Africa in the New Era of U.S.-China Relations

The China in Africa Podcast

African leaders have said repeatedly that they want to stay clear from the escalating conflict between the United States and China. But despite their best efforts, a growing number of African countries are nonetheless being drawn in to disputes over Huawei, COVID-19 and debt relief among other issues.

While most African governments have opted to take a low profile in this burgeoning dispute, Kenya appears to be articulating clear policy positions that push back on both powers. Last week, ICT Minister Joe Mucheru rebuffed U.S. efforts to boycott the Chinese telecom company Huawei. Then, over the week, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe issued a devastating blow to China's "donation diplomacy" initiative when he confirmed that Kenya had stopped buying Chinese PPE due to poor quality.

But Kenya appears to be the exception in Africa as most other countries have, so far, resisted articulating equallyclear policy positions to frame their ties with the United States and China in this new, more combustible era.

W. Gyude Moore, a former Liberian public works minister and currently a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, and Judd Devermont, the Africa program director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, have both been writing a lot lately on the new geopolitical landscape. They both join Eric & Cobus from Washington to discuss the current state of U.S.-China-Africa relations.

SHOW NOTES:

JUDD DEVERMONT:

• CSIS Brief: A New U.S. Policy Framework for the African Century
• Podcast: Into Africa
• Twitter: @JDevermont

W. GYUDE MOORE:

• Twitter Thread: Africa's position in the New "Cold War"
• Podcast: NewThink
• Twitter: @gyude_moore

JOIN THE DISCUSSION:

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Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque

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