Africans who think of the U.S. election campaign as nothing more than distant, amusing, sometimes shocking, entertainment should note the old adage: when the U.S. sneezes, the world catches a cold.
Scott Eisner, the president of the U.S.-Africa Business Centre at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told delegates at the 5th Annual Thomson Reuters Africa Summit on Friday that the outcome would likely affect America’s trade policy with Africa.
Who could forget the excitement across Africa during the U.S. election campaign of 2008 at the prospect of the country election its first African-American president, particularly in Kenya, where Barack Obama’s father comes from.
The current campaign for the White House, while hardly as exciting for Africans, is nonetheless likely to affect trade between the continent and the global powerhouse that is America.
Hillary Clinton’s views on trade with Africa are better known than her Republican rival’s, but it is safe to say that Donald Trump would be less likely to actively seek to build on any benefits for Africans in the U.S.-Africa trade relationship.
That is unless, according to Eisner, a real national security benefit for America could be illustrated.
Eisner pointed to Brexit and the Colombian people’s recent surprise rejection of a peace deal with Farc, the guerilla movenment, as examples of the international trend towards protectionism. No prizes for guessing which U.S. candidate would be more protectionist.
But, Eisner added, if it could be demonstrated that there was an American national security interest in building trade relations with Africa, if creating jobs abroad through trade policy made Americans more safe at home, it would be an easier sell to a Trump White House.
Additionally, Eisner argued that a national information campaign was required to change American perceptions about Africa.
“We need to redefine Africa in the eyes of the US public,” said Eisner, mentioning areas where government, business and media could contribute to better informing the public.
He noted, for example, the widespread idea that corruption was a particularly African problem.
“Corruption is not exclusive to Africa. It is happening in Iowa and, this may come as a surprise to some of you, Washington DC,” Eisner said.
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