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Counterpoint: Why Some in Africa Remain Frustrated With the U.S. and Choose to Embrace China Instead

by Eric Olander

While U.S. stakeholders are working to figure out what they want to do in Africa, they would be advised to listen carefully to some of the widely-held frustrations about America’s less-than-supportive attitudes towards the continent over the years, which bubbled to the surface during the Trump administration.

Whereas 20 or 30 years ago, many African countries, like their developing counterparts in other regions, were largely tied to the U.S. But with the rise of China, that’s no longer the case. And for a lot of people on the continent, there’s a sense that Americans and Europeans have long ignored the continent or taken it for granted.

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