The Washington Post published on 27 August 2026 an editorial titled "How the U.S. Can Beat China in Africa's AI Race."
Software developers across Africa are adapting Chinese models to build applications tailored for African users. But China has no monopoly on AI projects in Africa. In compute, the US has far more to offer than China. The US needs to revive its Power Africa initiative, which came to an end when the Trump administration dismantled USAID, in order to support African data centers.
The Guardian published on 9 March 2026 an investigative report titled "How the 'Galapagos of West Africa' Is Plundered by Floating Fish Factories" by Davide Mancini.
Floating Chinese-owned factory ships longer than a football field illegally process sardinella for fishmeal in the waters off Guinea-Bissau. The Chinese fishmeal factories are supported by Turkish purse seiners that illegally supply them with fish.
The offshore fish processing operation has both negative food security implications for the people of Guinea-Bissau and for artisanal fisherman in the country. Fish are the source of a third of animal protein consumed and the informal fishing industry employs 225,000 people from a population of 2.2 million.
The White House posted on 16 December 2025 a fact sheet titled "President Donald J. Trump Further Restricts and Limits the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security of the United States."
The United States added 15 countries to the list impacted by partial or full travel restrictions. There are now 34 countries subject to some kind of restriction; 26 are in Africa. The stated purpose of this policy is "to protect the Nation from national security and public safety threats."
The proclamation continues full restrictions and entry limitations of nationals from 12 "high-risk" countries. This includes the following African countries: Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan.
It adds full restrictions and entry limitations on 5 additional countries, including Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and South Sudan.
It imposes full restrictions on 2 countries that were previously subject to partial restrictions, including Sierra Leone.
It continues partial restrictions on nationals of 4 original "high risk" countries, including Burundi and Togo.
It adds partial restrictions and entry limitations on 15 new countries. They include Angola, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The Associated Press published on 16 December 2025 an article titled "Trump Expands Travel Ban and Restrictions to Include an Additional 20 Countries" by Rebecca Santana.
This article includes a map that clearly demonstrates the impact of this policy on African countries.
The New York Times published on 16 December 2025 an article titled "Trump Expands Travel Ban and Restrictions to 20 More Countries" by Tyler Pager and Hamed Aleaziz.
The article reports that homeland security secretary Kristi Noem recommended to President Trump that he institute "a full travel ban on every damn country that's been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies."
Comment: Most of the African countries on the list are there because of "high visa-overstay rates and refusal to repatriate removable nationals" from the United States. Visa overstay means that an individual received a visa at a US embassy overseas to be in the United States for a limited period of time, for example 3 months to visit relatives or one year to study. They stayed longer than the allotted period, which is a violation of US law. But it has little or nothing to do with US national security.
The fact sheet contains some African countries that do have unusually high visa overstay rates. But others are not especially high. Mauritania's B-1/B-2 visa overstay rate is 9 percent. Nigeria has a B-1/B-2 overstay rate of 6 percent and F, M, and J visa overstay rate of 12 percent. Senegal's B-1/B-2 overstay rate is 4 percent and F, M, and J overstay rate of 13 percent.
The US policy seems more focused on cracking down on immigration and keeping certain foreigners out of the country than US national security. As for Kristi Noem's comment on countries in the travel ban, has America fallen to this low level?
Voxeurop posted on 10 November 2025 an article titled "The Gambia's Stolen Catch: How Chinese Trawlers Feed Europe's Seafood Market" by Davide Mancini.
The Gambia has a tiny exclusive economic zone, but it is a hotspot for illegal fishing because of the nutrient-rich waters. Chinese-controlled trawlers are the principal offenders.
The New York Times published on 15 April 2025 an article titled "State Dept. Expands Plans for Closing Embassies and Consulates" by Karoun Demirjian.
The New York Times has viewed an internal State Department memo that says the Trump administration is considering plans to close 10 embassies and 17 consulates and reduce or consolidate the staff of several other foreign missions. Six of the embassies up for closure are in Africa (Central African Republic, Eritrea, Gambia, Lesotho, the Republic of Congo, and South Sudan) and two in Europe (Luxembourg and Malta) as well as Grenada and the Maldives. Most of the consulates are in Europe.
Comment: If these closures are carried out, China will have wider diplomatic representation globally than the United States. Beijing currently has an embassy in all 54 African countries except Eswatini, which recognizes Taiwan. This puts China ahead of the United States today in Africa. Closing six more US embassies in Africa will leave Washington at a distinct disadvantage. Gambia has the same voting power in the UN General Assembly as the United States or China. For minimal savings, the Trump administration would alienate ten countries. The party goes on in Beijing and Moscow.
The Associated Press published on 9 April 2025 an article titled "Beijing Ups Diplomatic Pressure on Africa as the US Pulls Back" by Dake Kang.
The government of China pressured Malawi and Gambia to withdraw from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a group of lawmakers from 38 countries concerned about how democracies approach Beijing. IPAC has coordinated sanctions on China over rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong and rallied support for Taiwan. These actions by China raise questions about its claims that it does not interfere in the internal affairs of African countries.
Comment: This policy by Beijing is consistent with its long-standing willingness to push back when African governments take exception to any of China's core domestic issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang, island building in the South China Sea, and human rights policies.
Gallup published on 26 April 2024 an article titled "U.S. Loses Soft Power Edge in Africa" by Benedict Vigers.
Gallup just published the results for 2023 of approval ratings in 36 of Africa's 54 countries on leadership in the United States, China, Russia, and Germany. In 2023, China nudged ahead of the United States by two points compared with 2022. Both the United States and China remained well ahead of Russia, which did restore its position following a drop in the aftermath of its attack on Ukraine.
The view of U.S. leadership improved significantly in Ghana, Mauritania, Cote d'Ivoire, and Tunisia but declined sharply in Kenya, Gambia, and Uganda. China's position was much stronger in Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, and Guinea, but fell sharply in Gambia and Uganda. The approval rating for the United States, China, and Russia is down significantly from where it was in 2011.
Doublethink Lab and the China in the World network have published a cross-regional ranking to measure China's overseas influence through comparable data titled "China Index 2022: Measuring PRC Influence Around the Globe." It looks at 82 countries, including 11 in Africa, evaluating the following 9 domains: academia, domestic politics, economy, foreign policy, law enforcement, media, military, society, and technology.
The African country ranked as having the highest amount of Chinese influence was South Africa, tied with Peru for position number 5. Other African countries had the following rankings: Nigeria (14), Egypt (17), Tanzania (18), Ghana (20), Kenya (22), Zambia (46), Sierra Leone (47), Gambia (50), Ethiopia (56), and Senegal (74). By comparison, the United States ranked number 21.
Mongabay, a US-based non-profit conservation and environmental science news platform, published on 11 May 2022 a commentary titled "Murky Provenance of a Chinese Fleet Clouds Madagascar Shrimp Fishery" by Rivonala Razafison.
Eight shrimp vessels owned by the Chinese company, Mada Fishery, are sitting idle in Madagascar during the shrimping season, apparently because of past fishing practices and legal questions related to ownership.
Ukraine requested and obtained permission on 28 February 2022 to hold an urgent debate in the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights situation stemming from the Russian invasion. The vote was 29 in favor, 5 against, and 13 abstentions.
The 5 countries opposing the debate were Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela, and Eritrea.
The 29 favoring the debate included Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Libya, and Malawi.
The 13 abstentions included Cameroon, Gabon, Mauritania, Namibia, Senegal, Somalia, and Sudan.
Africa Uncensored, an independent media house in Kenya, published in February 2022 an investigative report titled "Timber Logging and Crime: How Rosewood Is Stolen in Cameroon, Laundered in Nigeria, and Exported to China" by Christian Locka.
Cameroonian woodcutters illegally cut rare rosewood and then transport it to Nigeria for final shipment to China. Strong Chinese demand has resulted in organized looting of rosewood forests in several African countries.
Reuters published on 23 November 2020 an article titled "New Trump Rule May Require Some African Tourists to Pay Up to $15,000 in Bonds" by Ted Hesson.
The outgoing Trump administration issued a new temporary rule that could require tourist and business travelers from 24 countries, including 15 in Africa, to pay a bond of as much as $15,000 to visit the United States.
The Department of State published on 24 November 2020 the "Visa Bond Pilot Program." Countries whose nationals have overstay rates of 10 percent or higher are included in the pilot program. The 15 African countries are: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, DRC, Djibouti, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Libya, Mauritania, Sao Tome and Principe, and Sudan.
Comment: This is one more landmine left by the departing Trump administration. The problem of visa overstays by tourists and business visitors dates back many decades and does tend to be higher for nationals of certain countries. The problem with this solution is that it seems to be predicated on two premises: payment of a bond before travelling to the US will discourage overstaying and foreign countries need to do more to prevent the practice.
Payment of a bond will prevent most low income visitors intending to remain in the United States from travelling to our shores. They will find it difficult to pay the bond. It will have little or no impact on the wealthy visitors who can afford to forego up to $15,000. The idea that foreign countries can prevent this practice by their nationals is ludicrous. This is a personal decision made by each person who obtains an American visa. What can a foreign government do about that? Finally, what is magical about the 10 percent overstay number? If a country has a 9 percent overstay rate, there apparently is no problem.
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