Whoo boy…We picked a doozy of a week to be in town. The overlapping reverberations from leadership fights within the Democratic Party, the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, and the announcement of JD Vance as his vice-presidential candidate are understandably focusing attention inwards.

That said, we’ve had fascinating conversations with very smart folks who focus on Africa, the wider Global South, and China’s role there. One theme emerging from this discussion (especially with government officials) is a mismatch between what the United States wants from Africa – a complicated set of priorities currently dominated by (but certainly not limited to) countering China, and what Africa wants.