US President Donald Trump will host five African leaders next week to discuss what the White House called “incredible commercial opportunities” on the continent.
Trump has vowed to increase US interests in Africa, with a focus on controlling more of the continent’s key mineral deposits.
However the abrupt cuts to US aid on which many African countries relied have strained diplomatic ties across Africa, while China and Russia have ramped up their presence there: A Kremlin spokesman said last month that Moscow would seek to boost its security alliances on the continent as Western powers retreat.
The US “must lead with business,” Iyinoluwa Aboyeji wrote in a column for Semafor. “If it doesn’t, China will.”
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