DOGE Targets First Trump Administration's International Development Finance Corporation

 Politico published on 28 April 2025 an article titled "DOGE Targets US Foreign Aid Agency Created under First Trump Administration" by Robbie Gramer and Sophia Cai.  

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) was created with bipartisan congressional support during the first Trump administration to provide private sector funding for development projects in lower- and middle-income countries--offering an alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative.

A team of DOGE personnel went to the DFC headquarters in Washington this week to begin assessing the agency's effectiveness and alignment with the president's agenda.  

Comment:  Because the DFC was created during the first Trump administration, it may be left intact.  In any event, it was a good initiative that should be retained.  But that has not stopped DOGE from dismantling other good institutions such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, U.S. Institute of Peace, and the Woodrow Wilson Center.  

Funding for Premier US Infrastructure Project in Africa Threatened by USAID Dismantlement

 Railway Supply published on 18 February 2025 an article titled "Lobito Corridor Railway Project Faces Uncertainty Amid US Aid Freeze."

The signature infrastructure project in Africa of the Biden administration, the Lobito corridor railway designed to link copper mines in the DRC and Zambia with the Angolan port of Lobito, faces uncertainty as US funding by USAID and the US International Development Finance Corporation is frozen by the Trump administration.  This creates an opportunity for global competitors, especially China.  

Africa and the Trump Administration: Round Two

 The Atlantic Council published on 13 December 2024 a commentary titled "What Trump's Next Presidency Will Mean for Africa" by Rama Yade.

This analysis is less about what the Trump administration will do in Africa in a second term than what it did or did not do in the first term.  The author argues, however, that Africa has more geopolitical interest for the United States today than it did during Trump's first term.  

Africa Policy in a Second Trump Administration

 The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune published in November 2024 a commentary titled "Africa in the Second Trump Administration" by J. Peter Pham.

Pham, who held key roles dealing with Africa in the first Trump administration, lays out several principles and what one might expect in the second Trump administration.  Pham will likely occupy an important position on Africa in the upcoming Trump administration.