In Africa, meager expectations and some hopes for a second Trump presidency

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In Africa, meager expectations and some hopes for a second Trump presidency

2024-11-13 13:04 Last Updated At：13:20

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — African leaders may have been quick to congratulate Donald Trump on his election, professing a desire for mutually beneficial partnerships, but there are meager expectations that his presidency will change things for this continent of over 1.4 billion people.

In the wake of Trump's win, Kenya's William Ruto said his country “stands ready” to deepen its ties with Washington. Nigeria's Bola Tinubu spoke of a second Trump administration ushering in an era of “earnest, beneficial, and reciprocal” cooperation.

Still, observers say African countries — once described by Trump as “shithole countries” — are definitely not going to be high on his to-do list.

U.S. foreign policy has not made Africa a priority for a long while — beyond seeing the continent through the lens of countering rivals such as Russia and China, said Charles Ray, chair of the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Africa Program.

President Joe Biden talked about Africa as a key partner, said Ray, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe between 2009 and 2012.

But not much action followed those words.

Africa “will be at the very bottom of (Trump's) list of priorities” and any U.S. action on the continent would likely be driven by his “transactional, ego-driven leadership style,” Ray added.

Many experts agree, citing Trump’s “America First” strategy.

Murithi Mutiga, program director for Africa at the Crisis Group, says the president-elect is “a committed isolationist and clearly wants to pull back” on various fronts across the world.

J. Peter Pham, Trump's former special envoy to Africa's Great Lakes and Sahel regions, says the next Trump presidency may look for a “win-win” situation in Africa.

That could include a renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which grants eligible African countries duty-free access to U.S. markets, Pham said during a Voice of America broadcast.

However, U.S. lawmakers have been asking questions about whether African countries are complying with conditions under the program — or if they are undermining U.S. foreign policy interests and national security, Pham said.

South Africa, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the program, was accused by U.S. Ambassador Reuben Brigety in 2023 of providing weapons and ammunition to Russia for its war in Ukraine and its professed neutral stance on the war was brought into question.

Basically, you don't “kick America in the teeth” in ways that raise questions about compliance with such deals, Pham said.

Those that do "will be treated as pariahs,” said Ray, with the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

The top concern is that the next Trump presidency will cut funding. In many parts of Africa, such cuts could be critical for millions of girls and young women whose reproductive health and choices are supported heavily by U.S.-funded programs.

“The situation is already bad for girls (and) it will turn into a disaster without these services,” said Valentine Damitoni, a mother at 18.

She regularly visits a local clinic in Zimbabwe’s capital of Harare to receive a contraceptive under a U.S.-funded program that allows her to return to school without fears of falling pregnant again.

Max Primorac, a former acting deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development — one of Africa’s biggest development aid donors — criticized some of the agency's programs in Project 2025, a 900-page blueprint proposed by the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation to reshape the federal government.

In particular, Primorac criticized USAID programs that “promote abortion, climate extremism and interventions against perceived systematic racism.” The document is said to align closely with Trump’s vision — though he has distanced himself from it.

Kiron Skinner, the head of policy planning at the U.S. State Department during Trump’s first term in office, recommends in the document that in Africa, America should “focus on core security, economic, and human rights” rather than impose “radical abortion and pro-LGBT initiatives.”

In Africa's volatile Sahel region, soldiers are increasingly booting out elected presidents and riding anti-Western sentiments to sever ties with longstanding allies like the United States and France — while turning to a new friend: Russia.

China, which casts infrastructural loans to African countries as mutually beneficial cooperation, rarely interferes in internal politics of the recipients countries. Russia, the continent’s biggest arms supplier, is often in bed with Africa's military juntas.

Both countries, as indeed America, have shown huge interest in Africa’s rich mineral resources.

Mutiga, of the Crisis Group, says “the problem historically has been that the U.S. and the West viewed Africa as a problem" to be solved. China and others "saw it as an opportunity to be grasped.”

The Biden administration announced last December that it had invested at least $22 billion in Africa and promised to do more. Trump, during his first term, continuously sought to slash foreign affairs funding, sometimes as much as 30%.

Analysts are concerned about whether key U.S. projects in health, security and development would be implemented under Trump — especially at a time of worsening hunger and resurgent threats to democracy in Africa.

For many ordinary Africans, Trump is just a distant leader who can't do much about their everyday problems.

“Trump ... is not going to save us from hunger caused by our government,” said Isah Mohammed, a fruit seller in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

In Morocco, many rejoiced after Trump’s win, hoping his return to office would help the North African country further its push to win global recognition for its sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara.

"The return of the friend of Morocco to the White House,” proclaimed the country's Assabah newspaper in its editorial.

As part of a larger deal that included Morocco normalizing its ties with Israel, Trump shifted longstanding U.S. policy and recognized Morocco’s sovereignty claims before leaving office in 2020.

Biden has not reversed that decision — but has also not advanced the Trump administration’s promise to build a consulate in the disputed territory.

The stability in the Horn of Africa is increasingly threatened by the raging war in Sudan and growing tensions between Somalia and Ethiopia over the latter’s business deal with Somalia’s breakaway region Somaliland.

Trump will likely cut funding to Somalia and engage more with Somaliland, predicts Rashid Abdi, an analyst at the Nairobi-based Sahan Research think tank.

The G20, the group of the world’s leading economies, welcomed the African Union as a permanent member last year — a powerful acknowledgement of the continent's more than 50 countries and something Biden had said was “a long time in coming.”

But despite that step on the global stage, observers say the union and its leaders have not lived up to expectations, failing to articulate their interests and table their demands as a united front.

“The question is often, what will Washington do, but, really, what is Africa’s interest?” said Mutiga, with the Crisis Group.

“We’re in an age of transactional global relations and unless Africa can engage in a way that articulates its own interests, America’s (interests in Africa) will continue to be determined by geopolitical competition with its rivals,” he said.

Associated Press reporters Farai Mutsaka in Harare, Zimbabwe, and Sam Metz in Rabat, Morocco, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

Storm inundates Northern California with rain, heavy snow. Thousands remain in the dark in Seattle

2024-11-23 08:28 Last Updated At：08:30

HEALDSBURG, Calif. (AP) — Heavy downpours fell over much of Northern California on Friday, causing small landslides, overflowing a river and flooding some streets, including in parts of San Francisco. Meanwhile tens of thousands of people were still without power in the Seattle area after several days in the dark.

The storm arrived in the Pacific Northwest earlier this week, killing two people and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands, mostly in the Seattle area, before moving through Northern California, where several roads were closed due to flooding and strong winds toppled trees.

Forecasters warned about the risk of flash flooding and rockslides in areas north of San Francisco from this season’s strongest atmospheric river — a long plume of moisture that forms over an ocean and flows through the sky over land.

On the East Coast, another storm brought much-needed rain to New York and New Jersey, where rare wildfires have raged in recent weeks. The rain eased the fire danger for the rest of the year was a boost for ski resorts preparing to open in the weeks ahead. Parts of West Virginia were under a blizzard warning through Saturday morning, with up to 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow and high winds making travel treacherous.

In California's Humboldt County, the sheriff’s office downgraded evacuation orders to warnings for people near the Eel River after forecasters said the waterway would see moderate but not major flooding. Officials urged residents to prepare for storm impacts throughout the week.

Flooding closed scenic Highway 1, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway, in neighboring Mendocino County north of Point Arena near the Garcia River, and there was no estimate for when it would reopen, according to the California Department of Transportation.

A small mudslide threatened a home in the community of Fitch Mountain, near Healdsburg, nestled in hills along the Russian River in Sonoma County. Moderate rain was falling, and officials worried the slide could grow and hit several homes downhill.

“Our concern is while this property may be OK, the earth between it and the road below is slipping, and the mudslide is affecting downhill properties,” said Tennis Wick, permits and resource director for Sonoma County.

Dana Eaton, who lives in one of the downhill properties and was clad in a yellow rain slicker and hat, said she was worried, too. In 2019, mud cascaded into a neighbor’s garage.

Asked what the last few days have been like, she laughed: “Wet. Constant rain. It’s like everywhere else in the county, but so far nothing major, just concerns.”

In Washington state more than 138,000 people were still without electricity, mostly in Seattle's King County, as crews worked to clear streets of downed lines, branches and other debris. Utility officials said the outages, which began Tuesday, could last into Saturday.

People flocked to a suburban senior center in Issaquah to get warm food and plug in their cellphones and other devices. One of them, Melissa Tryon, said she had been unable to charge her electric motorized wheelchair and had to throw out all the food in her refrigerator after it went bad.

“Today I kind of had a little bit of a meltdown,” Tyron said. “It’s hard to be cut off for that long.”

Gale warnings were issued off Washington, Oregon and California, and high wind warnings were in effect across parts of Northern California and Oregon. There were winter storm warnings for parts of the California Cascades and the Sierra Nevada.

The National Weather Service in Reno, Nevada, reported a 128-mph (206-kph) gust of wind in the morning at the top of Palisades Tahoe ski resort, about 10 miles northwest of Lake Tahoe, where some runs were open. Gusts up to 86 mph (138 kph) were recorded at Mt. Rose, which closed due to the weather.

The system roared ashore on the West Coast on Tuesday as a “ bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly. It unleashed fierce winds that toppled trees onto roads, vehicles and homes.

Debra Campbell, 65, said she was sitting in the dark with a flashlight that night, unable to sleep as strong winds lashed her house in Crescent City, California. With a massive boom, a 150-foot (46-meter) tree came crashing down on her home and car.

“It was just so incredibly frightening," Campbell said. "Once I realized it wasn’t going to come through the ceiling where I was at, I was able to grab my car keys and my purse. ... And I open the front door and it’s just solid tree.”

She was able to stay with her boyfriend that night, but now, living on Social Security and with no savings, she worries about how she will to pay for repairs.

Officials warned of the risk of flash flooding, rockslides and debris flows, especially where hillsides were loosened by recent wildfires.

In the Northeast, which has been hit by drought, more than 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain was expected by Saturday morning north of New York City, with snow mixed in at higher elevations.

Despite the mess, the precipitation was expected to help ease drought conditions in a state that has seen an exceptionally dry fall.

“It’s not going to be a drought buster, but it’s definitely going to help when all this melts,” said Bryan Greenblatt, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Binghamton, New York.

Heavy snow fell in northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono Mountains, prompting a raft of school closures. Higher elevations reported up to 17 inches (43 centimeters), with lesser accumulations in valley cities like Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. More than 100,000 customers in 10 counties lost power, and the state transportation department imposed speed restrictions on some highways.

Gary Wilson, 37, of Dunmore, Pennsylvania, was heading to his casino job in the Poconos in the morning when he got stuck in standstill traffic, a consequence of accidents and downed wires. At one point he worried about getting stranded because it was snowing hard and plows couldn’t get through. Traffic began moving again only after about five hours, and Wilson never did make it to work.

“I’m done for the day,” Wilson said. “Five and a half hours in the car, turn around and get home safe.”

Rodriguez reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Hallie Golden in Seattle, Janie Har in San Francisco, Manuel Valdes in Issaquah, Washington, Sarah Brumfield in Washington, D.C., Michael Rubinkam in Pennsylvania and John Raby in West Virginia contributed.