In an interview with Semafor, the State Department’s new head of the Bureau of African Affairs Nick Checker discussed the Trump administration’s new approach to Africa. Checker, who was only inaugurated in January, said the strategy centers around U.S. interests, and gearing up its competition with China to “dislodge” it from certain priority areas. Despite the stated intention, it remains in the domain of wishful thinking given the U.S.’ actual investments in Africa and the Global South as a whole.
Checker said that the US is not going to compete “dollar for dollar” with China in projects across Africa, and does not intend to push China out of the African continent completely. “But if it’s a priority sector—or in the mineral space, for instance, and it’s about supply chain resilience—that’s an area where we’d actually want to be actively competing.” Checker said current priority areas to push China out are Kenya, Angola, and South Africa. “In terms of dislodging China from certain sectors, being competitive, it comes down to the US value proposition, and making sure that countries understand it.” Checker has indicated that this includes areas of critical mineral development and the energy sector.
Checker also referenced the need for the U.S. to abandon the “lecturing” and “moralizing” approach of previous administrations, and instead pursue “commercial diplomacy.” It seems clear this will involve conditions, however, since Checker claimed countries doing business with the U.S. will need to improve their “self-reliance,” and the entire discussion is draped in meeting U.S. interests.
