US Aid Reductions Endanger African Health Care

 The Associated Press published on 13 March 2025 an article titled "US Aid Cuts Are Hurting Africa's Ability to Respond to Disease Outbreaks" by Rodney Muhumuza.

The Director General of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jean Kaseya, said recent cuts in US foreign aid are hurting Africa's capacity to respond to disease outbreaks such as Ebola and mpox and are leaving health systems in Africa in disarray.

Dismantling of USAID Sets Stage for Global Disease Outbreaks

 The New York Times published on 8 March 2025 an article titled "How Foreign Aid Cuts Are Setting the Stage for Disease Outbreaks" by Apoorva Mandavilli.  

The Trump administration's pause in foreign aid has hobbled programs that prevent outbreaks of disease such as Ebola and dengue around the world.  These diseases eventually appear everywhere, including the United States.  The interruption and possible termination of USAID funding increase the likelihood of uncontrolled disease outbreaks.  

China's Health Care Program in Africa

 The South China Morning Post published on 11 July 2023 an article titled "China Builds on 60-year Record to Strengthen Medical Ties with Africa" by Jevans Nyabiage.  

The article reviews the development of China's health care programs in Africa since the assignment of a medical team to Algeria in 1963,        

China Updates Approach to Great Power Competition in Africa

 On 11 January 2023 during his visit to Ethiopia, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang stated that "Africa should be a stage for international cooperation, not an arena for major-force rivalry. . . . If African friends wish, China is also ready to carry out trilateral or multilateral cooperation with any other country in Africa to jointly make greater contributions to the development and rejuvenation of Africa."

While still ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang stated even more explicitly during an interview in Washington on 12 December 2022: "And we believe that Africa should be a place for international cooperation, not for major-power competition for geopolitical gains.  We welcome all other members of the international community, including the United States, to join us in the global efforts to help Africa. . . . 

    We need to extend, broaden our vision and expand our cooperation in Africa.  This is one of the very interesting areas for the two countries to work on.  

    In recent years, we have had good examples.  For example, in 2015, China and the United States together helped African countries like Liberia to fight against Ebola.  It is a good example.  Several good economic projects in Africa are jointly participated by China, the United States and African countries.  There's a textile industry park in Ethiopia that is jointly sponsored, built and operated by China, the United States and Ethiopia.  It's very productive, and exports garments to Europe and North American markets.  That's very successful.  I hope that we can work with the United States on peace, security and prosperity in Africa."

Comment:  The possibility for US-China-Africa cooperation has rarely been mentioned since 2015 primarily because of the deterioration in US-China relations and focus on great power competition.  Foreign Minister Qin Gang is suggesting there is an opportunity to revisit China-US cooperation in Africa.   

    

 

The Lancet Editorializes on WHO's Ethiopian Director General

 The Lancet published on 27 August 2022 an editorial titled "Tedros: Tigray, the Triple Billion, and a Second Term."

The editorial reviews briefly the controversial remarks about racism by the World Health Organization's (WHO) Ethiopian Director General, Tedros Adhanom.  The main focus of the editorial is, however, on Tedros' second term as head of the WHO.  It argues that he needs to devolve responsibility and provide more support to strengthened WHO regional offices rather than rely so heavily on direction from the top.  

US, China, and Health Diplomacy in Africa

Lawfare posted on  7 June 2020 a commentary titled "Health Diplomacy in Africa: Competition and Opportunity" by Mark P. Lagon, Georgetown University, and Rachel Sadoff, a student at Harvard.

The authors concluded that the United States can most effectively counter China's influence in Africa by more proactively pursuing health diplomacy, i.e. tackling COVID-19 and Ebola in addition to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. 

COVID-19 and Chinese Soft Power in Africa

Panda Paw Dragon Claw, a popular blog in China, posted on 10 May 2020 a question and answer with me titled "Covid-19 and Chinese Soft Power in Africa."

The Q and A deals with the African reaction to events in Guangzhou and China's handling of the criticism from the perspective of an outside observer. Briefly, those African governments that responded negatively are likely to put this behind them quickly but African publics and civil society are not going to forget Guangzhou any time soon. This is not the place for the American or Western governments to gloat; Africans and Chinese need to sort this out on their own.

What the Coronavirus Means for Africa

The African Center for Strategic Studies published on 4 February 2020 an analysis titled "What the Coronavirus Means for Africa" by Shannon Smith.

Given its fragile public health systems and close ties to China, Africa is vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus, highlighting the continent's centrality to global health security. The economic consequences of the outbreak may be more significant for Africa than the epidemiological impact.

China's New Defense White Paper and Africa

China's State Council published on 24 July 2019 its first defense white paper since 2015. The most recent one is titled "National Defense in the New Era."

There are few references to Africa in the white paper and no surprises. There is mention of China's "support base" in Djibouti, a euphemism for its military base. The paper continues to commit China to support of UN peacekeeping operations in Africa and the anti-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden. There is reference to the first meeting in 2018 of the China-Africa Defense and Security Forum and China's military contribution to combating Ebola in West Africa in 2014.

US Africa Strategy: China As Partner Rather than Adversary

The Conversation posted on 17 December 2018 a commentary titled "Trump's Africa Strategy Should Have Cast China As a Regional Partner, Not a Global Adversary" by John J. Stremlau, University of Witwatersrand.

The author concludes that what really matters to the Trump administration is not Africa but containing and countering China.

China's Medical Aid in Africa

The Diplomat posted on 14 March 2018 an article titled "China's Medical Aid in Africa" by Long Wang, Xiangya Hospital at Central South University, and Joshua Bateman.

This is a generally positive account of China's public health program in Africa that began in 1963 with the sending of a Chinese medical team to Algeria.

China's Humanitarian Aid

The London-based Humanitarian Policy Group, an independent research organization, published in January 2018 a study titled "Exploring the Links Between Chinese Foreign Policy and Humanitarian Action: Multiple Interests, Processes and Actors" by Miwa Hirono, Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan.

The paper tracks the evolution of China's humanitarian assistance, current funding levels and flows, and the decision-making and implementation structures. China's humanitarian spending, including flows to Africa, is ad hoc rather than systematic, without regard to any overarching criteria setting out where and when it should provide assistance. This is a rare and carefully researched study on China's humanitarian aid for natural disasters and complex emergencies.

Comparing Chinese and American Policy on Africa

The National Interest published on 22 January 2018 an article titled "How to Avoid Making 'the Afghanistan Mistake' in Africa" by Lyle J. Goldstein, US Naval War College.

The author assesses US and China's approach to Africa, suggesting that China's policy is more appropriate than the one from the United States.

China's Health Assistance to Africa: Opportunism or Altruism?

Globalization and Health published on 3 December 2016 an article titled "China's Health Assistance to Africa: Opportunism or Altruism?" by Shuang Lin, Liangmin Gao, Melissa Reyes, Feng Cheng, Joan Kaufman, and Wafaa M. El-Sadr.

The article concluded that after many decades of Chinese health assistance to African countries, there is a paucity of information regarding its scale, scope and impact. A key limitation of China's health aid approach is the absence of a cohesive approach and a coherent strategy of China's health diplomacy. Funding from Columbia University supported this study.

China's Response to Ebola in West Africa

The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs published in 2015 an article titled "China's Response to the Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa" by Ian Taylor, University of St. Andrews.  The article looks at China's interests in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and then evaluates China's response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak.  It has open access.

China's Health Assistance to Africa

The Lancet published on 12 December 2015 an article titled "New Orientation for China's Health Assistance to Africa" by Ted Alcorn.  The new approach will include efforts to encourage Chinese pharmaceutical companies to invest in Africa in an effort to lower the cost of medicine.

China Gets Good Press for Dam in Guinea

Bloomberg Business published on 29 September 2015 an article titled "China Wins Africa Friends by Building Dam in Ebola Outbreak" by Franz Wild and Ougna Camara. 

The article reports the completion of a Chinese-financed hydropower dam built by the China International Water and Electric Corporation.  Reportedly finished on budget and a year ahead of schedule, the Chinese workers remained on the job throughout the Ebola crisis while two Western companies stopped work on their projects in Guinea. 

Shifting Security Challenges in the China-Africa Relationship

The South African Institute of International Affairs published in September 2015 an analysis titled "Shifting Security Challenges in the China-Africa Relationship" by Ross Anthony, Harriet Esterhuyse, and Meryl Burgess, all with the Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University.

As China's interests in Africa increase and its physical presence there grows, China faces additional security challenges from terrorist attacks to international crime. 

Africa's Macroeconomic Prospects

The African Development Bank has just released its African Economic Outlook for 2015.  Chapter 1 titled "Africa's Macroeconomic Prospects" states that Africa's economic growth should strengthen to 4.5 percent in 2015 and 5 percent in 2016.  Lower oil and commodity prices, uncertain global conditions, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and domestic political uncertainties could still prevent these strong projections from realization.

Issues Shaping Africa's Economic Future

The World Bank published in April 2015 its most recent edition of "Africa's Pulse: An Analysis of Issues Shaping Africa's Economic Future."  It looks at 2015 and 2016 with an emphasis on the impact of commodity prices and terms of trade.