HOW TO RESTORE U.S. CREDIBILITY IN AFRICA

DESPITE THE IMMENSE POTENTIAL of U.S.- Africa relations, China has been more engaged with the continent and in several ways is now ahead of the United States in the scale of its diplomatic and economic ties. China is now Africa’s largest trade partner and the largest bilateral lender to many African countries, creating an asymmetric power dynamic with the potential for dependency. China has also outperformed the United States and the United Kingdom in terms of higher education, becoming the primary destination for English-speaking African students. China even trains African journalists, about 1,000 each year, who are the ones forming the global narrative about the continent. Furthermore, Chinese President Xi Jinping has committed to giving African countries priority access to a successful COVID-19 vaccine developed in China, and Beijing will build the headquarters of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

While China has been making such tremendous progress on the continent, the United States has lagged behind. Although the Trump administration adopted a U.S.-Africa strategy that created high expectations in the African policy community, the lack of timely implementation, along with President Donald Trump’s discriminatory rhetoric and failure to sufficiently engage at a high level, has since undermined what could have been a great improvement in U.S.-Africa relations. Restrictions on African immigration, including