China, US, and Africa

Kenya's Business Daily published on 21 August 2018 a commentary titled "Why Kenya Should Realign to Changing Global Economic Order" by George Wachira, director of Petroleum Focus Consultants.

The author suggests that the Trump administration's America First policies have rattled multilateral institutions that have previously held the world together. With the traditional US-EU shared global leadership now in flux, China and Russia are likely to leverage the ongoing trade and political uncertainties to consolidate their global position. This may fit especially well with China's long-term plans for economic, political, and military ascendancy and its significant stranglehold on Africa. For Kenya, China remains both a big opportunity and a tricky challenge. Kenya needs to learn how to deal with China, which is mostly interested in leveraging its position to its own advantage.