Dakar –
A decline in U.S. influence in Africa means U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will have to grapple with blind spots in its understanding of a fast-changing continent increasingly allied with China and Russia and threatened by spreading jihadist insurgencies.
Interviews with eight current and former officials along with a review of U.S. government watchdog reports show that a dearth of staff and resources under President Joe Biden at embassies in Africa undermined efforts to implement Washington’s goals. The U.S. racked up diplomatic setbacks over the past four years, including losing America’s major spy base in Niger and failing to negotiate a deal with any ally to reposition those assets. It is now caught without a foothold among the Sahel region’s Russia-backed military juntas just as the region becomes the world’s terrorism hotpot.
In soft power terms, a Gallup poll published this year showed that China surpassed the U.S. in popularity in Africa.