WANDILE SIHLOBO: US-Africa strategy sets out to reposition the US
Trump administration's aggressive approach seeks conditions in which US has favourable trade access in Africa
The tail-end of 2018 was inundated by news events, both domestic and international, which eventually overshadowed a major policy pronouncement — the US-Africa strategy. After two years without much clarity on the Trump administration’s stance on Africa, it is ironic that the Africa strategy almost went unnoticed. The strategy was announced well into the festive season, with many institutions either wrapping up or already closed for the holidays. However, given the significance of the US-Africa strategy for Africa, it is necessary to unpack it and discuss its implications for the continent. At the core there is not much that has shifted from a policy perspective. The US still places most emphasis on conditional support for Africa — the policy is punctuated by phrases such as “aid with effect” and “assistance with accountability”. The US also still maintains its vision of reciprocity, underlined by a desire to terminate preference programmes such as the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (...
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