
US shifting Africa strategy to 'trade, not aid', envoy says
JOHANNESBURG, May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. envoys in Africa will be rated on commercial deals struck, not aid spent, a senior State Department official said, touting it as the new strategy for U.S. support on the continent.
President Donald Trump's administration wants to eliminate trade deficits, opens new tab and drive mutual prosperity, African Affairs senior bureau official Troy Fitrell said, according to remarks shared on Thursday.
"Assistance involves a donor and a recipient, but commerce is an exchange between equals," he added at the launch of the policy in Ivory Coast on Wednesday.
U.S. ambassadors in Africa had already shepherded 33 agreements worth $6 billion in Trump's first 100 days, Fitrell said. "Trade, not aid, a slogan we've seen thrown around for years, is now truly our policy for Africa."
U.S. goods exports to sub-Saharan Africa amount to less than 1% of total U.S. trade, according to U.S. think-tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Despite Trump's aggressive spending cuts, Washington has pledged a $550 million loan for the Lobito rail corridor, a shortcut for copper and cobalt from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to Angola's Atlantic port, bypassing China-controlled routes.
The U.S. is keen to counter both Chinese and Russian influence on the continent, particularly over minerals and trade. In one of China's latest deals on the continent, a $652 million loan agreement was agreed with Nigeria through the Exim bank for a highway feeding the new Lekki port and Dangote refinery.
The U.S. has set six targets to be met before the next U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit later this year, the envoy said.
They include to make commercial diplomacy a core mission, push priority countries to enact business-friendly reforms and back "bankable" infrastructure not "vanity projects". It also wants to embark on more business-only diplomatic trips, match export-ready U.S. firms with African ventures and overhaul financing tools to offer faster and more risk-tolerant blended funding.
Global aid groups have widely criticised the U.S. for slashing aid funds to Africa, which they say is costing lives of the most needy.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
7 minutes ago
- Reuters
US team investigating foreign bribery dwindles, sources say
WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department's team dedicated to investigating allegations of foreign bribery has dwindled as President Donald Trump's administration reviews its enforcement of a decades-old law aimed at preventing corruption, according to three people familiar with the matter. The DOJ's Fraud Section unit tasked with enforcing the anti-bribery law has shrunk to about 15 prosecutors, according to two of the sources. That number is down from 32 as of a January report published on the department's website. The cuts follow Trump's executive order in February calling for a pause in enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1977 law that prohibits companies that operate in the U.S. from bribing foreign officials and has become a cornerstone of federal efforts to combat corruption. A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment. The DOJ launched a 180-day review of its enforcement of the FCPA following Trump's order, which kicked off an exodus of staff from the unit. Prosecutors largely moved elsewhere in the Justice Department's Criminal Division, including its Healthcare and Marketplace Fraud units, two of the sources said. New guidance on how prosecutors are to handle FCPA cases is being drafted and expected to be released soon, one of the sources said. Attorney General Pam Bondi in February directed foreign bribery prosecutors to prioritize cases related to drug cartels, a Trump administration emphasis that has not traditionally been a focus of the unit. A memo from the Criminal Division last month listed foreign bribery below issues such as fraud in government programs and tariff evasion as corporate enforcement priorities for the Trump administration. The DOJ has been scaling back its enforcement against white-collar crimes and focusing on different types of cases. It has also dropped other initiatives aimed at preventing corruption.


The Independent
7 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘They're about stoking fear': Harris rips Trump administration over Los Angeles crackdown
Former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has accused the Trump administration of escalating the situation in Los Angeles 'to provoke chaos'. Harris criticized the decision to send in the National Guard to tackle activists opposing arrests being made by U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents as part of an effort to round-up and deport undocumented migrants. She also claimed that the protesters who have taken to the streets of Los Angeles to demonstrate against Trump 's crackdown were 'overwhelmingly peaceful'. Protesters have clashed with police officers for the last three days in opposition to ICE's latest raids, resulting in violent scenes as the authorities retaliate with tear gas and flash grenades in an attempt to maintain order. 'Los Angeles is my home,' Harris, the state's former attorney general, said in a statement posted to social media. 'And like so many Americans, I am appalled at what we are witnessing on the streets of our city. Deploying the National Guard is a dangerous escalation meant to provoke chaos.' She characterized ICE's actions as 'part of the Trump administration's cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division.' Harris continued: 'This administration's actions are not about public safety – they are about stoking fear. Fear of a community demanding dignity and due process.' She went on to express her support for the activists taking part, noting that protest is 'a power tool – essential in the fight for justice.' 'I continue to support the millions of Americans who are standing up to protect our most fundamental rights and freedoms,' Harris concluded. California Governor Gavin Newsom has been the most vocal public figure opposing the president's intervention in the unrest so far, accusing Trump of 'manufacturing a crisis' and behaving like a dictator. The Democrats also challenged Trump's 'tough guy' border czar Tom Homan to arrest him. The first of the 2,000 federalized members of the National Guard entered the fray on Sunday and Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a late-night press conference that 27 new arrests had been made that day, warning that the clashes were 'getting increasingly worse and more violent.' ICE operations across Los Angeles County since Friday have so far resulted in the arrest of 118 accused illegal immigrants despite the local resistance agents have encountered, the Department of Homeland Security has said. The episode is the latest obstacle encountered by the Trump administration as part of its effort to orchestrate the largest mass deportation push in American history, which has seen the president invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to expand his authority. Harris has largely kept out of the public eye since losing last November's presidential election to Trump but did make a surprise appearance at the Met Gala a month ago. That came a week after she accused the Republican of 'abandoning American ideals' and setting the U.S. on the path to recession through his chaotic tariff policy in a speech in San Francisco in April, predicting the coming storm would amount to the 'greatest man-made economic crisis in modern presidential history.'


Reuters
8 minutes ago
- Reuters
BlackRock calls antitrust claims "unprecedented, unsound and unsupported"
June 9 (Reuters) - An attorney for BlackRock called antitrust claims by Republican-led states "unprecedented, unsound and unsupported" on Monday and said they had failed to show how the firms' involvement with industry climate groups interfered with market competition. Gibson Dunn attorney Gregg Costa spoke as BlackRock (BLK.N), opens new tab and co-defendants Vanguard and State Street (STT.N), opens new tab seek to dismiss the claims in the closely watched antitrust case brought by Texas and 12 other states.