Donald Trump’s signature looks like the strip of paper exhaled by a seismograph after four shocks of seven points on the Richter scale between which small aftershocks sneak in. All this in his renowned thick-tip black marker.
One of these tremors appears on the third page (the text has 29) of the one known in November, a text that traces the way the American president positions himself in relation to reality. In its declaration of intent, it is warned that “we cannot afford to pay the same attention to all regions and all the world’s problems.” From there it begins to be understood that Africa only deserves three paragraphs (20 lines, if you want more precision) in the document.
In statements reported by the Semafor Africa portal, Cameron Hudson, a White House official under George W. Bush, recognizes that “it is the most sincere declaration of the United States’ interest in Africa that we have seen in a long time.” That sincerity translates, above all, into Washington’s desire to change the way it relates to the continent. Thus, it is read that it seeks to move “from a paradigm of foreign aid to a paradigm of investment and growth capable of taking advantage of Africa’s abundant natural resources and latent economic potential.” Of course, as long as it finds possibilities of association with “capable and reliable States committed to opening their markets to American goods and services.” Which, between the lines, means two things. One: that it will be Washington that determines which State is capable and reliable. And two: that African markets will have to buy goods and services produced on the other side of the Atlantic. Goods that, to a large extent (especially technological ones), are possible thanks to the critical minerals that, oh coincidence!, are found in Africa.
And little else, they are not believed.
In just three paragraphs the US encapsulates its strategy for an entire continent. For 55 countries. “The affairs of other countries only concern us if their activities directly threaten our interests,” it reads. Trump’s word and signature.
