The US hasn’t made Africa a top diplomatic priority. It has lagged with investment and trade, and used the region as a battleground for power struggles with China and Russia.
The US hasn’t made Africa a top diplomatic priority. It has lagged with investment and trade, and used the region as a battleground for power struggles with China and Russia.
Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are following a trend in the US presidential election well-known by Africans, with neither candidate making US-Africa relations a major election issue.
Neither Trump nor outgoing US President Joe Biden paid much attention to Africa during their presidencies — and neither of them visited the continent while in office, though Biden still plans to visit Angola in early December. Cameron Hudson from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, told DW that both Democrats and Republicans have pursued an Africa program that “doesn’t differ much one from the other. Africa doesn’t rank very highly in the list of US priorities.”
Both administrations acknowledged Africa’s importance, said Hudson, but only to a certain degree. “It is the largest voting bloc at the United Nations, and when we cannot organize the Africans to vote in line with [the US], that undermines US interests and US prestige in the world”, he added, noting that economic interests, such as access to Africa’s precious minerals, also play a role.
Pushing China off its pedestal has been a great motivation for the US, said Hudson.
“Efforts by China to establish military bases or to obtain a monopoly over certain mineral resources in Africa will be seen as something that needs to be responded to very aggressively by whoever is in the White House”, said Hudson.
“And I think that will drive many of our policies in Africa.” Though the US remains Africa’s largest aid donor, China is the continent’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade surpassing $166.
