African leaders may have been quick to congratulate Donald Trump on his election, professing a desire for mutually beneficial partnerships. But there are meager expectations that his second presidency will change things for this continent of over 1.4 billion people.
FILE- A screen shows live footage of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speech during a news program in Nairobi, Kenya , Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 file photo, U.
S. first lady Melania Trump looks out over Nairobi National Park in Nairobi, Kenya, during a brief safari. FILE- A screen shows live footage of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speech during a news program in Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. S. first lady Melania Trump looks out over Nairobi National Park in Nairobi, Kenya, during a brief safari. FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 file photo, U.S. first lady Melania Trump looks out over Nairobi National Park in Nairobi, Kenya, during a brief safari. , professing a desire for mutually beneficial partnerships, but there are meager expectations that his presidency will change things for this continent of over 1.4 billion people. In the wake of Trump’s win, Kenya’s William Ruto said his country “stands ready” to deepen its ties with Washington. Nigeria’s Bola Tinubu spoke of a second Trump administration ushering in an era of “earnest, beneficial, and reciprocal” cooperation.President Joe Biden talked about Africa as a key partner, said Ray, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe between 2009 and 2012.Africa “will be at the very bottom of list of priorities” and any U.S. action on the continent would likely be driven by his “transactional, ego-driven leadership style,” Ray added.The EU says it won’t renew a fishing agreement with Senegal criticized by many in the country Murithi Mutiga, program director for Africa at the Crisis Group, says the president-elect is “a committed isolationist and clearly wants to pull back” on various fronts across the world.J. Peter Pham, Trump’s former special envoy to Africa’s Great Lakes and Sahel regions, says the next Trump presidency may look for a “win-win” situation in Africa. That could include a renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which grants eligible African countries duty-free access to U.S. markets, Pham said during a Voice of America broadcast. However, U.S. lawmakers have been asking questions about whether African countries are complying with conditions under the program — or if they are undermining U.S. foreign policy interests and national security, Pham said. South Africa, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the program, was accused by U.S. Ambassador Reuben Brigety in 2023 ofBasically, you don’t “kick America in the teeth” in ways that raise questions about compliance with such deals, Pham said.Africa’s myriad health and other crises, abortion and LGBTQ+ rights The top concern is that the next Trump presidency will cut funding. In many parts of Africa, such cuts could be critical for millions of girls and young women whose reproductive health and choices are supported heavily by U.S.-funded programs. “The situation is already bad for girls it will turn into a disaster without these services,” said Valentine Damitoni, a mother at 18. She regularly visits a local clinic in Zimbabwe’s capital of Harare to receive a contraceptive under a U.S.-funded program that allows her to return to school without fears of falling pregnant again. Max Primorac, a former acting deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development — one of Africa’s biggest development aid donors — criticized some of the agency’s programs inIn particular, Primorac criticized USAID programs that “promote abortion, climate extremism and interventions against perceived systematic racism.” The document is said toKiron Skinner, the head of policy planning at the U.S. State Department during Trump’s first term in office, recommends in the document that in Africa, America should “focus on core security, economic, and human rights” rather than impose “radical abortion and pro-LGBT initiatives.”and riding anti-Western sentiments to sever ties with longstanding allies like the United States and France — while turning to a new friend: Russia. China, which casts infrastructural loans to African countries as mutually beneficial cooperation, rarely interferes in internal politics of the recipients countries. Russia, the continent’s biggest arms supplier, isMutiga, of the Crisis Group, says “the problem historically has been that the U.S. and the West viewed Africa as a problem” to be solved. China and others “saw it as an opportunity to be grasped.”The Biden administration announced last December that it had invested at least $22 billion in Africa and promised to do more. Trump, during his first term, continuously sought to slash foreign affairs funding,Analysts are concerned about whether key U.S. projects in health, security and development would be implemented under Trump — especially at a time of worsening hunger and For many ordinary Africans, Trump is just a distant leader who can’t do much about their everyday problems. “Trump ... is not going to save us from hunger caused by our government,” said Isah Mohammed, a fruit seller in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.In Morocco, many rejoiced after Trump’s win, hoping his return to office would help the North African country further its push to win global recognition for its sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara. “The return of the friend of Morocco to the White House,” proclaimed the country’s Assabah newspaper in its editorial. As part of a larger deal that included Morocco normalizing its ties with Israel, Trump shifted longstanding U.S. policy and recognized Morocco’s sovereignty claims before leaving office in 2020. Biden has not reversed that decision — but has also not advanced the Trump administration’s promise to build a consulate in the disputed territory.Trump will likely cut funding to Somalia and engage more with Somaliland, predicts Rashid Abdi, an analyst at the Nairobi-based Sahan Research think tank.as a permanent member last year — a powerful acknowledgement of the continent’s more than 50 countries and something Biden had said was “a long time in coming.” But despite that step on the global stage, observers say the union and its leaders have not lived up to expectations, failing to articulate their interests and table their demands as a united front. “The question is often, what will Washington do, but, really, what is Africa’s interest?” said Mutiga, with the Crisis Group. “We’re in an age of transactional global relations and unless Africa can engage in a way that articulates its own interests, America’s will continue to be determined by geopolitical competition with its rivals,” he said.
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