US-Africa Policy

Deutsche Welle posted on 17 November 2017 remarks by Donald Yamamoto, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, titled "US State Department: 'We're Looking at Africa in 2050'."

Since occupying the White House, the Trump administration has said very little about its policy in Africa. Donald Yamamoto shed some light on US Africa policy in remarks made to Deutsche Welle on the margins of a conference in Washington last week with African foreign ministers.

Africa: The Obama Legacy and Prospects for the Trump Administration

The VOA Encounter program with Carol Castiel ran over the weekend of 25 November 2016 a half-hour discussion of President Obama's legacy in Africa and the outlook for President-elect Trump. The guests were J. Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council's Africa Center, and myself.

US Trade and Investment with Africa

The White House published on 21 September 2016 a fact sheet titled "U.S.-Africa Cooperation on Trade and Investment Under the Obama Administration."

This document offers a good summary of U.S. programs and efforts to increase trade and investment with Africa. U.S. investment in Africa has increased impressively from a total of $37 billion in 2008 to $64 billion in 2015. Trade, on the other hand, has dropped sharply from $142 billion in 2008 to $52 billion in 2015. Most of the decline is accounted for as a result of reduced oil imports from Africa following fracking in the United States.

President Obama's Remarks at African Union Headquarters

President Obama addressed the people of Africa on 28 July 2015 at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  His speech, in my view, was the most important one he has ever made on the subject of Africa.  You can listen to and watch the delivery here by going to the tab under 28 July 2015.

You can read the text of the remarks as delivered here.


The Institute for Strategic Studies published on 29 July 2015 a good analysis of the speech titled "Think Again: Why Obama's AU Speech Matters" by Simon Allison.

The Washington Post published on 28 July 2015 an analysis titled "Despite Economic Gains, Obama's Work in Africa Is Unfinished" by Juliet Eilperin and Kevin Sieff.  It also comments on the speech at the African Union.

US-Africa Summit: Conversation with Ambassadors Carson, Lyman and Moose

The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) hosted on 22 July 2014 three distinguished former American diplomats--Johnnie Carson, Princeton Lyman and George Moose--who have specialized in African affairs over their careers to discuss the US-Africa Summit in Washington.  They conducted a wide ranging and somber discussion of the situation in Africa today and the state of US relations with Africa.  USIP captured the event in a one and one-half hour podcast titled "U.S. Policy Today for Africa Tomorrow."

US-Africa Summit: Q and A with Shinn

GW Today published on 1 August 2014 a brief Q and A with me titled "What Will African Leaders Discuss at First-Ever White House Summit?"  The questions dealt with the state of US-Africa relations today and what might come out of this summit.