Trump’s new Africa strategy takes aim at China, Russia

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday announced a sharp refocus of its Africa strategy to counter what it called the “predatory” practices of China and Russia, which are “deliberately and aggressively targeting their investments in the region to gain a competitive advantage.”

National security adviser John Bolton said the U.S. will now choose its African partners more carefully. He took special aim at China, accusing it of wielding “bribes, opaque agreements, and the strategic use of debt to hold states in Africa captive to Beijing’s wishes and demands.”

Russia, he alleged, is also “seeking to increase its influence in the region through corrupt economic dealings.” Russia’s and China’s efforts across the African continent, he said, “stunt” its economic growth.

Addressing Congress on Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of State Tibor Nagy warned of China’s increasing economic, military and political influence in Africa, a continent with some of the world’s fastest-growing economies and trillions of dollars’ worth of natural resources. Africa’s population is set to double by 2050, he said, a “demographic tsunami.”

Any renewed U.S. effort to counter China in Africa, however, comes years late. China became the continent’s top trading partner nearly a decade ago and has invested billions of dollars in high-profile infrastructure projects.

In response to warnings by the U.S. and others about indebtedness to China, some in Africa have noted sometimes uncomfortable financial terms set out by Western powers in the past. Others praise China’s no-strings-attached terms with no insistence on human rights reforms.

Congress passed legislation earlier this year creating a $60 billion international development agency, widely viewed as a response to Chinese overseas development programs.