President Donald Trump is being watched closely in African elite political circles for any sign of what his foreign policy towards the continent might entail. George W. Bush bequeathed Africa several major projects, the foremost being the Presidential Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, a massive lifesaver. Barack Obama has left the US$7 billion Power Africa project and the Young African Leaders’ Initiative (YALI). President Trump and his handlers have a particularly dim view of Africa, and have asked the State Department, “With so much corruption in Africa, how much of our funding is stolen?”No incoming presidential administration in the US has been so blunt on Africa’s biggest challenge. Given his campaign rhetoric against China, President Trump might want to counter the vast influence of what Prof Peter Vale of South Africa characterizes as, “ The rising power of the Red Dragon in Africa”.

Source: The Star January 23, 2017 02:04 UTC