US President Donald Trump will welcome leaders from five African countries to Washington next week for discussions about business opportunities. However, Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, won’t be at the table.
A White House official announced on Wednesday that Trump will host the presidents of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal for talks and lunch at the White House on 9 July.
The meeting will focus on “commercial opportunities” that could benefit both American companies and African partners.
“President Trump believes that African countries offer incredible commercial opportunities which benefit both the American people and our African partners,” the White House official explained when asked why the meeting was being held.
The absence of Nigeria from the guest list is particularly notable given that it’s Africa’s most populous nation with over 200 million people and the continent’s biggest economy. The country is also a major oil producer and has significant trade relationships with the United States.
Africa Intelligence and Semafor had reported earlier that the Trump administration would hold a summit for the five countries in Washington from 9-11 July, though the White House has only confirmed the single-day meeting so far.
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The invitation comes as the Trump administration has dramatically cut US foreign aid to Africa as part of broader spending reductions. The administration argues that much of the previous aid was wasteful and didn’t align with Trump’s “America First” approach to foreign policy.
Instead of traditional aid programmes, the administration says it wants to focus on trade and investment that creates mutual prosperity for both America and African nations.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined this new approach, saying America was moving away from what he called a charity-based foreign aid model. The US will now favour countries that show “both the ability and willingness to help themselves,” Rubio explained.
Rather than providing aid and development assistance, the focus will be on striking commercial deals that benefit American businesses while also helping African economies grow.
Troy Fitrel, a senior official in the State Department’s African Affairs bureau, revealed in May that US diplomats working in Africa will now be judged on how many commercial deals they help arrange. This marks a significant change from previous administrations that measured success through development programmes and humanitarian assistance.
The five countries invited to meet Trump are all from West Africa, and several have had close historical ties with the United States. Liberia, for instance, was founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century and has maintained strong links with America ever since.
However, the selection criteria for which countries were invited remain unclear, particularly given Nigeria’s absence despite its economic importance and existing trade relationships with the US.
