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A primer for the White House visit by West and Central African countries
President Cyril Ramaphosa with US President Donald Trump at the White House earlier this year. (X)
A few months ago, the chairman of the Africa and Global Health Policy Subcommittee of the
Now, President Donald Trump is slated to host the heads of state of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal for a
If that is the intent, the visit will provide an extraordinary opportunity for these coastal African countries to unlock tangible benefits from the
As with any White House visit, the event is not without known downside risks. To mitigate some of those, the invited heads of state should identify and address any serious concerns with bilateral relations held by the Trump administration. They should also arrive with a concrete set of commercial and investment proposals endorsed by the private sector. Otherwise, they could meet the same fate as the recent South African delegation.
Invited Countries
The Trump administration selected a set of African countries with important similarities. One is that all of them are perceived to be of high importance in countering the spread of violent extremism on the African continent. That is because the US government is extremely concerned about the risk of violent extremism spreading into coastal West and Central African countries with
Another is that none of the invited countries have been designated as having an
At the same time, the Trump administration has selected a set of African countries with important differences. One is that the majority have
Another is that there is a wide range of military expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product. At the low end, Liberia
Yet another is that some of the countries appear to meet the stated criteria for the partial suspension of the admission of their citizens to the US. One invitee has been
That raises
Valuable Opportunities
The White House visit will provide coastal African countries with an exceptional opportunity to expand trade and private investment with the US. The Trump administration has indicated that it is
In response, the US Department of State has made commercial diplomacy a '
At the same time, the White House visit will provide the Trump administration with a timely opportunity to demonstrate that their strategic approach to African affairs is better than the strategic approaches of the Biden and Obama administrations. That will require proof points. The Trump administration will need to show that it actually has delivered on its promise to increase the prosperity of Americans through African affairs.
Such proof points might include cases of new market expansion for US companies, new US investments by Africans and new reforms in African markets demanded by the private sector. In the process, the Trump administration will be looking for proof points that reinforce other whole-of-government priorities. Examples could include higher use of
Good Preparation
The
For example, they should seek to identify and address any
And, they should seek to identify and address any strategic competition concerns that the Trump administration might have about their relations with US adversaries and rivals (e.g. China, Iran, Venezuela). That includes
To be clear, that is not the only lesson to be learned from the South African visit. Another is that it is critical for African heads of state to arrive at the White House with a concrete set of commercial and investment proposals that have the endorsement of US companies and investors.
President Trump does not invite African heads of state over to
That will signal to Trump that their governments are willing and able to strike big commercial and investment deals with the US. Unfortunately, the South African delegation failed to go down that path. It is therefore not surprising that their visit failed to significantly improve the prosperity of either Americans or South Africans.
Michael Walsh is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
