Trump wants to do business with Africa to face China.

Trump wants to do business with Africa to face China.

The White House is organizing a "summit of the African leaders" this week. However, only five countries of the 55 nations of the continent are invited.

invitation to the African states

As Liberia announced, his president was one of the five African heads of state invited by President Donald Trump to be at a "high -ranking summit" in Washington, D.C. to participate. The aim of this summit is to deepen the diplomatic relationships, to promote common economic interests and to strengthen the security policy cooperation between Washington and selected African nations.

The other invited leaders include the heads of state of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Senegal. However, none of the great players in Africa, such as the largest economies in South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia, was invited to participate. These nations are part of the BRICS group founded by Brazil, India and the rivals of America, Russia and China. Brics members could be proven by Trump with new tariffs because they support “anti-American” policies.

The goal of Trump

Christopher Afoke Isike, professor of African politics and international relations at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, describes the handpicked guests of Trump as "cheap targets" in his endeavor to counteract the influence of China and Russia in Africa. "On the one hand, Trump is desperately looking for a deal to show his base that he achieves results for America. On the other hand, some of these countries with his focus on combating Chinese influence in Africa and the harmful Russian activities that undermine the US interests on the continent," said Isike in conversation with CNN.

China's influence and US policy

china is Africa's largest import -sided trading partner, while Russia has expanded its influence on the continent and acts as an important supplier of military hardware. This is not the first time that Trump receives a small group of African leaders in the United States. In contrast, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have planned larger gatherings of African heads of government in the White House.

During his first term, which some consider "derogatory to Africa", Trump invited nine African heads of state in 2017, which he described as "partners to promote prosperity and peace in a large number of economic, humanitarian and security issues".

mineral resources in focus

In the meantime in his second term, Trump's focus is on the mineral wealth of Africa, with the United States endeavored to challenge China's access to critical minerals in the region. He pleads for a transactional policy that exchanges good activity for strategic US investments.

As a peace agreement mediated by Trump last month was signed by Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which houses the great occurrence of minerals that are crucial for the production of electronics, Trump informed the reports that the USA will secure "many mineral rights from the Congo".

The choice of the five African countries

The selection of Gabun, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Liberia may seem insignificant at first glance, but these small economies have rich mineral resources, including oil and gas, gold, iron ore and less frequent earth. The West and Central African countries are also often the starting points for migrants who want to go to the USA.

Discussions at the summit could go beyond trade, says Ousmane Sene, who heads the Senegalese research institution West African Research Center (Warc). "There could also be other interests in the game: migration flows from West Africa to Nicaragua and then to the USA as well as security questions, since all of these five countries have access to the Atlantic," Sene told CNN.

expectations of the hosts

for the journalist and political analysts Mamadou Thior based in Dakar, who accompanied the first US Africa leader summit under Obama in 2014, the five African government leaders must be "as Clever as Donald Trump" when the talks in the White House begin.

"Trump is a businessman. Therefore, he only interests the interests of the United States," said Thior. "The USA, which was an important partner for countries like Senegal, no longer exists. It is up to them to negotiate with Trump to find new cooperation opportunities." ISIKE is of the opinion that this meeting will initiate a new diplomatic model of the United States, which links economic reforms and trading results for the USA.

Nevertheless, the five African nations can expect private partnerships, investments, infrastructural development and security policy cooperation with the USA.

Although there is still ambiguities, Trump makes one thing clear: an urgent turn from traditional help to strategic, trade -specific engagement is underway. "To enable the African countries to independence does not happen because Trump loves Africa, but because he is not patient with countries that are only dependent on alms from the USA," added Isike.