{"id":5249,"date":"2022-10-13T14:34:50","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T12:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.projects.88designs.co.za\/acsus\/?p=5249"},"modified":"2022-10-13T14:34:53","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T12:34:53","slug":"us-africa-policy-can-be-reset-under-biden-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projects.88designs.co.za\/acsus\/us-africa-policy-can-be-reset-under-biden-2\/","title":{"rendered":"US-Africa policy can be reset under Biden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
United States President elect Joseph “Joe” Biden, speaks at the US-Africa Business Forum in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014. A two-decade surge in growth in Africa suggests the poorest continent is starting to come to grips with its challenges and has raised the prospect of the “African lions” emulating the “Asian tiger” economies in the 21st century. Photographer: Drew Angerer\/Bloomberg via Getty Images
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We have asked some of Africa\u2019s leading academics and thinkers to reflect on what the inauguration of a new US president means for Africa. This series is produced In collaboration with the University of the Witwatersrand\u2019s African Center for the Study of the United States.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since American agricultural commodities\u2019 demand for slave labour brought the United States and Africa together four centuries ago, the US-Africa relationship has been mainly defined by economics and the shifting strategic value of the continent to America. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As President Joe Biden takes office, it is time to consider how to elevate US-Africa relations through policies that can bring more prosperity to ordinary Africans and Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Ronald Reagan began his presidency in 1981, gross domestic product per capita in the US was $13 917<\/a>, $2 913<\/a> in South Africa, $2 180<\/a> in Nigeria, $1 004<\/a> in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, $700<\/a> in Senegal and $463<\/a> in Zaire. Nigeria and South Africa had a higher GDP per capita than South Korea ($1 883<\/a>) and China ($197<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four decades later, the 2021 <\/a>GDP per capita of Nigeria ($2210) and the Democratic Republic of Congo ($477) have barely inched forward. GDP has risen a little more in South Africa ($5 240), doubled in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire ($2 570) and Senegal ($1 596) but the values quite lag behind the GDP per capita in the US ($66 140), China ($11 710) or South Korea ($32 310). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GDP per capita statistics tell us that, despite positive prospects such as mobile technology, fin-tech, entrepreneurship and FDIs (foreign direct investments), the vast majority of African nations still lag far behind the prosperity of Asia\u2019s leading economies. Yet, the US has poured more than $143-billion<\/a> in official development assistance in sub-Saharan Africa since 1981. In this context, taking a hard look at US engagement with Africa and re-imagining it for the better is not only an imperative, but an opportunity that the incoming Biden administration would be wise not to pass up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden campaign\u2019s stated objectives<\/a> for Africa policy were vague and lofty: promoting and expanding democracy, diplomatic relations, diversity and inclusion and youth leadership development. The Biden team should start addressing the problematic aspects of how the US engages with Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, a lack of nuanced, in-depth analysis can lead to policy blunders, with disastrous consequences. Often, US policy ignores local complexities, leading to protagonists being cast in simplistic terms. Although perhaps serving US interests in the short run, this approach has led to lasting devastating consequences (in Libya, Rwanda, DRC and Somalia, to cite a few).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, most US administrations tend to leave African policy in the hands of the same small number of bureaucrats, who recycle the same old thinking about the continent. Fresh faces could bring greater diversity in perspectives, more competition of ideas and innovation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, the US government claims it wants to increase private sector engagement with Africa. However, these business engagements typically look more like aid. We know that, in addition to human capital development, no country has increased its wealth without a large and thriving private sector. Yet, whenever the US arrives in Africa to perform a patchwork of well-intentioned activities they do not eradicate poverty but instead increase dependency on aid.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his speech in Ghana in 2009, Barack Obama said that \u201cwe must start from the simple premise that Africa\u2019s future is up to Africans\u201d.  The Trump administration based its aid policy on the notion that recipients of aid must build their local development capacity. Frankly, it has never mattered who is in charge in Washington DC; the commitment of African leaders to serve their citizens\u2019 interests is more pertinent. In turn, it is up to Africans to demand accountability from their leaders and take charge of their development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consequently, the US can be a partner to Africans already creating meaningful change. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that African governments and their partners should not continue to ignore critical investments in the fundamentals  \u2014 healthcare, education, infrastructure, energy and water and sanitation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration should consider a number of policy options to address critical areas of mutual interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n