Latest news with #Boakai
Daily Maverick
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Was Trump's Africa summit just outsourcing America's immigration problem?
The US president reportedly asked the five African nations at his summit to accept third-country asylum seekers. United States (US) President Donald Trump hosted a mini-summit with five African leaders in the White House last week. It was surprising that he met with African leaders at all, given his stance towards the continent. His choice of countries was also interesting — why Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Gabon? Trump told the delegates his administration was 'committed to strengthening our friendships in Africa through economic development efforts that benefit both the US and our partners. And we're shifting from aid to trade,' noting that he had just scrapped the US Agency for International Development (USAid). As to the five countries in attendance, he said they all had 'great land, great minerals, oil deposits', and that he wanted to discuss security. Trump encouraged the leaders to invest more in defence and to 'keep pursuing the fight against terrorism, which is a big problem in Africa'. 'Immigration will also be on the agenda, and I hope we can bring down the high rates of people overstaying visas, and also make progress on the Safe Third Country Agreements.' The supposed wealth of these five countries in critical minerals has been offered as the main reason for their invitation. Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani said his country had 'minerals, rare earths, rare minerals', including manganese, uranium and probably lithium, and was the second-largest African iron ore producer. Liberian President Joseph Boakai also said his country had many minerals and asked for US help in surveying them. Trump added an unintentional comic note by commending Boakai for his 'beautiful English'. He asked where Boakai had learnt to speak it — seemingly unaware that English is Liberia's official language. The country was, after all, founded in the 19th century by free slaves from the US. Critical minerals Gabon's President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema also stressed that his country had oil and gas and critical minerals, including manganese, and invited the US to invest in processing it locally, including building the necessary electricity capacity. He said that if the US did not invest, others would. And he appealed to Trump to help Gabon stop maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye noted that the US was conducting a geological survey in Senegal to help assess the potential of minerals. He added that thanks to US companies, Senegal had discovered oil and about 950 billion cubic metres of gas. So critical and other minerals, and oil and gas, were clearly a factor in the choice of the five. So was security in a chronically insecure region. Some believe the US is looking for countries to host its military bases after Niger's junta forced out the US hub at Agadez. Trump also boasted about the recent US-brokered peace deal between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. Most of the African leaders thanked him for this, urging him to fulfil his intention to likewise broker peace in Sudan and Libya. But was immigration to the US — a key domestic issue for Trump — the real heart of the matter? The Wall Street Journal reported that before the summit, the US administration sent the five countries requests to accept deportees from the US whose home countries refused them or were slow to take them back. According to an internal document seen by The Wall Street Journal, the African countries would have to agree not to return transferred asylum seekers 'to their home country or country of former habitual residence until a final decision has been made' on their claims for asylum in the US. This arrangement appears similar to that between the former Conservative United Kingdom (UK) government and Rwanda, but which was scrapped last year by the Labour government, which said the deal had not deterred migrants to the UK. Reports say America previously tried to persuade Nigeria to accept an agreement with Venezuelan deportees — but Abuja refused. This might suggest that Trump is turning to smaller, perhaps more pliable, countries to try to persuade them to accept asylum seekers or deportees. The Guardian reported on Wednesday that five men from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba and Yemen — convicted of crimes ranging from child rape to murder — had arrived in Eswatini on a Safe Third Country deportation flight from the US. On 4 July, the US deported eight men convicted of violent crimes to South Sudan. It is unclear how the five African governments responded to Trump's request, and none mentioned it in the public part of the meeting. Two overlapping goals Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Research Officer Zenge Simakoloyi said Trump's summit seemed mainly to have two overlapping goals: to test the waters on processing asylum seekers offshore, and to diversify US critical mineral supply chains away from China. Nigeria's rejection of the Venezuelans suggested that externalising the US immigration problem would be difficult, he said. According to Aimée-Noël Mbiyozo, ISS Migration Senior Research Consultant: 'There are no good precedents for outsourcing asylum processes.' She noted that the Australian effort to do so had cost at least A$1-billion annually since 2012, and had 'failed to achieve all its objectives, including stopping people smuggling'. Simakoloyi noted that countering China in African trade and mineral access was a hallmark of US foreign policy in Africa, as evidenced by the Lobito Corridor carrying minerals from Zambia and the DRC to be exported from Angola. He suggested Senegal's President Faye could serve the US as a diplomatic bridge to the Sahel's juntas, as Senegal had established a rapport with Mali and Burkina Faso's military governments. Trump's shift from aid to trade and investment in Africa is in principle a good idea, though the abrupt termination of aid has caused significant distress on the continent. (Unconfirmed reports this week suggest that Pepfar – the US programme against HIV/Aids — may be reinstated.) But how the US trades and invests in Africa will be critical. As Gabon's Nguema told Trump: 'We also want our raw materials to be processed locally in our country so that we can create value and to create jobs for youth so that they stop dying. They are crossing the sea, the ocean to go to other countries.' That would be a more constructive and ethical approach to relations than outsourcing the asylum process and dumping criminals from other countries onto Africa. DM
eNCA
6 days ago
- Politics
- eNCA
Hundreds rally against government corruption in Liberia
The government's defenders say it has suspended senior officials for alleged corruption and strengthened ties with investors. The protesters also accuse Boakai of not keeping the promises he made while campaigning to unseat his predecessor, former Ballon D'Or-winning footballer George Weah. One protester, 55-year-old civil servant Bendu Camara, accused the president of targeting officials associated with the Weah administration, and said he was forced into retirement when Boakai came into office. Camara also claimed Boakai's government gave preferential treatment while distributing jobs and favoured members of his Unity Party. "He entered the mansion and we gave him the flag for all Liberians, but he is picking and choosing. He is taking the Unity Party people to be the country's owners." Another protester, Hawa Kpehe, said the president had "lied to the Liberian people".
Winnipeg Free Press
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Dressing up ignorance as a compliment
Opinion Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump told Liberian President Joseph Boakai that he 'speaks beautiful English.' It barely made headlines, lost among the many offensive things Trump says and does on a seemingly daily basis. But for many racialized people, it landed with a familiar sting. It was a classic microaggression, delivered on a global stage to a man who had climbed to the highest rung of leadership in his country. During a meeting with five West African leaders at the White House, Trump asked Boakai where he had learned to speak 'so beautifully,' following up with: 'Where were you educated? Where? In Liberia?' Boakai's government said it took no offence. What else could they say? Liberia has been heavily dependent on U.S. aid for decades, with American assistance accounting for nearly 2.6 per cent of its gross national income, according to the Center for Global Development. And now, with that aid recently cut, it's easy to understand why Boakai might have felt he had to grin and bear it. But Trump's comment isn't a compliment. It's a reminder of the often unspoken assumption that people who look a certain way couldn't possibly speak well, let alone lead a country. It's an insult wrapped in admiration, and one I, and many like me, have heard far too often. I still remember one night from my teens. I was driving with my dad down Academy Road when we hit black ice and spun into a pole. We were unharmed, and since we weren't far from home, we started walking. A white woman pulled over and kindly offered us a ride. We accepted, grateful. But during that short drive, a series of seemingly innocent questions began to reveal something else. She spoke only to me, even when asking about my dad, who was sitting right there. She asked if we had insurance. Then if I was in school. I told her I was in my first year of university. 'That's wonderful,' she said. 'Your English is really good. Where did you learn to speak it? It must be such a help for your dad.' My dad, who taught English, whose only language is English, sat beside me in silence. He had become invisible in her eyes. Her assumptions about our race overrode everything else. After the end of British colonization in our homeland, my dad was one of the first racialized teachers allowed to teach in a system that once excluded people like him. He spoke English fluently, yet he was treated as though he didn't understand. These kinds of comments don't happen in isolation. When Trump told Boakai he spoke 'beautiful English,' he wasn't complimenting eloquence; he was expressing surprise. To be fair, perhaps Trump didn't intend to be offensive. Hear me out. The White House later pointed out that he has complimented white leaders on their English as well, commenting on their British or Australian accents, for example. But that's not the same. Admiring a posh accent from a white leader is different than expressing disbelief that a Black African president could possibly speak English 'so beautifully.' It's not about tone; it's about expectation. And context matters. English has been the official language of Liberia since the country's founding in the 1800s. Trump's question didn't reveal curiosity. It revealed ignorance. It's the same kind of surprise racialized professionals encounter in boardrooms and classrooms when we're told we're 'so articulate,' with a tone that implies, 'You're not like the others.' These microaggressions may seem small, harmless even, to those who say them. But they add up. They remind us that no matter how well we speak, how many degrees we earn, or how accomplished we are, we are still seen as exceptions. The problem isn't that racialized people don't speak English well. Many of us are fluent in English and several other languages too. The problem is the deeply embedded belief that we shouldn't be. I don't think the woman who drove us home was trying to be unkind. I believe she thought she was being warm and welcoming. But kindness and racism are not mutually exclusive. Microaggressions like hers and like Trump's are rooted in the same idea: that whiteness is the norm, and everything else is foreign. I didn't say anything that day. But I've thought about that moment often. How small it made us feel. How large the assumptions were, based on nothing but the colour of our skin. In case you're wondering: my skin is brown. I was born in a foreign land. My English is excellent. My French is pretty good. My Spanish isn't bad either. But what I really wish is that I spoke Arabic. Now that's a beautiful language. Samantha Turenne is a Winnipeg writer.
The Sun
13-07-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Liberia responds to Trump's English remark with humour and pride
MONROVIA: Liberia has dismissed any offence over US president Donald Trump's remark about president Joseph Boakai's English fluency, calling the meeting an honour. The incident has since inspired a viral tribute song celebrating Boakai as the 'English King of Africa.' During a White House summit with African leaders, Trump praised Boakai's English skills, seemingly unaware that English is Liberia's official language. Boakai, who was educated in Liberia, responded with an awkward laugh. Liberian foreign minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti confirmed no offence was taken, emphasising Liberia's desire to strengthen US ties through mutual respect. Liberia, founded by freed American slaves in 1822, has deep historical connections with the US. Singer and former cultural ambassador Queen Juli Endee released a song praising Boakai, calling him the 'Beautiful English King of Africa.' The video, featuring US flags and images of both leaders, has gained traction online. Public reactions in Liberia were mixed. Shadrach Johnson, an unemployed resident, saw Boakai's invitation as progress. However, street trader Patience Allison viewed Trump's comment as disrespectful, saying it mocked the president. - AFP
New Straits Times
13-07-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Liberia: No offence taken over Trump's 'good English' gaffe to President Boakai
MONROVIA: Liberia's president was "honoured" to meet US counterpart Donald Trump this week and wasn't offended by Trump's comment about his fluency in English – his mother tongue – Liberia's foreign minister said on Friday. The US president's gaffe has even inspired a catchy tribute song in the west African country. Trump praised President Joseph Boakai on Wednesday on his English-speaking skills, apparently unaware that English is the official language of Liberia. Responding to remarks Boakai made at a White House mini-summit of the presidents of five mineral-rich countries in west Africa, the US leader said: "Such good English... Where were you educated?" Boakai – who, like most Liberians, speaks English as a first language – laughed uncomfortably and replied he had been educated in his home country. "We were honoured by the White House's invitation to President Boakai for a meeting with President Trump and fellow African leaders," Liberian Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti told AFP on Friday evening. "No offence was taken." She said Liberia was keen to strengthen ties with the United States, "built on mutual respect." Liberia is the oldest republic in sub-Saharan Africa. It was founded in 1822 when the American Colonization Society, funded by the US Congress and slaveholders, began sending freed slaves to its shores. Thousands of "Americo-Liberian" settlers followed. They declared independence in 1847 and set up a government to rule over the native African majority. English is the official language and the most widely used throughout the country. In response to Trump's faux pas, singer and former cultural ambassador Queen Juli Endee penned a song in tribute to Boakai. "We salute JNB, our black president, Beautiful English King of Africa," she and her band sing in a video widely shared on social media. The clip shows them waving US flags and wearing T-shirts bearing the images of Boakai and Trump. Liberians, meanwhile, voiced mixed reactions. Shadrach Johnson, unemployed, welcomed the fact Boakai had been among the small number of African leaders invited to the summit. "He went there and spoke on behalf of the Liberian people. It's progress," he told AFP. But street trader Patience Allison said Trump had insulted her head of state and sought to provoke.
