After several years of declining funding, the African end of the Belt and Road Initiative seems to be roaring back. The newest Griffith University/Green Development Finance Center data on the Belt and Road Initiative shows that engagement with Africa jumped by 395%, while a few big projects boosted engagement in Nigeria alone more than twelvefold.
These shifts indicate a window of opportunity for African electrification. 60% of Africans still ...
Category: U.S.-Africa
A Display of Power, Not Partnership, in Washington
This is a is a long overdue column that I intended to write back in March after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa left Washington after that now infamous joint press conference in the Oval Office where he was ambushed by U.S. President Donald Trump for challenging the ...
Trump Courts West Africa to Challenge China’s Critical Minerals Dominance
By Frankie Taggart with Becca Milfeld and Lucie Peytermann in Dakar U.S. President Donald Trump hailed West Africa's rich natural resources as he hosted five of its leaders Wednesday for a White House summit aimed at fostering trade to counter the ...
How Apartheid Shaped U.S. Policy on South Africa: China Study
A provocative analysis from a Chinese think tank examines the collapse of U.S.-South Africa relations, uncovering an unexpected driver: the influence of three tech titans—Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks—all of whom spent their formative years in apartheid-era South Africa.
Conservative U.S. Senator Tells African Ambassadors Washington is a “More Reliable Friend” Than China
Ted Cruz, the new chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Africa, recently met with a group of African ambassadors to try and reassure them that under the Trump administration, the U.S. will remain a steadfast partner with African countries. ...
Biden Announces $1 Billion for Africa During Maiden Trip
By Aurélia End U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced more than $1 billion in humanitarian assistance to Africa during a visit to Angola, where the United States is showcasing a major infrastructure project aimed at countering China's investments on the ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Biden in Angola for First Visit to Sub-Saharan Africa as President
Joe Biden arrived in Angola Monday on the first and only trip to sub-Saharan Africa during his presidency, which intended to underline U.S. ambitions in Africa amid significant investment from China. The U.S. leader, who hands over to Donald Trump on ...
China-Africa Relations as Seen From the United States
As Chinese engagement in Africa steadily increased over the past twenty-five years, the U.S. has struggled to respond. Africa has consistently been a low priority in U.S. foreign policy, even with China's growing presence on the continent, and that's especially true ...
U.S.-Africa Summit Strengthened Relationship but Didn’t Revolutionize It
As the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit wraps up today, one is struck by a paradox: while several notable new deals were announced, the summit as a whole has been slightly underwhelming. The United States seemed determined to combat two interrelated narratives. First, ...
African Media Largely Indifferent to Summit
The U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit has drawn very little media attention in Africa. The coverage that appeared was rehashed copy from international news agencies. Very few publications focused on how the outcomes will affect their home countries. This lack of domestic framing ...
Critical Report from African Think Tank Name-Checked in Beijing’s Response to Summit
While the Biden administration is trying to steer discussions of its Africa summit away from its geopolitical competition with China, the opposite is true in Beijing. At a press briefing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin framed the summit as a geopolitical tool:
Biden’s Africa Talk is “Hollow”: Expert
While many U.S. government spokespeople are putting a happy face on the summit, independent analysts are being less diplomatic. Amaka Anku, the head of Africa analysis at the Eurasia Group, didn’t mince words in a recent interview:
With China on the Minds of Many in DC, U.S.-Africa Summit Gets Underway
Under mounting pressure to rival China's engagement in Africa, the White House wants to make it very clear that the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit that begins on Tuesday will be very different than what it's done in the past. Traditionally, the U.S. has ...