The Trump Administration's Africa policy

In December 2018 the Trump Administration announced a new Africa strategy.1 This briefing examines US President Donald Trump's personal views on Africa, which reveal his lack of interest in the continent, other than for its commercial potential; his Administration's approach to Africa, which actually demonstrates a good deal of continuity with previous US policy under presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama; and examines the new strategy, which is firmly embedded in the context of Trump's wider 'America First' foreign policy and the United States' strategic global rivalry with China and Russia. It argues that the Africa strategy is entirely consistent with the President's overall world view, and is less different from previous US Administrations' policies on Africa than may appear. But that will not make it any more successful, especially as its internal contradictions are exposed.