United States President Donald Trump’s second spell in office has rattled the global geopolitical landscape, whose reverberations are being felt in Africa.
Trump’s intent to forge ahead with his “America First” policy has resulted in the US cutting billions of dollars that the world’s wealthiest nation was channelling to Africa in foreign aid.
This has exposed millions of people in Africa to risk, reliant on support extended to Africa through the United States Agency for International Development (USAid).
In the wake of the massive aid suspension, experts warned that death rates on the continent could rise after the US stopped funding various United Nations (UN) programmes meant to mitigate the impact of HIV and Aids globally.
Of the 38 million people living with HIV worldwide, close to 25 million live in sub-Saharan Africa.
The situation is dire!
The US era of doling out free aid and humanitarian assistance to Africa is over.
This should be a wake-up call for Africa, which hosts the bulk of some of the world’s most sought-after strategic minerals and has an exciting array of immense economic opportunities.
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The US, under Trump, has demonstrated its new approach on the global stage, an indication of a paradigm shift in how the world’s economic powerhouse relates to countries in the world, particularly Africa.
Africa, too, must take heed and focus on promoting continental trade, building resilient economies and crafting home-grown solutions to tackle challenges confronting its people.
Worryingly, Trump this week hosted five leaders from African countries with the conspicuous absence of representatives from the major economies on the continent such as South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt.
This is an ominous sign that the US may have little appetite to extend or renew the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), put in place during the Bill Clinton administration to promote trade between America and the continent.
The programme, which has allowed 32 eligible African countries to export a range of selected commodities to the US duty-free, expires in September, with little indication that it will be extended despite bipartisan calls in the Senate to extend it to 2045.
South Africa, which is one of the countries that have immensely benefited from the initiative, had its export trade tariffs pegged at 30% by Trump’s administration.
What approach must Africa embrace in the face of the new global trade order?
Former Zimbabwean minister Tapiwa Mashakada, in a position paper, argues that the continent, with a population of over one billion, must concentrate on deepening the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCTA).
AFCTA must be the new game in town!
