Africa and the New World Order: U.S. Pulls Back and China Moves Forward

The collapse of the post-war international system now underway will have a disproportionate impact on African countries that rely heavily on multilateral bodies like the UN. Beyond a pull-back of aid and humanitarian assistance, African countries must also contend with an increasingly hostile United States.

Dozens of African countries have been targeted by the Trump administration for visa restrictions, trade sanctions, and regularly denigrated by the president himself. At the same time, U.S. diplomats across the continent were ordered by the State Department in January to remind African governments to express more gratitude to the U.S. for its "generosity."

Judd Devermont, the former top Africa strategist at the White House during the Biden administration and now an operating partner at Kupanda Capital in Washington, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the future of U.S.-Africa relations and China's expanding presence on the continent.

📌 Topics covered in this episode:

• China's sharp drop in Africa lending and what it signals
• Why big Chinese infrastructure projects are fading
• U.S. Africa relations after USAID and PEPFAR cuts
• The leaked State Department email and Africa as a "peripheral" priority
• America's collapsing credibility in Africa and beyond
• Why China is seen as an opportunity, not an ally
• Critical minerals and the limits of extractive diplomacy
• What the shifting U.S.-China-Africa balance means next

Show Notes:

• Post Strategy: On China by Judd Devermont
• The Guardian: Head of US Africa bureau urges staff to highlight US 'generosity' despite aid cuts by Aisha Down
• China Power Project: US-China-Africa Relations: A View from Africa by Lina Benabdallah

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