Depth report

　　

From the South China Sea to the Middle East, the United States is constantly losing its status as an unrivaled superpower. One of the places where this loss of influence is most obvious is Africa. Beijing is smelling a strategic opportunity in Africa, and Washington looks more and more like a capricious and even absent ally in the eyes of Africa. If there is a mirror image of Donald Trump's "America First" policy, you will find it in the world's poorest continent. You can call it "Africa Last".

    African leaders basically behaved indifferently to the US's letting go. They ignored Trump's rude remarks and his birth of the 55th African country "Nambia". Neglecting Trump — such as Trump's withdrawal from the African Working Conference at the Group of 20 (G20) meeting in Hamburg last year — they turned a blind eye. But they couldn't help but notice that Washington's original African strategy was gone, leaving only a hole in the shape of Africa.

    Mo Ibrahim, a telecommunications billionaire in Sudan, supports improved governance. Ibrahim stated that the United States has lost its authority as the leader of the liberal world and the pillar of the international order. As evidenced by Robert Mugabe's recent ouster in Zimbabwe, dictators are increasingly isolated in Africa. But Ibrahim said that African leaders feel that the United States’ commitment to African democracy is becoming weaker and weaker, and Trump’s apparent appreciation for strong men has also emboldened those African dictators who are still in power. John Campbell, the former US ambassador to Nigeria, said: "There is no high-level policy, at least I didn't find it."

    Why is this important? Africa accounts for only 3% of global trade, and there are not many bonds between the United States and Africa that were left over from the colonial era-a bond that allows Britain, France, Portugal, and Belgium to retain commercial and diplomatic interests in Africa. The commercial relationship between the United States and Africa is almost entirely confined to resource extraction. Petroleum giants like Chevron and ExxonMobil—the companies once headed by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson—are the biggest investors. Companies such as General Electric (GE), Google (Google), and Citigroup (Citigroup) are among the few non-resource-based American companies that have invested in Africa. Although Africa is poor, it has many of the fastest-growing economies in the world. .

    There are some reasons other than commercial reasons to value Africa. By 2050, the population of Africa will double to more than 2 billion, and it may double again by the end of this century. There is a danger that there will be a large number of restless and unemployed urban youth in Africa, who may join the growing army of immigrants flocking to Europe, or become prone to radicalization.

    As the power of the United States diminishes, the power of China grows longer. From roads, railways, telecommunications, infrastructure to the Djibouti naval base, China is everywhere. Among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, China has the most peacekeepers in Africa. When Zimbabwe’s military generals prepared to oust Mugabe, they first informed Beijing, not Washington.