><em>Julius Amin, University of Dayton</em></p>
<p>China is the United States’ main competitor in Africa, too. </p>
<p>China has forged <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2020/11/chinas-multifaceted-covid-19-diplomacy-across-africa/">strong economic and political ties with the continent</a>, holding summits with African leaders and providing significant development assistance, including to <a href="https://www.chinacenter.net/2020/china_currents/19-2/sino-ethiopian-relations-from-meles-zenawi-to-abiy-ahmed-the-political-economy-of-a-strategic-partnership/">Ethiopia</a>, <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/south-africa-and-china-what-next-for-relations-between-the-two-countries-49135925">South Africa</a> and
<a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/29060/nigeria-and-china-understanding-the-imbalanced-relationship/">Nigeria</a>. In exchange for investment, it has exploited Africa’s enormous resources: <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+New+Scramble+for+Africa%2C+2nd+Edition-p-9781509507085">oil, coffee, rubber, palm oil, diamonds, gold, uranium</a>. </p>
<p>Trump often acted as if Africa was irrelevant, even <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-referred-haiti-african-countries-shithole-nations-n836946">crudely insulting the region</a>. His rejection of the Paris Climate Agreement and membership in the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/19/us/trump-who-funding-threat-explainer-intl/index.html">World Health Organization</a> translated into significant loss of money destined to help <a href="https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2016/paris-climate-deal-and-africa">African countries</a>. So did his <a href="https://www.voanews.com/usa/us-politics/trump-again-proposes-big-cut-foreign-aid">slashing of foreign aid</a>. Trump was the first U.S. president this century not to visit Africa. </p>
<p>But Africa plays an important role in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-african-union-has-failed-to-silence-the-guns-and-some-solutions-139567">global war against jihadism</a> and it has both young democracies and old autocracies – all strategic U.S. interests.</p>
<p>Biden can still reverse Africa’s drift toward China. Though <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/08/06/statement-chair-us-africa-leaders-summit">promises made at the Obama administration’s 2014 U.S.-Africa summit</a>, which Biden participated in as vice president, were not fulfilled, African leaders overwhelmingly <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/african-leaders-welcome-bidens-us-election-win/2035990">welcomed Biden’s victory in November</a>. </p>
<p>Appointing experienced foreign policy staff to cover the region would build on that momentum. And since a large number of State Department professionals <a href="http://www.beacon.org/cw_Search.aspx?k=When+the+World+Calls%3a+The+Inside+Story+of+the+Peace+Corps+an">began their foreign service careers as Peace Corps volunteers in Africa</a>, Biden has a rich talent pool to choose from. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380528/original/file-20210125-19-1l9gguz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Biden signing an executive order at the Resolute Desk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380528/original/file-20210125-19-1l9gguz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380528/original/file-20210125-19-1l9gguz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380528/original/file-20210125-19-1l9gguz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380528/original/file-20210125-19-1l9gguz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380528/original/file-20210125-19-1l9gguz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380528/original/file-20210125-19-1l9gguz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380528/original/file-20210125-19-1l9gguz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Biden’s first move in office was to rejoin the WHO and Paris Climate Accord.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/joe-biden-signs-an-executive-order-in-the-oval-office-news-photo/1230739438?adppopup=true">Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>China</h2>
<p><em>Joyce Mao, Middlebury</em></p>
<p>With China, Biden inherits the same challenges Trump faced and failed to resolve, from a <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/truth-about-tariffs?gclid=CjwKCAiAi_D_BRApEiwASslbJ5i8yAHS9L3acpwnMDRXSnslULSLmnZjoFFQRV8sOh4PdQh1k1w3vBoCPioQAvD_BwE">massive trade deficit</a> to Chinese misappropriation of American <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/us-chinas-cold-war-raging-cyberspace-where-intellectual-property-costly-front-1532133">intellectual property</a>. </p>
<p>Then there is the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/12/south-china-sea-us-ghosts-strategic-tensions/617380/">South China Sea</a>, where China’s territorial claims to strategic islands threaten U.S. access to natural resources and to shipping routes. Over the past decade the U.S. has used both <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-defence/exclusive-satellite-images-reveal-show-of-force-by-chinese-navy-in-south-china-sea-idUSKBN1H3135">military</a> <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3116967/us-china-grey-zone-rivalry-south-china-sea-may-be-about">resources</a> and <a href="https://www.fpri.org/article/2020/08/from-pivot-to-defiance-american-policy-shift-in-the-south-china-sea/">heated rhetoric</a> to counter Chinese maneuvers there, as have Southeast Asian countries like <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-at-stake-in-chinas-claims-to-the-south-china-sea-62472">the Philippines</a>. But the South China Sea remains a contentious issue. </p>
<p>Biden has promised to “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/opinion/biden-interview-mcconnell-china-iran.html">fight like hell</a>” to defend America’s global standing against China’s growing power, using more collaborative rhetoric than Trump. But the new president <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/1/1/bidens-china-policy-balancing-engagement-with-deterrence">has not yet signaled</a> a new grand strategy that will ensure consistency, let alone the primacy of American interests.</p>
<h2>Europe</h2>
<p><em>Garret Martin, American University</em></p>
<p>Following <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-a-biden-presidency-means-for-europe-149696">four tumultuous years under Donald Trump</a>, the Biden administration wants to <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/biden-pushes-new-approach-to-eu-in-calls-to-leaders/">repair fractured U.S. relations with the European Union</a>, and fast.</p>
<p>Immediately after taking office, Biden <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-climate-accord-biden-rejoin-president/">rejoined the Paris climate accords</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/11/9/21556172/trump-biden-transition-team-covid-19-who-join">World Health Organization</a>, <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/live-blog-europe-reacts-to-joe-biden-inauguration/">endearing him to European allies</a>. Unlike Trump, he deeply respects NATO, a decades-old transatlantic security partnership Biden has called the “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/16/politics/biden-showcases-foreign-policy-munich/index.html">single most significant military alliance in the world</a>.” America’s European partners will also welcome <a href="https://www.vox.com/21594368/joe-biden-blinken-sullivan-haines-foreign-policy-team">a return to more predictable relations</a> with the U.S. under Biden and an end to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/13/trump-macron-eu-army-german-second-world-war">diplomacy by tweets</a>. </p>
<p>But changes in tone and style will not necessarily change the substance of America’s transatlantic partnership. For all the focus on Trump, the European Union and U.S. still <a href="https://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/83191">disagree on key matters</a>, such as data privacy, how to deal with China and to what extent Europe can tax American tech giants. </p>
<p>Europeans remain <a href="https://theconversation.com/america-is-back-the-delusion-of-normalcy-that-haunts-the-united-states-153567">wary of the United States’ profound polarization</a>. Is it worth investing time in negotiating long-term deals with a country whose <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/26/politics/trump-european-union-diplomacy-intl-analysis/index.html">policies swing so dramatically from one administration to the next</a>?</p>
<h2>Middle East and South Asia</h2>
<p><em>Muqtedar Khan, University of Delaware</em></p>
<p>Beyond the ongoing Israel-Palestinian conflict, Biden faces two Mideast problems that deteriorated during the Trump administration’s idiosyncratic watch. </p>
<p>The first is an <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/25765949.2020.1760542">emerging tension</a> between Arab nations and the non-Arab nations. Iran and Turkey <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrgver1b32E&t=3s">are challenging two of America’s Arab allies, Saudi Arabia and Egypt</a>, for political and military domination of the region. </p>
<p>Trump tried military might and punishment to control Iran, <a href="https://theconversation.com/donald-trump-backs-out-of-iran-nuclear-deal-now-what-96317">exiting the international Iran nuclear deal</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/killing-of-soleimani-evokes-dark-history-of-political-assassinations-in-the-formative-days-of-shiite-islam-129505">assassinating a revered general</a>. Biden says he may rejoin the Iran deal. But American relations with Iran have <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-and-iran-have-a-long-troubled-history-129844">rarely been worse</a>. The Trump administration tried diplomatic <a href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/how-trumps-team-appeased-turkey-up-until-its-final-months-in-office-649350">appeasement to manage Turkey</a>, a fellow NATO member. Still it continues to undermine America’s Mideast allies and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/14/us-sanctions-turkey-over-russian-s400.html">upset Washington by buying weapons from Russia</a>. Biden may be less conciliatory.</p>
<p>The second big problem Biden contends with in the Middle East is its many fragile and <a href="https://time.com/4092987/these-5-failing-middle-eastern-states-may-be-unsalvagable/">failing states</a>, from Yemen and Libya to Syria, Iraq and Sudan. Failing states generate instability, refugees and <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2017/03/29/refugees-and-displacement-in-middle-east-pub-68479">humanitarian crises</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380537/original/file-20210125-13-14xxq21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A extremely skinny 10-year-old child squats next to her mother, on the dirt ground" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380537/original/file-20210125-13-14xxq21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380537/original/file-20210125-13-14xxq21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380537/original/file-20210125-13-14xxq21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380537/original/file-20210125-13-14xxq21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380537/original/file-20210125-13-14xxq21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380537/original/file-20210125-13-14xxq21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380537/original/file-20210125-13-14xxq21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Yemeni refugee camp in Hajjah Governorate, Jan. 23, 2021. Parts of Yemen are experiencing mass hunger due to civil war.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/yemeni-10-year-old-girl-ahmadia-abdo-who-weighs-ten-news-photo/1230750390?adppopup=true">Essa Ahmed/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Historically, the U.S. has been extremely engaged in the Mideast. It has invested over <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-war-anniversary/iraq-war-costs-u-s-more-than-2-trillion-study-idUSBRE92D0PG20130314">US$2 trillion to bring democracy to Iraq since 2002</a>. The U.S. negotiated with Iran and brokered more <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-11103745">than a dozen</a> Israel-related peace deals since 1978. Biden’s foreign policy team is likely to focus on the region, too. </p>
<p>As China’s global power grows, South Asia is becoming more critical to U.S. foreign policy, too. </p>
<p>It is home to two nuclear powers – <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/southern-asias-nuclear-powers">India and Pakistan</a> – and the world’s largest democracy, India. Trump was <a href="https://theconversation.com/howdy-modi-in-houston-why-indias-narendra-modi-puts-so-much-effort-into-wooing-the-diaspora-123946">close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a>, and his administration <a href="https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Free-and-Open-Indo-Pacific-4Nov2019.pdf">recognized India</a> – along with Australia and Japan – as key to restraining rising Chinese power in South Asia. Biden may endorse a softer China policy, which <a href="https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/biden-and-the-indo-pacific-will-regional-powers-shape-americas-approach/">would change, and potentially weaken</a>, U.S. relations with India. </p>
<p>Finally, there’s Afghanistan. In February 2020 the U.S. signed <a href="https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/02.29.20-US-Afghanistan-Joint-Declaration.pdf">a peace deal with the Taliban insurgents</a> to end its 19-year war there. For the remaining U.S. troops to come home, however, the Taliban must also strike a deal with the Afghan government, which it has long sought to overthrow. Peace is far from guaranteed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149805/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Muqtedar Khan receives funding from the Department of State via University of Delaware.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Garret Martin receives funding from the European Union for the Transatlantic Policy Center, which he co-directs.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer M. Piscopo, Joyce Mao, and Julius A. Amin do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Biden wants to restore US global leadership after four years of Trump’s isolationism and antagonism. These are some of the challenges and opportunities he’ll face, from China to Latin America.Muqtedar Khan, Professor, Islam and Global Affairs, University of DelawareGarret Martin, Senior Professorial Lecturer, Co-Director Transatlantic Policy Center, American University School of International ServiceJennifer M. Piscopo, Associate Professor of Politics, Occidental CollegeJoyce Mao, Associate professor of history, MiddleburyJulius A. Amin, Professor, Department of History, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1502932020-11-25T14:36:44Z2020-11-25T14:36:44ZTrump’s legacy in Africa and what to expect from Biden<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371013/original/file-20201124-15-z1mzmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari and US president Donald Trump during a press conference at the White House in 2018.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Donald Trump was propelled to the US presidency by <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-arent-the-world-1483728161">promising</a> to rewrite globalisation rules. This included restricting trade when it directly hurt the US, clamping down on immigration, and reducing commitments to the global order. His administration’s <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-07-18/the-us-is-losing-the-battle-for-influence-in-africa">“America First”</a> foreign policy also meant disengaging from its obligations to Africa, which he infamously referred to as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcMFmoTCdcU&list=PLXno_-02cDQoy9Hs74dmqmSdQvqZCyq7L&index=40">“shit-hole countries”</a>.</p>
<p>Historically, the US foreign policy approach to Africa could be classified as benign neglect. This was characterised by a general lack of interest in the continent in the pre–World War II era. After World War II, US policy involved engaging or disengaging with individual countries, mostly defined in terms of counteracting the Soviet Union’s attempt to gain influence in the region. </p>
<p>A serious and sustained US–Africa engagement began under the Clinton administration. It subsequently deepened with significant bipartisan support. Indeed, the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations saw a remarkable continuity in both the Congress and the White House on the US agenda in Africa.</p>
<p>Africa’s share of annual US foreign assistance funding <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R46368.pdf">increased</a> over the past two decades. Although US development and security aid to Africa grew, part of the increase was in support of President George W. Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), launched in 2003. Under President Obama US aid allocated to Africa fluctuated <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R46368.pdf">between $7 billion and $8 billion annually</a>. </p>
<p>Trump’s election signalled a radical break with this consensus. His approach represented, in part, a return to the pre-Clinton era. Notwithstanding the administration’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/world/africa/africa-donald-trump.html?_r=2">rhetoric</a>, however, Africa continued to receive roughly $7 billion in annual US aid allocations in its first three years.</p>
<p>US-Africa trade fell to approximately $41 billion in 2018, down from a high of $100 billion in 2008. On the whole, African countries have continued to export natural resources, such as petroleum and metals, to the US. Since 2000, the <a href="https://agoa.info/about-agoa.html">African Growth and Opportunity Act</a> has been the main channel through which trade is conducted. It provides tariff-free access to 6,900 products from 39 countries. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337358013_Trumping_Development_Selective_Delinking_and_Coercive_Governmentality_in_US-Africa_Relations">our paper</a>, we show how the Trump administration’s policies affected Africa in detrimental ways.</p>
<h2>Malign neglect of Africa</h2>
<p>Under Trump’s administration, investment policy was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/17/business/trump-trade-deals-free-markets.html">driven</a> by the push to open up markets for US goods and services. Its trade policy favoured bilateral, rather than multilateral, agreements. This shift, if sustained, could have undermined the growth of smaller countries, such as Lesotho. This is because such economies may not be of enough economic interest to the US to warrant a separate trade deal. </p>
<p>There were also punitive measures against countries that went against the administration’s expectations of reciprocal “free” trade. For instance, Rwanda was <a href="https://www.tralac.org/news/article/12904-tanzania-uganda-survive-as-rwanda-is-removed-from-agoa-beneficiaries-list.html">suspended</a> from tariff free access to the US market after it introduced substantial duties on imports of second hand clothes. This came on the back of <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1245015/trump-trade-war-us-suspends-rwanda-agoa-eligibility-over-secondhand-clothes-ban/">lobbying</a> by second hand clothing exporters association in the US.</p>
<p>The administration’s largely uninterested stance may also have had detrimental effects on US foreign private investment to Africa. US foreign direct investment in Africa decreased from $50.4 billion in 2017 to <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/188594/united-states-direct-investments-in-africa-since-2000/#:%7E:text=Direct%20investment%20position%20of%20the%20U.S.%20in%20Africa%202000%2D2019&text=After%20a%20peak%20in%202014,inflows%20than%20any%20other%20region.">$43.2 billion</a> in 2019. This 14% decline came at a time when other countries like China were increasing their investments in the region. </p>
<p>The administration also <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/disrupt-and-compete-how-trump-changed-us-foreign-aid-97955">crippled</a> the capacity of the State Department and its international assistance agency by failing to fill essential positions in these agencies and through <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/12/17004372/trump-budget-state-department-defense-cuts">budget cuts</a>. Such actions strained relationships and cut lines of communication.</p>
<p>Trump’s <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/09/african-union-decries-chad-inclusion-us-travel-ban/">“Muslim” travel ban</a> denied entry to nationals of a number of Muslim-majority countries, including several African ones. Imposed under the banner of US security, it had the effect of further reinforcing negative images of the continent as a place of insecurity and danger. </p>
<p>The Trump administration periodically <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-national-security-advisor-ambassador-john-r-bolton-trump-administrations-new-africa-strategy/">expressed concern</a> about the supposedly nefarious and negative impacts of Chinese engagement on the continent. Yet the impact of its own policies has been to reduce US influence in the region and further “open up the playing field” for Chinese actors.</p>
<p>The loss of US hegemony on the continent is evidenced by the diversifying of Africa’s foreign direct investment sources. It is also visible in shifts in its trade with key foreign partners, and increased diplomatic representation of other countries in Africa. </p>
<h2>Biden’s administration</h2>
<p>Joe Biden’s administration will likely result in some change and some continuity in Africa policy. Official ties are expected to become more diplomatic and certain policies – such as the so-called “Muslim travel ban” – <a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/11847545/huge-relief-california-immigrants-counting-on-biden-to-end-travel-ban">may be reversed</a>. But some significant questions remain as to its direction. </p>
<p>By and large, US policies towards Africa will likely be driven by a relatively narrow geopolitical gaze. This views the continent as a source of insecurity and site for humanitarian assistance. Combined with the scale of domestic problems arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and the perceived <a href="https://www.economist.com/china/2020/11/19/joe-bidens-china-policy-will-be-a-mix-of-trumps-and-obamas">imperative</a> to contain China, Africa will likely elicit only occasional strategic interest. </p>
<p>US focus on its national security imperatives will remain a primary policy area. New partnerships and initiatives – with Nigeria and Mozambique, for instance – are informed in large part by Islamic fundamentalist insurgencies there. The Trump administration <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46612542">greatly expanded</a> the use of American air and ground strikes in hot-spots like Somalia. This is a policy that Biden is likely to continue, even if operations are scaled back somewhat. </p>
<p>Great power competition with China plays a significant role in US-Africa relations. The Trump administration’s “Prosper Africa” plan, meant to double US-Africa trade and investment, was presented as an American response to China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”. However, Prosper Africa lacked the funding to accomplish its goals. In reality, it amounted to a coordination and consolidation of the different strands of US bureaucracy on the continent. </p>
<p>Biden’s administration will likely continue the existing discursive pattern of great power competition. But the focus, given his policy history, may move to revitalising multilateralism and supporting the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. </p>
<p>With regard to trade, the big question facing the new administration will be the future of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which expires in 2025. Though tariff free access retains bipartisan support, the Trump administration was in the process of moving towards bilateral engagement, as evidenced by its <a href="https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2020/july/joint-statement-between-united-states-and-kenya-launch-negotiations-towards-free-trade-agreement">ongoing attempt</a> to create a “model” free trade agreement with Kenya. </p>
<p>Such free trade deals would change the nature of the US-Africa trade partnership in two main ways. They would give further emphasis to reciprocal trade concessions, and would likely require further watering down or elimination of policies designed to help nascent economic sectors in African countries, particularly manufacturing. </p>
<p>Finally, the US-Africa relationship has been characterised by “signature” initiatives. George W. Bush’s had the <a href="https://www.state.gov/pepfar/">President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief </a>, Obama’s had <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/powerafrica">“Power Africa”</a> and Trump touted <a href="https://prosperafrica.dfc.gov/">Prosper Africa</a>. Biden will likely seek to continue this tradition, though exactly how remains to be seen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150293/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Trump administration’s policies affected Africa in detrimental ways.Francis Owusu, Professor and the Chair of the Department of Community and Regional Planning, Iowa State UniversityPadraig Carmody, Professor in Geography, Trinity College DublinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1404482020-06-15T15:08:54Z2020-06-15T15:08:54ZAfrican countries need to seize opportunities created by US-China tensions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341189/original/file-20200611-80789-p6p9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The unfolding US-China power <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/24/china-raises-us-trade-tensions-with-warning-of-new-cold-war">rivalry</a>
bears a striking resemblance to the tensions between the US and the Soviet bloc during the Cold War years. Back then, African countries were positioned like pawns on a grand chessboard. Their social and economic progress was hampered because they expended energy aligning themselves with either of the superpowers in the battle for world supremacy <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/01/07/a-new-cold-war-has-begun/">between communism and capitalism</a>. </p>
<p>With notable exceptions, African states generally failed to exercise positive agency for their own development. They also eroded the institutional and governance foundations vital for economic success. </p>
<p>In the current context of rising geopolitical tensions between the US and China, African countries may find themselves repeating the same mistakes unless they proactively shape their own destinies.</p>
<p>The tensions between the two great powers, characterised by <a href="https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3078745/what-us-china-trade-war-how-it-started-and-what-inside-phase">a vicious trade war</a>, are deepening at a time when the world economy is under enormous strain due to COVID-19. At the same time African countries are facing their worst economic crises since independence. </p>
<p>Africa is institutionally under-prepared to weather the combined effects of the health pandemic and severe economic recession. Its leaders will need to consciously design strategies of engagement that will help them to manage the ongoing superpower tensions to their advantage. They should do so without taking sides. This requires that they deal with each of these great powers based on pragmatic – rather than ideological – choices. </p>
<p>Despite their institutional under-preparedness, African countries can – and indeed must – be highly strategic and tactical in how they respond to the US-China tensions. Failure to do so will inevitably mean sacrificing their own interests. </p>
<p>There are three arenas of challenges and opportunities for the African continent in the current geopolitical climate. The first involves technological frontiers, the second is global supply chains, and the third is trade integration and economic cooperation. </p>
<h2>New technological frontiers</h2>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/broughel-technological-innovation-mercatus-research-v1.pdf">overwhelming evidence</a> that technological innovation is the key driver of economic growth. Therefore, access to and exploitation of new technologies such as <a href="https://www.gsma.com/futurenetworks/ip_services/understanding-5g/">5G</a> is vital to Africa’s development. Fifth generation technologies are important options for a continent like Africa where mobile technology has leap-frogged more traditional technologies. </p>
<p>Access to technologies like 5G offers access to universal broadband, which is critical for the continent’s advance to a digital economy. </p>
<p>In May last year the US government put the Chinese firm Huawei, the world’s <a href="https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/5g-technology-market-202955795.html">leading</a> <a href="https://carrier.huawei.com/en/spotlight/5g">supplier</a> of 5G network infrastructure, on its list of entities deemed to pose a significant risk to national security and foreign policy interests. </p>
<p>Huawei was effectively banned from importing and incorporating key US technologies into its products and services. This included both hardware, such as high-tech semiconductor components, and software, like Google Mobile Services (GMS). The ban was later <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Huawei-crackdown/New-ban-on-Huawei-blocks-access-to-non-US-chipmakers">extended</a> to key technologies from non-US firms. These included the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, a major Huawei supplier.</p>
<p>In the month following the initial ban, the CEOs of four major South African telecommunications operators – Telkom, Vodacom, MTN and Cell C – wrote a <a href="https://mybroadband.co.za/news/cellular/312767-here-it-is-the-letter-vodacom-mtn-telkom-and-cell-c-sent-to-ramaphosa.html">joint letter</a> to South African president Cyril Ramaphosa requesting his urgent intervention on the US action against Huawei. Their aim would have been to lend diplomatic weight to prevent damage to South Africa’s telecommunications sector. </p>
<p>In July last year Ramaphosa <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/president-cyril-ramaphosa-south-african-digital-economy-summit-5-jul-2019-0000">came out in</a> support of the four operators as well as Huawei. He said the ban was: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>an example of protectionism that will affect our own telecommunications sector, particularly the efforts to roll out the 5G network, causing a setback on other networks as well. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This was an example of pragmatism on the part of the South African government.</p>
<p>African policymakers should strenuously safeguard their right to choose from the widest possible range of technology options that suit their countries’ development needs. And they should insist on acquiring and developing new technologies like 5G based on pragmatism. </p>
<h2>Global supply chains</h2>
<p>The second theatre of struggle for African countries is in global supply chains. </p>
<p>The COVID-19 reality, combined with the ratcheting up of US-China tensions over trade, technology and supply chains, has opened up opportunities that African countries should exploit. </p>
<p>Combined, they have exposed serious problems in supply networks across various sectors. These include digital products, food, pharmaceutical and medical supply chains. </p>
<p>These sectors represent opportunities for African countries to develop new products, services and capabilities. They could, for example, provide answers to safeguarding <a href="https://www.news24.com/fin24/Opinion/opinion-africas-food-security-under-fire-20200423">Africa’s food security needs</a>, local production of <a href="https://unctad.org/en/pages/newsdetails.aspx?OriginalVersionID=2375">essential drugs and medicines</a>, low-cost medical <a href="https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2020/05/african-science-steps-up-to-covid-challenge/">tests and equipment</a>, and <a href="https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/news/impact-covid-19-global-supply-chains">logistics</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341191/original/file-20200611-80770-1amn4sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341191/original/file-20200611-80770-1amn4sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341191/original/file-20200611-80770-1amn4sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341191/original/file-20200611-80770-1amn4sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341191/original/file-20200611-80770-1amn4sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341191/original/file-20200611-80770-1amn4sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341191/original/file-20200611-80770-1amn4sy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A mural of presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Berlin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Omer Messinger</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But African countries will need to work more collaboratively to develop thriving economic sectors and cross-border industrial linkages. Trade will, in our view, be a critical enabler for this.</p>
<p>This leads us to the third domain, namely the need for African countries to deepen trade integration and economic cooperation. This will provide a basis for diversifying from over-reliance on export markets such as China and the US, and to build internal resilience. </p>
<h2>Intra-Africa trade</h2>
<p>Intra-African <a href="https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/demo2.opus.ee/afrexim/African-Trade-Report_2019.pdf">trade</a> accounts for just 16% of total African trade. This compares with 52% in Asia and 73% in Europe. African trade is highly concentrated on a few economic hubs: China and Europe together account for 54% of total African trade, with China being Africa’s single largest trading partner. It accounts for over 14% of total African trade.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://au.int/en/cfta">African Continental Free Trade Area</a> creates the institutional and infrastructural framework for Africa to strengthen intra-African trade, diversify its trading partners and implement long-overdue trade policy reforms. </p>
<p>COVID-19 has induced significant delays in the implementation of this trading arrangement. It should, in fact, have magnified a sense of urgency. But instead of showing adaptability, African leaders pressed a pause button. As a result, the continent could miss an opportunity to accelerate development of cross-border value chains in medical supplies and equipment and other areas.</p>
<h2>Imagination and courage</h2>
<p>African countries should seize the opportunities presented by deepening tensions between China and the US to realise positive agency and chart their own future. They will need to be more proactive and adaptive under the fluid and uncertain global environment. This will require a great deal of imagination and courage. </p>
<p>African countries face a daunting set of challenges and constraints. But policymakers always have options.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140448/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>African policymakers should strenuously safeguard their right to choose from the widest possible range of technology options that suit their countries’ development needs.Mzukisi Qobo, Head: Wits School of Governance, University of the WitwatersrandMjumo Mzyece, Associate Professor of Technology and Operations Management, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/934322018-03-15T09:17:55Z2018-03-15T09:17:55ZTrump should be the trigger for Africa to find common cause with Americans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210505/original/file-20180315-104659-an5w3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">US President Donald Trump after sacking Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE/Shawn Thew</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>To reassure and reiterate America’s commitments to a positive Africa agenda of cooperation US President Donald Trump sent his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, to the continent in early March. But four hours after he arrived back in Washington after a whistle-stop tour of five African countries, Tillerson learned in a Trump tweet that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/03/13/world/africa/13reuters-usa-trump-africa.html">he had been fired</a>.</p>
<p>Africans had reasons to be sceptical about the Tillerson trip even before it began, as I argued before <a href="http://theconversation.com/three-reasons-why-africa-should-treat-tillerson-visit-with-scepticism-92849">he set off</a>. But I had not anticipated that Tillerson and his mission would also be dramatically and precipitately diminished.</p>
<p>It is unlikely that Africa-US relations will improve as long as Trump remains president. The president has appointed Mike Pompeo, director of the CIA, as his new secretary of state. Before joining the administration, Pompeo served as a conservative Republican congressman from <a href="https://www.biography.com/people/mike-pompeo-121317">rural Kansas</a>. He has no notable foreign policy experience, much less interest in or knowledge of, African affairs. </p>
<p>But that doesn’t mean that African leaders should throw up their hands in despair. The Trump era, if approached with wisdom, offers opportunities for new ways of examining issues, new alliances and new areas of cooperation. This is because Trump has triggered concerns that are shared by democrats on both sides of the Atlantic, such as the need to fight racism and the need for strong democratic institutions.</p>
<h2>Partnerships</h2>
<p>Africans, of course, have other important relationships to pursue with other non-African partners. Planning for the next Forum for China-Africa Cooperation, is well underway, and most African leaders are expected to attend the September gathering in <a href="http://www.focac.org/eng/">Beijing</a>. </p>
<p>Africa was also high on the agenda of last June’s G-20 summit in Germany, despite <a href="http://theconversation.com/africa-is-high-on-the-g20-summit-agenda-but-will-trump-thwart-progress-80029">Trump’s indifference</a> to the gathering.</p>
<p>But the US is too important for African countries to ignore. Preparing and promoting a more active and constructive African strategy for engaging America, whoever is in power, was discussed at a diverse gathering of scholars and officials at Wits University, on March 8 to 10. This also marked the official launch of a new African Centre for the <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/media/wits-university/giving-to-wits/documents/Wits%20African%20Centre%20for%20the%20Study%20of%20the%20United%20States%202017.pdf">Study of the United States</a>.</p>
<p>Three aspirations of the new centre are noteworthy. One is that its agenda will be demand driven. This means it will be set by what Africans from around the continent most need – and want to know – to manage their relations with America. </p>
<p>Another is that the agenda will be much broader and deeper than conventional international relations and the foreign police agendas of sovereign states. </p>
<p>Thirdly, a multi-disciplinary approach to research and training will be adopted. The aim will be twofold. Firstly to achieve short-term political and policy relevance for Africa. Secondly, to illuminate longer term trends of integration regionally and globally that can accelerate as Africans and Americans learn and teach each other.</p>
<h2>Shared agendas</h2>
<p>One potentially positive, if unintentional, effect of Trump’s actions thus far, has been to stir up resistance and fresh soul-searching among Americans about basic issues and values that are shared with Africa. Several examples stand out: gender, race, economic inclusion, the freedom and integrity of the press, the judiciary and elections. All are complex yet crucial for sustainable democracy and constitutional order in African countries as well as the US.</p>
<p>Since Trump’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/the-inaugural-address/">inauguration</a> in January 2017, new political pressure has been unleashed for gender justice and equality. Campaigns such as the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-rising-pressure-of-the-metoo-backlash">#MeToo movement</a>, for example, have quickly spread globally. If, as current US polling suggests, this influences voting patterns in upcoming Congressional and Presidential elections, there will likely be secondary foreign relations effects across Africa as well.</p>
<p>Trump has also been the catalyst for new degrees of both racial awareness as well as injustice. One of America’s leading black writers, Ta-Neshi Coats, aptly describes Trump as America’s “first white president’ in his book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/We-Were-Eight-Years-Power/dp/0399590560">We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy</a>. This is because Trump, unlike any of his predecessors, campaigns and rules as a white-ethnic-nationalist.</p>
<p>Africans need to critically assess whether, in reaction, a coalition of diverse identities predominates in upcoming elections. Either way, the outcome will have an impact on Africa-US relations.</p>
<h2>Containing Trump</h2>
<p>Three key elements essential to protecting and defending democracy – on the continent and elsewhere in the world – are now crucial in containing Trump’s threats to democracy.</p>
<p>One is maintaining the integrity of free and factual reporting by the media. The others are a strong and resilient independent judiciary, and credible elections. The world is living through a period of ill-liberalism. This is being marked by the triumph of strongmen over constitutional orders which has become a global scourge.</p>
<p>Trump will continue to dominate world headlines in 2018. But on July 18, South Africans and the world will pause to celebrate the centennial of the birth of Nelson Mandela. No one better exemplifies the democratic ideals that Trump defiles. Africans and Americans must rededicate themselves to strive for the standards Mandela revered. Perhaps then we will be touched again by what America’s greatest president, Abraham Lincoln, knew were <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/31631-we-are-not-enemies-but-friends-we-must-not-be">"the better angels of our nature”</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93432/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John J Stremlau is a Wits Visiting Professor in International Relations, the 2017 Bradlow Fellow at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), an unpaid Adviser to the African Centre for the Study of the United States (ACSUS), and a Board member of the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA). </span></em></p>Relations between the US and Africa are unlikely to improve while Trump remains president. But that doesn’t mean the continent should remain passive.John J Stremlau, 2017 Bradlow Fellow at SA Institute of International Affairs, Visiting Professor of International Relations, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/932162018-03-13T08:28:46Z2018-03-13T08:28:46ZTillerson’s visit to Africa confirms America’s policy is all about security<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210054/original/file-20180313-30994-11ise0q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Addis Ababa during his African tour.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>US President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.nation.co.ke/news/africa/Tillerson-heads-to-Africa/1066-4331716-3wudbez/index.html">sent</a> his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Africa in an attempt to mend relations after the president’s unprecedented insult of an entire continent, referring to African states as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/12/unkind-divisive-elitist-international-outcry-over-trumps-shithole-countries-remark">“shithole countries”</a>. The trip took place after more than a year of neglect from the White House and State Department.</p>
<p>The five countries chosen for Tillerson’s visit confirms the perception that Washington’s first and foremost interest in Africa is security. So far the secretary of state has had nothing to offer to his African partners. This may well be because the Trump administration still doesn’t have a policy towards Africa. An assistant secretary of state for Africa hasn’t been appointed yet, nor have ambassadors to a number of African countries, including South Africa. </p>
<p>The lack of an Africa policy may explain the public outcry that followed the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/17/world/africa/niger-ambush-american-soldiers.html">killing of four US special forces</a> in northern Niger in October last year. The biggest problem for the public and for the politicians on Capitol Hill was quite simple: what were US soldiers doing in Niger? For that matter what are American special forces doing in Africa? How is it at all possible that the US has deployed more than 6,000 troops on the continent when the official policy still is ‘no boots on the ground’? </p>
<p>The White House never delivered an official answer to these obvious questions. But Tillerson’s itinerary in East and West Africa provides some clues. The trip had everything to do with security. And little else.</p>
<h2>The stopovers</h2>
<p>In Ethiopia, his first stop, Tillerson took the opportunity to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-africa/africa-should-avoid-forfeiting-sovereignty-to-china-over-loans-tillerson-idUSKCN1GK114">criticise China’s large and growing economic engagement</a> all over Africa. China “promotes dependency” and it “undermines the sovereignty of Africa”, Tillerson said. </p>
<p>But apart from criticism, Tillerson didn’t have much to offer by way of economics and investments. By contrast, evidence of China’s engagement in the country can be seen at every turn. The meeting took place at the AU’s new headquarters which was financed by China. Beijing has also built and paid for the metro running from the airport to the centre of the city. The Chinese also paid for and built the railway line connecting Addis Ababa with the port in Djibouti on the Gulf of Aden. </p>
<p>While in Addis Ababa, the US secretary of state also met with representatives of the African Union. The meeting was important because African soldiers conduct <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/peace-operations-africa">peacekeeping missions</a> in a large number of countries on the continent. Before he left Washington Tillerson <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/06/world/africa/tillerson-africa-new-aid.html">stated</a> that last year, the US supported more than 27 000 African peacekeeping troops deployed in more than 20 countries.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.hoa.africom.mil/story/21815/u-s-secretary-of-state-rex-tillerson-visits-djibouti">second stop</a> on Tillerson’s African roundtrip was the small Horn of Africa state of Djibouti where the Americans have had a permanent base – ‘Camp Lemonnier’ – since 2001. Situated close to Somalia, Yemen and the Indian Ocean, the base has been a crucial fulcrum for the US global war on terror. The camp has been the home base for some 2 000 servicemen and Washington has just signed a new lease agreement for another 30 years. </p>
<p>Last year China <a href="https://qz.com/1056257/how-a-tiny-african-country-became-the-worlds-key-military-base/">opened its own naval base</a> only a few miles from ‘Camp Lemonnier’.</p>
<p>It was no coincidence that the third stop was <a href="http://www.africanews.com/2018/03/11/rex-tillerson-resumes-normal-schedule-in-kenya//">Kenya</a>. Even though the <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article24719194.html">US did not back Kenya’s invasion </a>of Somalia in 2011, the Pentagon has supplied the Kenyan Defence Forces with advanced weapons and trained Kenyan soldiers who crossed into Somalia in their hunt for Al-Shaabab fighters and supporters. </p>
<p>The US Secretary of State had no problems with the Kenyan authorities when issues related to the fight against Al-Shabaab were on the table. But Tillerson couldn’t avoid commenting on the big challenges facing Kenya’s democracy in the wake of last year’s election. Nevertheless the US also knows that it can’t apply too much pressure on the Kenyan government. Doing so would risk Kenya threatening to pull its troops from the peacekeeping mission in Somalia.</p>
<p>Tillerson’s fourth stop was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-africa-tillerson/u-s-may-lift-travel-ban-on-important-partner-chad-tillerson-says-idUSKCN1GO10C">Chad</a>, emphasising that his round trip was most of all about strengthening military friendships and security alliances. Chad is a key state for the American anti-terror struggle in West Africa. </p>
<p>Tillerson’s biggest challenge during his visit in N’Djamena was explaining why a close US ally was on Trump’s travel ban list. </p>
<p>Nigeria was the last stop. Once again, the close cooperation on security explains the visit. During several years, Washington has supported the Nigerian army in its attempt to defeat Boko Haram. </p>
<h2>Only one conclusion</h2>
<p>The lesson to be learned from Tillerson’s first trip to Africa as Secretary of State is simple: Africa is important to US security because it is a crucial component in the global war on terror and Islamist radicalisation. The continent is also perceived as a battleground in the global competition between Beijing and Washington. </p>
<p>While China is ready to invest huge sums of money in Africa, the US is not up to doing the same.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93216/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gorm Rye Olsen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The US secretary of state’s visit to five African countries didn’t have much to offer by way of investments and commerce.Gorm Rye Olsen, Professor, Institute for Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/850042017-10-03T14:52:39Z2017-10-03T14:52:39ZTrump’s Africa policy is still incoherent, but key signals are emerging<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188374/original/file-20171002-12107-1ndl6t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">US President Trump addresses the 72nd UN General Assembly in New York.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Brendan McDermid</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Africa’s leaders, along with everyone else interested in US-Africa relations, have waited eight months for US President Donald Trump’s administration to explain its Africa policy. We aren’t there yet. </p>
<p>But in recent weeks Trump has indicated the level and extent of his interest. And, senior African affairs officials at the State and Defence Departments are at last attempting publicly to outline US goals and objectives toward Africa. This, apparently without much guidance from their president.</p>
<p>Trump’s inaugural address to the UN General Assembly said little about Africa – barely one paragraph <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/09/19/remarks-president-trump-72nd-session-united-nations-general-assembly">towards the end</a>. One sentence praised African Union and UN-led peacekeeping missions for “invaluable contributions in stabilising conflicts in Africa.” A second praised America, which</p>
<blockquote>
<p>continues to lead the world in humanitarian assistance, including famine prevention and relief in South Sudan, Somalia and northern Nigeria and Yemen.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The next day Trump hosted a luncheon for leaders of nine African countries –Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, and South Africa. Only his welcoming remarks have been published but they are nearly devoid of <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/09/20/remarks-president-trump-working-lunch-african-leaders">policy content or guidance</a>. His opening gambit reminded me of a 19th century colonialist hoping to become rich, as he proclaimed: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Africa has tremendous business potential, I have so many friends going to your countries trying to get rich. I congratulate you, they’re spending a lot of money….It’s really become a place they have to go, that they want to go.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Trump called on African companies to invest in the US. Then, shifting to security cooperation, he urged Africans to help defeat Islamist extremists and the threat from North Korea.</p>
<p>The American president proposed no new presidential initiatives for Africa. But, at least, he did not say those launched by predecessors were a waste of money and would be ended. Nor did he mention opposition to foreign assistance generally. He also did not mention his renunciation of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2017/jun/01/donald-trump-paris-climate-agreement-live-news">Paris Climate Accord</a> and refusal to fund <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/why-trump-seeing-red-about-green-climate-fund-n767351">Green Climate Fund</a>. Both are crucial for Africa’s adaptation to global warming.</p>
<h2>Hints of a policy taking shape</h2>
<p>A “US-Africa Partnerships” conference at the <a href="https://www.sfcg.org/events-schedule/2016-09-13/">US Institute for Peace</a> in Washington in mid-September provided additional clues to how this administration will conduct Africa policy. </p>
<p>Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Tom Shannon, offered the first high level <a href="https://www.state.gov/plus/rem/2017/274073.htm">official statement on Africa</a>. Shannon, a highly accomplished Foreign Service officer, emphasised policy continuity. But, he implicitly affirmed Trump’s apparent desire for minimal engagement in Africa. </p>
<p>Shannon and Acting Assistant Secretary Donald Yamamoto at a later session, stressed the <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201709180753.html">four main pillars</a> that have framed Africa policy for many years, would remain. These are: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>peace and security; </p></li>
<li><p>counterterrorism; </p></li>
<li><p>economic trade, investment and development; and, </p></li>
<li><p>democracy and good governance. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>They endorsed previous presidential initiatives, including specific references to former US President Barack Obama’s <a href="https://www.feedthefuture.gov/">Feed the Future</a>, <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/powerafrica/aboutus">Power Africa</a> and the Young African <a href="https://yali.state.gov/">Leaders Initiative</a>. Their continuation, and at what levels, will depend on budget decisions. Trump’s initial recommendations, endorsed by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, call for crippling cuts.</p>
<p>So far, the only new social development programme that Trump has endorsed is the World Bank’s global Women Entrepreneurs <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/women-entrepreneurs">Finance Initiative</a>, championed by his daughter Ivanka. The US has donated USD$50 million toward its global start-up budget of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2017/07/08/ivanka-trump-and-40-million-for-women-entrepreneurs-nice-idea-but-trivially-unimportant/#757bef521af2">USD$315 million</a>. As Yamamoto noted at the September meeting, Africa could benefit from this initiative.</p>
<h2>Surprise praise for China</h2>
<p>Trump will be less likely to challenge US military’s commitments in Africa. With this in mind I paid close attention to the <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201709140684.html">address</a> by General Thomas Waldhauser, Commander of the US Africa Command (Africom) at the September 13 meeting. He set out Africom’s current engagements in Libya and Somalia, where he said the mission was to support locally engineered political solutions. </p>
<p>Critics of America’s many previous failed interventions in these two countries and elsewhere, will rightly remain sceptical.</p>
<p>The second part of his address dealt more broadly with Africom’s capacity building assistance, nationally and regionally. He said Africom only operates where</p>
<blockquote>
<p>US and partner nation strategic objectives are compatible and aligned and, second, the operations are conducted primarily by partner nation forces with the US in a supporting role.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Africom, he said, conducts “some 3,500 exercises, programs and engagements” annually, with “5-to-6,000 US service members working on the continent every day.” </p>
<p>Waldenhauser ended his address with a surprisingly specific and positive view on China’s role in Africa. He praised China’s assistance to building much needed infrastructure throughout Africa and for the rapid growth in China-Africa trade which exceeded USD$300 billion in 2016.</p>
<p>On security issues, he commended Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pledge of <a href="http://uhuruspirit.org/news/?x=8706#.WdIYnVuCw9c">USD$100 million</a> to the AU and for supporting UN peacekeeping missions with 8,000 police officers. He then referred to the construction of China’s first overseas military base, which is near the US base in Djibouti, as creating “opportunities found nowhere else in the world,” relating that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>China assigned the first soldiers to this base and expressed interest in conducting amphibious training between Chinese and US Marines. Across the continent, we have shared interests in African stability. We see many areas where we can cooperate with the Chinese military. For example, we both support UN peacekeeping missions and training with African defence forces. The fact that we have mutual interests in Africa means that we can and should cooperate.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To emphasise the importance of this comment he quoted Secretary of Defence James Mattis when he pointed out earlier this year: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Our two countries can and do cooperate for mutual benefit. And we will pledge to work closely with China where we share common cause.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Charting the future</h2>
<p>But China-US security cooperation in Africa can’t succeed without the inclusion of African governments as equal partners in this “common cause”. </p>
<p>Such “win-win-win” experiments in mutual confidence building would not only benefit Africans, but could also serve as positive examples for other regions and could improve US-China relations globally. In the absence of a coherent and compelling US – Africa policy, this at least is one positive development that merits our attention.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85004/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John J Stremlau receives funding from South African Institute of International Affairs as its 2017 Bradlow fellow.</span></em></p>US President Donald Trump hasn’t proposed new initiatives for Africa but didn’t end those launched by his predecessors either.John J Stremlau, 2017 Bradlow Fellow at SA Institute of International Affairs,Visiting Professor of International Relations, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/804112017-07-04T13:30:44Z2017-07-04T13:30:44ZTrump’s US still lacks an Africa policy – but that might be about to change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176749/original/file-20170704-808-10wmsh8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When Donald Trump looks at Africa, what does he see?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/illustration-long-shadow-vector-usa-flag-345038300?src=8hei1uhfcJnwUI-A5H745Q-4-24">Blablo101 via Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Donald Trump was elected, almost no one in the US was thinking about Africa. People knew the swingeing State Department and foreign aid cuts the new president promised would hit Africa the hardest, but whereas the US is too embedded in the woes of the Middle East to scale back its costly operations there, Africa simply can’t match it for strategic value or public profile.</p>
<p>On the sidelines, however, serious thinkers were contemplating the future of the US in Africa, and as always happens in the jostling for position that accompanies new presidents in the US, people began to lay out their wares in the hopes of earning an appointment. And at the end of 2016, one in particular stood out: J Peter Pham of the <a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/">Atlantic Council</a>, a foreign affairs think tank, who published a paper widely taken as an Africa policy manifesto for the new administration. </p>
<p>Entitled <a href="http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/publications/reports/a-measured-us-strategy-for-the-new-africa">A Measured US Strategy for the New Africa</a>, it uses the sober language of deliberate realism. Examining both the US’s interests and global security, it affirms that the US still has a mission to undertake in Africa, but not the one it has embarked on previously. Judging by what I heard on a recent visit, the Washington rumour mill now seems convinced Pham will be nominated as the US’s assistant secretary of state for Africa, a vital state department post that’s gone unfilled since Trump took office. So what does Pham’s “manifesto” for American Africa policy say about him?</p>
<h2>Old and new</h2>
<p>As his choice of title implies, Pham is apparently determined to upend old American perceptions of Africa; the tired old “dark continent” is nowhere to be seen in his paper. But while Pham doesn’t exactly say what the “new Africa” looks like, he does emphatically suggest that the US rein in its dealings with African states that can’t act like states – that can’t or don’t build structures to benefit their citizens, or earn proper legitimacy as both states and governments.</p>
<p>Pham also emphasises that the US should not look only to states, but to Africa’s rapidly developing private sector. The state, he says, cannot and should not do everything – a core Republican tenet of domestic policy transposed onto African affairs.</p>
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</figure>
<p>The paper is laden with such “selling points”. One, clearly calculated to appeal to an administration disinclined to rely on the state department is the open admission that that department needs “rationalisation” – in other words, cuts. How this is to be done is another question. So, it is being done by <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/03/state-department-trump/517965/">not nominating anyone to fill key posts</a>, and by what the British courts would call “constructive dismissal”. But plenty of very real talent and experience is being lost. </p>
<p>And in a White House where the president’s son-in-law has become a <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-jared-kushner-middle-east-trip-israel-palestine-jerusalem-peace-deal-a7797611.html">high-level envoy to the Middle East</a> with no obvious experience in anything but real estate, the state department needs every bit of countervailing expertise it can muster.</p>
<p>On this front, Pham’s paper is a worrying document. It implies that the US’s approach to African conflicts might best be left solely to the Pentagon, a move which would do terrible damage. Abandoning civilian oversight would hollow out the US’s understanding of these highly complex wars and insurgencies. The State Department needs conflict experts more than anything else. As anyone who’s witnessed US foreign policy since 9/11 knows, the causes of war are not addressed by dropping bombs.</p>
<h2>The lie of the land</h2>
<p>Perhaps this is purely academic. After all, when (more likely than if) Pham is appointed, he’ll have little political or budgetary heft to work with. But notwithstanding the diminishment of the State Department in which he may soon be serving, he is undeniably an impressive figure. </p>
<p>Of all the rumoured finalists for the position, he stands head and shoulders above the rest; a Vatican-trained theologian with immense historical knowledge, he worked for the Vatican’s diplomatic service in conflict zones in Africa. He speaks and writes knowledgeably about the crucial importance of northern Nigeria; he is very well connected and well travelled.</p>
<p>If he can use the assistant secretary position to its fullest, he might be better placed than the UK’s new minister of state for Africa, <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201706230948.html">Rory Stewart</a>, a young adventurer who wound up administering much of <a href="http://www.rorystewart.co.uk/looking-back-on-iraq/">Iraq</a> and who went on to philanthropic work in Afghanistan. Unlike his predecessor Tobias Ellwood, who was simultaneously minister for both Africa and the Middle East, Stewart will at least be devoted to Africa – but he will also be split between two ministries, the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development. </p>
<p>It seems that on the British side of the Atlantic, Africa is too often still viewed as a single patient in need of foreign remedies rather than a cluster of very different emerging diplomatic and economic players. On that, chalk up at least one preliminary point for Pham in what might end up a sideways-glancing competition between two relatively young men who suddenly find themselves serious world players in the service of equally hapless governments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80411/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Chan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new candidate to be the US assistant secretary of state for Africa has ideas that are both refreshing and worrying.Stephen Chan, Professor of World Politics, SOAS, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/715942017-01-21T22:28:48Z2017-01-21T22:28:48ZDear President Trump: let me share some home truths about Africa with you<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/153599/original/image-20170120-30764-1aznzqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Al-Shabaab's constant attacks on Somalia are among concerns Donald Trump's advisers have about Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Feisal Omar</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Africa has occupied a more or less constantly <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/africa/1962-01-01/american-policy-africa">insignificant position</a> in both Republican and Democratic administrations in the US since the 1960s. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theglobalist.com/u-s-africa-relations-heart-in-the-darkness/">Studies</a> of US-Africa policies have tended to depict Republican administrations as “globalist” – more likely to look at Africa as part of a bigger picture than as its own unique geopolitical space. Democrats, meanwhile, are <a href="http://www.thisisafricaonline.com/Analysis/Understanding-US-Africa-relations-during-Obama-s-presidency?ct=trueas">perceived</a> “Africanists” who have close sympathies to African interests. </p>
<p>But these distinctions are deceptive. Some Republican administrations, such as that of George W. Bush, paid more attention to African issues such as HIV/AIDS than, for instance, Bill Clinton’s Democratic administration did. There were <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/africa/obama-and-africa">great expectations</a> that Africa would feature prominently during Barack Obama’s presidency. Instead, his administration built on some of the initiatives of the previous Republican governments rather than breaking new or distinctive ground in Africa.</p>
<p>Donald J. Trump is the new man in charge of the US, and Africa seems to have little cause for celebration. During his presidential campaign Trump gave no indication of how his administration would relate to Africa, a continent with a <a href="http://www.experience-africa.de/index.php?en_the-african-diaspora">large diaspora</a> in America. Worries about his stance on Africa were compounded by Trump’s deliberate articulation of divisive policies regarding migration, foreigners, Muslims and race.</p>
<p>In the week before Trump’s inauguration it was reported that the president-elect’s advisers had posed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/world/africa/africa-donald-trump.html?_r=0">pertinent questions</a> to the State Department about Africa. </p>
<p>I’d like to offer unsolicited responses to four of Trump’s questions. I will direct these to the man himself. In doing so, I hope to address the question that’s top of mind for the continent right now: what does a Trump presidency mean for Africa?</p>
<h2>US aid to Africa</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>With so much corruption in Africa, how much of our funding is stolen? Why should we spend these funds on Africa when we are suffering here in the US?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>President Trump, your administration will not be the first to discover that foreign aid is a <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/05/21/the-prickly-politics-of-aid/">double-edged sword</a>. It rewards autocratic regimes while also strengthening institutions in more democratic ones. So it’s important to understand the institutional conditions under which aid is disbursed. </p>
<p>Your administration should continue the correct policy of selective discrimination of aid recipients. The United States Agency of International Development (USAID) has garnered significant experience in managing aid over the years. You should let it continue the work of putting American dollars where they make a difference. Of course, it is your sovereign responsibility to guarantee that US taxpayers’ money isn’t stolen by venal regimes.</p>
<h2>Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>We have been fighting Al-Shabaab [in Somalia] for decades. Why haven’t we won?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is an unwinnable war. The fight against Al-Shabaab is part of the war on terror that your predecessors prioritised in Africa. The US has made some difference in how Al-Shabaab is managed in Africa, but your administration should seriously rethink its approach if it wants to see genuine change.</p>
<p>Rebuilding the state in Somalia is the antidote to violent extremism. This rebuilding won’t happen when American administrations indiscriminately <a href="http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/attacks-on-us-troops-in-somalia-leads-to-air-strikes-on-al-shabab">drop bombs</a> in Somalia or support <a href="https://intpolicydigest.org/2011/10/13/u-s-policy-towards-the-horn-of-africa/">weak regional governments</a> that may never marshal the resources to defeat the Islamic insurgents. </p>
<p>What is required are renewed efforts to negotiate a political settlement between the Somali government and Al-Shabaab through international mediation. Al-Shabaab may be amenable to negotiations once the relentless drone attacks from America stop and once regional players can be weaned away from unsustainable militarised approaches.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Why is the United States bothering to fight the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria? Why have all the [Chibok] <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32299943">school girls</a> kidnapped by the group not been rescued?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Chibok girls may never be found, thanks to the incompetence of the Nigerian military. In the past the Nigerian military was the leading professional army in West Africa. But corruption and political interference have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/the-nigerian-military-is-so-broken-its-soldiers-are-refusing-to-fight/2015/05/06/d56fabac-dcae-11e4-b6d7-b9bc8acf16f7_story.html?utm_term=.9ce9a6b99b53">weakened it</a> significantly. A more capable Nigerian military should be able to defeat Boko Haram without American assistance. Probably the US might channel some aid towards supporting a strengthened Nigerian military so it can take care of its own local problems.</p>
<p>In addition, the best policy toward Boko Haram should be to encourage Nigeria to find negotiated solutions to a problem that stems from political and economic marginalisation.</p>
<h2>The Chinese conundrum</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>Are we losing out to the Chinese?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes. The US has gradually lost out to the Chinese, which has <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-and-why-china-became-africas-biggest-aid-donor-57992">large investments</a> and is <a href="https://theconversation.com/eye-on-africa-us-and-china-tussle-for-economic-influence-37009">trading robustly</a> with Africa. But instead of complaining about the Chinese, your administration should try to figure out why and where they are succeeding in Africa. </p>
<p>If, as you claim, one of your major policies will be to promote business interests abroad, then Africa will need more attention. This, by the way, will not be inconsistent with broad African opinion that clamours for enhanced international investment in Africa.</p>
<h2>Negotiation will be key</h2>
<p>So what does all this tell us about Trump’s stance on and approach to Africa? </p>
<p>First, there is understandable cynicism about Africa from the incoming administration. This is born from the negative images that inhere in a large segment of the American psyche. Gradually, however, this scepticism will be tempered by the realities of dealing with a continent that cannot be written off. Second, all new administrations need to have the space and latitude to question the logic of previous policies, as a starting point for new and innovative policies. </p>
<p>But in foreign policy, clean slates are the exceptions rather than the rule. Thus, there will be both change and continuity in Trump’s African policies. The doomsayers may perhaps be surprised at what comes out of the Trump White House.</p>
<p>Trump will not run the US alone. As has always been the case, American presidents must negotiate policies with Congress. African governments and citizens will hope that these negotiations yield compromises across a wide range of issues that benefit the continent into the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71594/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gilbert M. Khadiagala does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Donald J. Trump is the new man in charge of the US, and Africa seems to have little cause for celebration. But what does the new Commander-in-Chief really think of the continent?Gilbert M. Khadiagala, Jan Smuts Professor of International Relations and Head of Department, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/653532016-09-19T19:27:19Z2016-09-19T19:27:19ZAmerica’s legendary ignorance about Africa persists<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137592/original/image-20160913-4963-3gukhz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Americans' ignorance about Africa persists despite efforts by presidents Kennedy and Obama to forge stronger ties with the continent.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jason Reed/Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fifty six years ago, John F. Kennedy made 479 references to Africa during the US presidential campaign. He observed that America had lost ground on the continent because of failures to meet the <a href="https://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/JFK-and-African-Independence.aspx">“need and aspirations of the African people”</a>. </p>
<p>President Kennedy charted a new path in US-Africa relations. He created the <a href="https://www.peacecorps.gov/about/">Peace Corps</a>, and the United States Agency for <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/">International Development</a>. And, unlike his predecessors, he began to show more respect and dignity for <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/504281">African leaders</a>. </p>
<p>To African people, Kennedy was the “great one,” and a <a href="https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P3-3477237961/making-sense-of-fifty-years-of-u-s-peace-corps-service">“friend of the coloured man everywhere”</a>. He began the process to change the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ugly-American-Eugene-Burdick/dp/0393318672">“ugly American”</a> image which characterised his predecessor, Dwight Eisenhower’s, foreign policy towards the Third World. </p>
<p>But the new directions initiated by Kennedy were short-lived as his successors reverted to previous policies. While Lyndon Johnson labelled Africans <a href="https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=WsIIDJlKm6sC&pg=PA147&lpg=PA147&dq=Lyndon+Johnson+Africa+cannibals&source=bl&ots=bQBLUppsTF&sig=yZPq5JA4MdgbQH2LsdCke68rt3M&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Lyndon%20Johnson%20Africa%20cannibals&f=false">“cannibals”</a> , Richard Nixon ridiculed blacks as <a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/17422/the_nixon_tapes,_racism_and_the_republicans">“genetically inferior”</a> to whites. And, Ronald Reagan’s <a href="http://africasacountry.com/2013/02/ronald-reagans-africa/">pro-Apartheid policy</a> of Constructive Engagement was consistent with his overall African policy. </p>
<p>Though more recently during President Barack Obama’s presidency there was a shift in policy, there continues to be immense and sometimes shameful ignorance in <a href="http://atlantablackstar.com/2015/07/09/africans-create-twitter-hashtag-showcase-positive-images-continent/">America about Africa</a>.</p>
<p>Popular notions range from seeing the continent through a monolithic lens to depicting it as suffocated with disease, tribal wars, famine, corruption, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/01/africa-history-western-eyes">cannibals</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/narco-state-or-failed-state-guinea-bissau-and-the-framing-of-africa-62118">crime</a>. </p>
<p>Even the Peace Corps and university students, both a hallmark of American idealism, were not immune. While some Peace Corps officials talked of “primitive mud huts” all over Africa’s landscape, college students imagined the region to be a</p>
<blockquote>
<p>place of destruction, primitive conditions, and injustice, and where people practice <a href="http://ecommons.udayton.edu/hst_fac_pub/119/">strange religions</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Though scholars have long discarded those images and corrected the historical record, the negative perceptions have persisted, and continue to dominate the thinking of major <a href="http://www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue4-focus2">political leaders in America</a>.</p>
<p>In an increasingly interconnected and technological global environment, ignorance of Africa is no longer acceptable. This, especially from major political leaders. Yet, examples of such ignorance are evident in the current American <a href="http://buzzkenya.com/list-of-african-countries-that-will-leave-the-u-s-if-donald-trump-becomes-president;%20http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2016/04/donald_trump_forgets_africa_during_foreign_policy_speech//">presidential campaign</a>. Neither the Republican nominee <a href="http://heavy.com/news/2016/08/read-donald-trump-full-transcript-speech-foreign-policy-address-remarks-prepared-august-15/">Donald J. Trump</a> nor the democratic nominee <a href="http://time.com/4355797/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-foreign-policy-speech-transcript/">Hillary R. Clinton</a> has articulated any concrete vision for an African policy.</p>
<p>During the primary season, Africa came up and when it did it was either in the context of terrorism or as an afterthought. There seems to be little realisation by both candidates that in the current fluid and interdependent global environment, Africa has emerged as a strategic partner in trade, peace, and security. A case in point is the US African Command which collaborates with African governments and regional organisations to <a href="http://www.africom.mil/about-the-command">combat terrorism</a>. </p>
<h2>Africa in perspective</h2>
<p>Africa, <a href="http://geography.about.com/od/lists/a/largecontinent.htm">the second largest continent</a>, is over three times the size of the US and has <a href="https://www.countries-ofthe-world.com/countries-of-africa.html">54 nations</a>. It is the ancestral home of <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/00">roughly 13%</a> of America’s population; namely African-Americans.</p>
<p>Its complex cultures, languages, and religions have contributed to global cultures. It is the ancestral <a href="https://theconversation.com/species-without-boundaries-a-new-way-to-map-our-origins-42646">site of humankind</a>. It is home to renowned economic, social and educational institutions including the <a href="http://www.uct.ac.za/apply/welcome/english/">University of Cape Town</a>, <a href="http://www.ug.edu.gh/">University of Ghana</a>, and the <a href="http://ui.edu.ng/">University of Ibadan</a>. Its other impressive institutions include the <a href="http://dangote.com/">Dangote Group</a> businesses and the <a href="http://kofiannaninstitute.org/about-us/">Kofi Annan Institute</a> for Conflict Transformation. It is also the land of vital minerals such as coltan, essential for the world’s software and telecommunication industry. </p>
<p>Africa’s raw materials are vital to the global economic system. Its rising consumer culture has transformed the continent into a major market for <a href="http://www.africa-business.com/features/china_africa_business.html">manufactured goods</a>. </p>
<p>Two years ago at the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/us-africa-leaders-summit">US-African Leaders Summit</a> President Obama called for the creation of “genuine partnership” in US-Africa relations. Africa is now a key battleground for the US and China where both nations are locked in a struggle to gain a <a href="http://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/2015/03/24/china-beating-us-in-race-to-invest-in-africa">competitive edge</a>.</p>
<p>From Cairo to Cape Town, China through its <a href="http://www.focac.org/eng/">Forum of China Africa Cooperation</a> and other endeavours, has <a href="http://www.africa.com/u_sinvestment_in_africa_making_up_for_lost_ground/">surpassed US investments</a> on the continent. </p>
<h2>Embracing Africa</h2>
<p>Engaging Africa in a much more serious way, particularly within the foreign policy discourse in the American presidential campaign, would be an important step. Both candidates must build on the foundation started by Kennedy and later continued by Obama which sees Africa as a “fundamental part of our interconnected world,” and seek a relationship based on mutual “responsibility” and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/us-africa-leaders-summit">“respect”</a>. </p>
<p>Both things are doable. Trump and Clinton should articulate a concrete vision and means by which they will implement it. Development is not just about economic imperatives, and other quantitative things, it also entails informed knowledge. </p>
<p>The time has come for developed nations to eliminate the large pockets of ignorance which exist in their society about Africa and other peoples. Globalisation demands that people ask new questions, seek new answers, and think differently. For all the challenges, African communities are coming together. It is, indeed, a continent on the rise and can no longer be ignored or marginalised.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65353/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julius A. Amin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The time has come for developed nations to eliminate the large pockets of ignorance which exist in their societies about Africa and other peoples. Globalisation demands that people think differently.Julius A. Amin, Professor, Department of History, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/303772014-08-11T09:33:49Z2014-08-11T09:33:49ZJust another BRIC in the wall for Obama at US-Africa summit?
<p>The <a href="US-Africa%20summit%20held%20last%20week">US-Africa summit held last week</a> in Washington DC was a damp squib. Barack Obama had to host at least one such summit, given how successfully the Chinese have used such meetings, but the occasion was low-key and lacklustre. The US secretary of state, John Kerry, flew back from his labours in the Middle East, orated briefly, and flew back to the Middle East. </p>
<p>Africa is not a priority for the US right now. Israeli <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/israel-palestine">overkill in Gaza</a> and the sweeping military successes of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/isis">Islamic State in Iraq and Syria</a> far overreach Africa in urgency. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/ukraine">stand-off between Ukraine and Russia</a> is not good for Obama’s nerves either. Never very good at foreign policy, he has left it to two skilled and adept secretaries of state, Kerry and Hilary Clinton, but has never seemed to know when to step in and throw his weight powerfully behind key strategic initiatives his long-suffering secretaries have engineered. So, at the summit, Obama mouthed all the right words but seemed curiously drained of commitment and passion.</p>
<p>Almost 50 African presidents turned up. They had made no protest against some “pariah presidents” like Robert Mugabe being pointedly not invited. When the European Union was contemplating whether or not to invite Mugabe to its own summit, African leaders made it pointedly clear that he too had to receive an invitation. But the US event was one that, unlike Europe’s, promised engagement with someone who was still the world’s most powerful man – even if he was embattled and tired.</p>
<p>Both Kerry and Obama promised greater US investment – but this was couched very much in terms of American business outreach. And, indeed, the new generation of oligarchic but increasingly technocratic business leaders of Africa had been making a huge show of being viable and reliable partners – with or without the US-Africa summit. US businessmen understood they no longer had to cosy up to presidents when African business leaders had finally attained enough clout to operate as independent capitalists.</p>
<p>The other key business at the summit was a purported surge in funding for African rapid response forces to counter terrorism. But planning for this has been underway for some time, and events in Mali and Central African Republic have merely brought the plans forward. Whether a <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-u-spend-550-million-african-rapid-response-182344890.html">five-year investment of US$550m</a> will be enough to do anything remains to be seen. It would not be enough to modernise the Nigerian army to defeat Boko Haram, cleanly – without brutalising the very population it was meant to protect –let alone matching Boko Haram for mobility, ordinance and daring. </p>
<h2>BRICS bank</h2>
<p>In many ways, the Chinese stole a march on this summit with the announcement, just three weeks before the US-Africa summit, of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-bank-watch-out-the-brics-bank-is-a-game-changer-29437">BRICS bank</a>. Although all the BRICS nations were to be involved in the subscription of capital, so that the new bank would rival the World Bank and IMF, it was clear the Chinese would be the principal bank-rollers. Its headquarters will be in Shanghai, and its fund will total $100 billion. It made the US investment figures look paltry.</p>
<p>But, before Africa gets carried away about a powerful new source of liquidity, it is worth contemplating a sting in the Chinese tail. To what extent will Chinese subscription of funds to the bank mean that, increasingly, liquidity to Africa will come not directly from China but via the bank? If increasingly via the bank, then this bank, like any other bank, especially one run by the BRICS countries on a one-country-one-vote basis, will have to abide by sound monetary policies and rules. </p>
<p>In short, will this bank signal a slow introduction of what will effectively be conditionality attached to Chinese money? Not political conditionality – but will the era of endless soft loans and the anticipation of future writings-off of loans become a story from fairy tales of the past?</p>
<p>If African businessmen have grown up enough to be courted on equal terms by their American counterparts, it may well be that the Chinese too will impose “equal terms”. No more free lunches for those who have now grown up. Or should have grown up. Ironically, the August US-Africa summit in America and the July BRICS summit in Brazil may lead to two animals of pretty much the same species.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30377/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The US-Africa summit held last week in Washington DC was a damp squib. Barack Obama had to host at least one such summit, given how successfully the Chinese have used such meetings, but the occasion was…Stephen Chan, Professor of World Politics, SOAS, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.