Inside the United States’ new ‘trade, not aid’ strategy in Africa

The Trump administration is dialing up its commercial pitch to Africa, shifting from an aid-heavy model to one rooted in investment, infrastructure, and dealmaking — and an “America First” foreign policy. This new “trade not aid” approach came into sharp focus during a visit this month by the U.S. State Department’s top Africa official, Troy Fitrell, to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. There he unveiled a new six-point plan focused on market reforms and infrastructure projects aimed at creating market opportunities for American companies. The strategy comes at a moment of deep uncertainty. Institutions such as the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation, which once played a key role in facilitating trade and investment on the continent, have been gutted. The African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, which was designed to boost U.S.-Africa trade, faces dim prospects for renewal after its expiry in September, according to experts. And USAID, which also played a role in supporting U.S.-Africa trade, has been dismantled. At the same time, newly imposed American tariffs are making it even harder for African businesses to access U.S. markets. Still, Fitrell’s plan offers a glimpse into how the administration is reimagining its engagement with Africa amid these broader shifts. Experts said while increased U.S.-Africa trade is welcome, framing relationships as a choice between trade and aid is unnecessary. “I think it's a false dichotomy,” Jendayi Frazer, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs under former President George W. Bush, told Devex. “It’s a term used a lot to signal, and I’m fine with the signal — essentially that we need to look at more commercial and more private sector-oriented approaches to development. And I agree with that point.” But boosting economies cannot be separated from ensuring the health and well-being of societies as a whole, she said. What’s new Fitrell said the State Department should focus on advancing six main actions in its Africa strategy: • Prioritize commercial diplomacy by making it a core responsibility of U.S. ambassadors across Africa, who are now being “evaluated” based on their dealmaking success. • Support market reforms in coordination with African governments, focusing on the “top five market reforms” identified by the private sector. Countries that implement these reforms will be highlighted as prime destinations for U.S. investment. • Advance high-impact infrastructure projects that unlock economic growth and attract private capital. This point also included a dig at “vanity projects or infrastructure built by the Chinese government.” • Increase the number of U.S. commercial diplomacy mission trips that are focused exclusively on trade and investment opportunities. These trips will include U.S. companies and target countries showing reform progress and investment potential. • Connect more U.S. companies to African markets by tapping into the estimated 300,000 “export-ready” American firms. • The U.S. will push for reforms to trade and financing tools so American companies can access funding more easily, quickly, and competitively — with agencies taking on more risk to match global competition. The strategy, which Fitrell unveiled at the Africa CEO Forum and AmCham Business Summit, should be in place by the time the U.S. hosts the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit slated for the fall, he noted. “Commercial diplomacy has always been a requirement of embassies,” said Frazer, who has also served as U.S. ambassador to South Africa. When an American company invests in an African country, the U.S. Embassy’s commercial section — along with the ambassador — has always played a role in supporting that company. “What has happened over years, though, is that the commercial sections have been downsized in previous administrations, significantly downsized,” said Frazer. “And so some companies have complained that they don't have the support that they need.” Indeed, those complaints are widespread among the U.S. business community looking to work in Africa. “Commercial diplomacy has not been a strength. It just hasn’t, especially when you compare us to countries like France or China,” said Aubrey Hruby, senior adviser at the Atlantic Council's Africa Center, who has been working on investment advisory in Africa for 25 years. Embassy expertise was more about democracy than business, so elevating commercial interests would be a “fundamental shift” welcomed by the business community, Hruby said. “Many in the business and investor community have found that when they meet with our embassies, they don’t always encounter staff who are receptive or business-minded,” Hruby added. “That’s not true for every embassy — it depends on the ambassador — but historically, many are not staffed with business backgrounds.” Where the strategy falls short But the plan also raised concerns. One key question is what the State Department can realistically take on, given ongoing budget cuts and institutional downsizing. Another concern is the proposal to evaluate ambassadors based on their ability to deliver deals. “The idea that ambassadors are going to be specifically judged on whether they bring deals, I think is a little silly, frankly, to put into a speech,” Frazer said. “Commercial diplomacy is not explicitly on [ambassadors’ evaluations], but implicitly it is because it's part of their jobs anyway.” Many announced deals never materialize, and while some countries are labeled “priority countries” for investment, others face more challenging environments — making comparisons uneven from the start. That would make it unfair to judge ambassadors on commercial outcomes, Frazer noted. And, of course, there is the elephant in the room of how to do a trade-based program amid global trade wars. “The headwind is the whole environment of our diplomatic posture in these countries, right? You're cutting aid, you're dismantling programs, you're bullying people on tariffs, but yet, then, you're going to say, oh, welcome American business, and welcome American business on preferential terms, right?” said Frazer. “If the approach is to bully the countries and threaten the countries, well, then they'll just go someplace else.” There’s also a disconnect between the administration’s stated goals and its policy choices, experts said. “You can't come as an administration saying we believe in trade, not aid, but then kill the trade, the one trade legislation that we have,” Frazer said, referring to the African Growth and Opportunity Act. “You can fine-tune it … in a fashion that benefits American companies more.” AGOA is the U.S. flagship trade preference program for sub-Saharan Africa. The 25-year-old program provides dozens of African countries with duty-free access to U.S. markets, but analysts have said it is unlikely to be renewed after it expires in September. Fitrell described himself “a big fan” of AGOA, but called for its revision. “My suggestion — my expectation — is that if there’s going to be a renewal of AGOA, it will probably reflect the modern world, rather than the one from 25 years ago when it was first founded,” he said. He added that any future versions would likely involve greater reciprocity.The final decision, however, lies with the U.S. Congress. A similar tension applies to MCC, a U.S. development agency that provided grants — especially in countries where China was outcompeting the U.S. on infrastructure investments. “He's talking about wanting American companies to get into infrastructure development … Well, that's exactly what the Millennium Challenge Corporation helps do,” Frazer said, adding that, like AGOA, MCC could be adjusted or improved, but scrapping it altogether would undermine the goal of boosting American involvement in infrastructure development. Deals in Abidjan Still, Fitrell said the new strategy was already producing results. During his visit, the United States signed three memorandums of understanding with the Ivorian government and six new deals worth over $550 million. In the first 100 days of the Trump administration, 33 deals totaling more than $6 billion have been signed in Africa, according to Fitrell. However, details on these agreements are scarce — it’s unclear when they were initiated, what sectors they cover, or how they will be implemented. Fitrell said the State Department plans to release a fact sheet that will outline the deals and explain how their progress will be tracked. U.S. Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire Jessica Davis Ba underscored that the new strategy also places increased emphasis on Francophone West Africa, which has historically received less U.S. commercial attention. “What’s also new about this is a real focus on Francophone countries,” Davis Ba told reporters Tuesday. “Historically, because of language and a host of other reasons, many of you know the United States has not focused on Francophone countries as much as we could.” To address that, the U.S. has opened a new office in Abidjan staffed with French-speaking personnel from both the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the Department of Commerce, Davis Ba said. It aims to better deploy the full suite of U.S. economic tools in the region. Following in Lobito’s tracks Fitrell also pointed to the Lobito Corridor project as a blueprint for future U.S. investment and partnership in Africa. The railway — which runs from Angola through the Democratic Republic of Congo to Zambia — is backed by the U.S., the European Union, and the African Development Bank. U.S. involvement, Fitrell said, helped de-risk the project enough to draw major private sector investment. “There were concerns about whether we would continue that under a new administration, and the answer is an absolute resounding yes,” Fitrell said. “That is exactly the kind of thing we want to do, and frankly, it’s a model we’d like to replicate elsewhere.” Lobito’s prominence underscores a broader geopolitical shift. “All of this is rooted in a deeper bipartisan consensus — that the U.S. needs to compete with China, especially in markets like those in Africa. That awareness has been growing since at least the early Obama era,” said Hruby.