Foreign Policy published on 29 November 2021 a commentary titled "Washington Needs a Better Message in Africa than 'Don't Trust China'" by Henry Tugendhat, US Institute of Peace, and Kamissa Camara, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
The authors argue that while the Forum on China Africa Cooperation continues to be a successful tool for China's Africa policy, it is a painful reminder of America's diplomatic shortfalls in Africa. There is simply no comparison in the depth and breadth of relationship building that China has developed with African leaders and future leaders for at least the past decade.
Comment: While the title of this commentary is accurate in that the US should not base its Africa policy on concerns about China, that is not currently the only basis for Washington's policy in Africa. The subsequent argumentation then overstates the success of China in Africa, especially once you look beyond relations with African officialdom and include civil society, and understates the success of the United States in relationship building over the decades. While there is plenty of room for legitimate criticism of US policy in Africa, there are also plenty of unmentioned missteps by China.
