The Bottom Line

Do Africa’s leaders have a ‘game plan’ to deal with Trump?

Former African Union diplomat Arikana Chihombori argues that Trump’s Africa policy is ‘a step in the right direction’.

Africa’s leaders have no one to blame but themselves if they cannot reach equitable trade deals with the United States, argues the former representative of the African Union to the US, Arikana Chihombori-Quao.

Chihombori-Quao tells host Steve Clemons that US President Donald Trump’s “trade, not aid” policy opens up “an opportunity that African leaders were not awarded by the colonisers, the European nations, when they set out to exploit the continent of Africa”.

She adds that African leaders should not allow themselves to be bullied by Trump, “because he has what you need, you also have what he wants”.

Published On 20 Jul 202520 Jul 2025