As Hurricane Trump Looms
Africa Needs Strategic Re-evaluation of his election and its Implications for Africa and the Global Black World
[ The 47th POTUS]
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“A slave who cannot assume his own revolt does not deserve to be pitied…
Africa Doesn't Need the World Bank, IMF, Europe, or America. We have what it takes to grow our economy without loans and refuse to be financial slaves." - President Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso.
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In two days, barring an assassination, Donald Trump, the man many prematurely wrote off, will be sworn in as the 47th POTUS.
After his victory was declared, not a few Africans criticized me for cautioning that we should be less emotional and more strategic in our reaction to geopolitical happenstance in other parts of the world, especially in the USA.
My caution was informed by the vituperative criticism of Donald Trump by many African commentators, many with plenty of degrees and years of experience under their belts. Yet, as usual, they cannot rise above emotional pettiness when analyzing serious philosophical and geopolitical issues.
We in Africa continue to get things wrong and lag because we view things only from primordial and emotional prisms.
For example, in Nigeria, former Nigerian Institute of International Affairs Director-General Professor Bolaji Akinyemi strongly criticized Trump’s leadership, questioning his capacity to engage constructively on a global stage.
Listen to the professor: “Donald Trump’s return to power is a setback for international cooperation and reflects poorly on American democracy.”
Wow!
My main criticism is that while Akinyemi’s concerns may resonate with some, his emotional criticisms, especially from such a high-profile commentator, risk clouding strategic foresight.
Rather than indulge in infantile outbursts, Africa and the Global Black World (GBW) should adopt a pragmatic approach to international relations, focusing less on personalities and more on core national interests.
We should listen to Lord Palmerston’s famous assertion: “Nations have no permanent friends or enemies, only eternal interests.”
Although retired and a private citizen, Professor Akinyemi should have been more circumspect in his public pronouncements. If his thinking, given his degrees and advanced age, remains so shallow, what about the people under him who are not so credentialed?
More worrisome is the thought of the type of advice the professor will give to ministers and presidents who ask for his counsel.
I contend that whatever we in Africa think, the president of the United States is the most powerful human being on earth. Although the stock of the American Empire is dwindling, the country’s immense economic, military, cultural, technological, and diplomatic resources still make it the world’s Hegemon.
I also pointed out that it is not the business of foreigners like us to decide who rules the USA; only American citizens can make that decision, and we must respect it.
A critical lesson for us in the GBW lies in the fact that Trump’s re-election reflects the choice of the American people. Lampooned, derided, and deplatformed, Trump rose like the Phoenix and won a popular election. We have no choice but to respect his electoral victory. We cannot claim to want democracy yet do not want to concede that democracy ultimately rests on the sovereignty of the electorate and that we must respect the outcomes of free elections even when they go against our favorite candidates. Rather than challenge or pour insults on Trump, we can learn from America’s process, recognizing that a diverse and often divided population has chosen to keep Trump in office based on their understanding of national interests.
If Americans, in their collective wisdom, decide to put a donkey in their White House, the rest of the world will only have to shut up and salute smartly.
Who cares whether or not you like Donald Trump? Just ask the Panamanians, the Greenlanders, and the Canadians how their world has been upended by mere pronouncement by a man who has not even taken over. Ask Bibi Netanyahu how he felt when Trump’s envoy ordered him to a meeting (with no legal or constitutional backing).
It is sad to see African countries and the GBW continue to react strongly, often emotionally, to the actions of Western leaders who appear dismissive of their interests or indifferent to African and Black concerns.
While this is understandable, we must remember that emotions rarely advance core natural interests. No one cares about our feelings; they care about what we bring to the table and the resources we can deploy to advance and safeguard our interests.
The only intelligent thing for Africa and its diaspora to do if they want to increase their global influence is to view Trump’s re-election as an opportunity to work towards their objectives rather than to complain, condemn, insult, or whine.
Trump’s controversial stance on major issues and unpredictable nature provide unique openings that the continent and its diaspora could leverage to secure favorable trade agreements, access to markets, and diplomatic and political support in areas that align with their interests.
The man is a transactional businessman for whom emotions or ideology hold zero sway.
I have followed Donald Trump's career since the 1980s when he frequently made Time magazine covers for one sleaze or the other. His career took him through cycles of scandal and success. In the 1980s, he achieved celebrity status with major real estate ventures, establishing properties in New York and Atlantic City. Yet, as the ’90s approached, his empire was hit by financial instability, culminating in high-profile bankruptcies and debt. Many anticipated his downfall, but Trump staged a comeback, diversifying his brand through entertainment, notably as the star of the reality show The Apprentice, which reestablished him as a household name.
The man is a showman par excellence.
Serious political science students should study Trumpology: how a scandal-ridden Billionaire managed to sell himself as the populist redeemer of the downtrodden.
It is one of the greatest mysteries of the ages that a man with Trump’s criminal background became president.
But that is not our problem in Africa. Instead of letting Trump’s rhetoric lead to an emotional backlash, we can seek ways to understand his policies and actions and craft our responses strategically.
Our emerging economies in Africa and the GBW networks worldwide have unprecedented global influence potential, but it can be achieved and deployed to our benefit only if we have the power of the numbers to sit at the big table.
Unfortunately, despite endless meetings and lofty rhetoric from misleaders, we continue to fritter away our potential by keeping ourselves Balkanized in the colonial garrisons we euphemistically called countries that no one takes seriously. It might be painful, but the truth is that few African countries count for much in the global scheme of things, which makes our inability to unite all the more mystifying.
Let’s learn Palmerstonian wisdom of building relationships in international diplomacy rather than seeking friendships or enemies. Our focus should be on building and defending interests that transcend the temporary inclinations of any one foreign leader.
To hang Trump, many reduced him to a one-dimensional idiotic racist with no agency for self-redemption. While he has been accused of racism, his life and relationships show a more complex reality. How many of those who threw the racism dart knew that his youngest daughter, Tiffany Trump, is married to Michael Boulos, a Nigerian-Lebanese businessman?
This connection alone undercuts the blanket assertions of his supposed animosity toward people of color. Trump’s policies may not prioritize African interests, but his ties highlight a distinction between personal relations and political rhetoric.
Trump’s re-election offers Nigeria, Africa, and the GBW a chance for strategic self-reflection and redefinition. Rather than expecting any Western or foreign power to save them, African nations should assess their goals and work to achieve them on their terms. This reorientation must include recognizing that the continent’s long-term success hinges not on outside assistance but collective unity, self-reliance, and internal resourcefulness.
This is the core of our message over the decades.
Trump’s unpredictable character and erratic policies can serve as a wake-up call for Africa to change direction and tact. We should stop going to the World like a hapless supplicant. We should be able to leverage our immense resources to rewrite the books on economic development that continue to rely on foreign aid instead of on self-sustaining development. Trump’s America-first stance shows that national priorities are best determined internally rather than through reliance on external actors, a principle that Africa and the GBW should adopt. By focusing on unity, innovation, resource mobilization, and strong governance, African nations can put their house to build resilient economies, and the unity will create the conditions where they can negotiate from positions of strength.
The path forward for us is clear. Africa and the GBW should set aside illusions that salvation will come from external forces. Five centuries of “friendship” with Europe ought to have taught us that friendship is meaningless in a world full of predatory sharks looking to exploit weaklings. We can only reiterate our call for Africa to build regional and continental unity, which they will use to promote the idea of sovereign self-sufficiency. Thus united, we can see the Trump presidency not as an obstacle but as an opportunity to assert our agency on the world stage.
By coming together to champion their interests, the GBW can forge a new era of influence that empowers future generations to succeed on their terms. We should promote this message instead of wasting our time with emotional ejaculations to which no one pays heed - certainly not a narcissistic, self-promoting POTUS like Trump.
©️ Fẹ́mi Akọ́mọláfẹ́
(Farmer, Writer, Published Author, and Social Commentator.)
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In my opinion China does not interfere in African politics just work with African nations to do business-China provides the capital and sometimes labour to make roads, infrastructure in return for natural resources.
America. the Empire, attempts to take way the resources by World Bank/IMF loans in American dollars that they perform the work and when the country defaults the resources are forfeited.