Victor Ezeja
President African School of Governance (ASG), Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, has stated that Donald Trump’s presidency may not have much influence on the affairs of African countries.
Moghalu said Africa countries should focus on tackling their challenges and exploring opportunities for development and stop looking for external aids.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelHe stated this in an interview with BBC World Service on Thursday. The interview focused on how Trump’s presidency will affect Africa.
Trump, who contested on the platform of the Republican Party, won the 2024 United States presidential election held on Tuesday, 5 November. Trump defeated his rival, Democratic Party candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris has conceded defeat and called Trump to congratulate him.
Speaking on the possible influence of Trump’s presidency on Africa, Moghalu said: “I frankly don’t think that Trump’s presidency changes much for Africa one way or the other. African countries should drive their own narratives and agendas and stop looking to external props.”
Moghalu, a former presidential candidate and ex-deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, observed that Trump has not shown much interest in Africa in the past and he doesn’t expect that to change significantly this time.
He said the only area that Trump’s presidency may affect African economies is the fate of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) passed 24 years ago under President Bill Clinton which gives African products tariff-free access to American markets.
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“There is only one area in which his presidency could matter for Africa. That is the area of trade,” Moghalu observed. “The United States has the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which was a law passed in 2000 that gave African goods tariff-free access to the United States. AGOA is due for reauthorization.”
During his campaign, Donald Trump had vowed to impose blanket tariffs of up to 20 per cent on imports from all countries and levies of 60 per cent or more on goods from China.
While admitting that Trump’s pro-tariff stance might be a challenge to African products, Moghalu however pointed out that the US president-elect is aiming more on China and a number of other industrialized countries.
According to the economic expert, there is currently a strong push for reauthorization of the AGOA legislation with the African Export-Import Bank and other supporters working with lobbyists at the Washington DC to get the US Congress to reauthorize AGOA within the first-half of 2025 for at least another 10 years despite Trump’s announced pro-tariff policy.
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“I think that’s the only area of significance in which I see his (Trump) relationships with African countries otherwise, he would most likely reduce foreign aids to a number of countries. He is not a great fan of foreign aids, he believes in America first, which I think is quite okay,” Moghalu added.
The ASG president further stated that Trump’s track record shows he doesn’t see Africa as an area of strategic interest. This, he said, could give other Great Powers like China and Russia an opportunity to exert influence on the continent.
“I think it is for African countries themselves to have their own worldview and drive their own narratives and that’s one of the reasons why the African School of Governance, a pan-African graduate school of public policy located in Kigali, Rwanda, was established to teach a new generation of Africa’s leaders how to engage the continent’s challenges and opportunities without looking for external props and with an African.”
“ I think that is very important,” he added.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
