President-elect Trump's early personnel choices prompted questions about his pledges to have an open and inclusive administration. Chief Advisor Steve Bannon's ethno-nationalist connections; Attorney General-designate Senator Jeff Sessions' narrow views on immigration and race; and National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn's controversial views on Muslims have raised fears.
Nervous friends and colleagues ask me whether, as president, Trump will ensure equal treatment of people of color and Muslims, and fairness for undocumented immigrants. My friends cite specific incidents of post-election harassment, such as Max, a lively eight-year-old, half-Thai American citizen, who curled up in a ball and refused to go to school after being harassed with chants of "Go back home!"
Could a foreign policy focus on Africa help ally those concerns, helping both U.S. and African citizens?
While Africa was not mentioned during the campaign, there are several sectors in which investment in Africa would be a win for U.S. national interest as well as promoting African security and economic growth. Three sectors offer early opportunities to counter perceptions of racist, nativist tendencies and build confidence in the president-elect among minority, Muslim and immigrant communities: security, infrastructure and agriculture.
The president-elect has consistently and forcefully declared that his first foreign affairs priority is to win the battle against ISIS. African security forces could be strong allies in that effort. Nigeria's Boku Haram is considered the most violent terror organization in the world and has pledged allegiance to ISIS.
The U.S. already has a presence in the area through the Security/Governance Initiative and other programs, but closer ties with Nigeria, in addition to yielding potential military benefits, could reverberate positively through the 376,000-person Nigerian Diaspora in the U.S. in the United States. In addition, thoughtful programs to strengthen ties between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria could be jump-started, contributing to stronger social cohesion not only in Nigeria but potentially across the Sahel.
Second, the president-elect has called for massive investment in infrastructure in the United States. Africa has a parallel need for major infrastructure investment. In fact, investment in infrastructure contributed over half of Africa's improved growth performance in recent years, according to the World Bank. Africa requires $93 billion for infrastructure per annum, through a mix of government, donor and private-sector financing.
The president-elect's team should recognize that there is ample opportunity for win-win public-private partnerships with American firms. Africa's huge needs include dams, roads and ICT backbones. Energy investments can yield high profits, and a convenient vehicle for U.S. investment already exists through the Power Africa Initiative. If carefully crafted with a mix of public-private partnerships that benefit the state as well as allow reasonable profit for private sector investors, the U.S. model could be shared in Africa, again emphasizing partnership with persons of color rather than exclusion.
A third area in which the new administration could establish partnerships relatively quickly is agriculture. Although the sector has received scant attention in the transition, agriculture is attractive because not only is it a pillar of the U.S. economy, but midwest, agricultural heartland voters gave the president-elect his electoral college victory and is a constituency that he will want to continue to cultivate.
Since president-elect Trump hasn't articulated an agriculture policy, one can only speculate about a policy direction, but he could prioritize regional economic development, emphasize food and nutrition strategies in poor agricultural communities, focus on biotechnology research and promote American agricultural products. Agriculture is the backbone of most African countries' economies, providing employment to more than 60% of the labor force. Long-term partnership could strengthen ties between rural communities in the U.S. heartland and similarly situated African communities. For instance, ongoing emphasis on U.S. nutrition in rural Mississippi would dovetail with an African emphasis on good nutrition in Malawi.
Current U.S. 'Feed the Future' projects could be incorporated to provide a strong base to launch the new efforts. In another opportunity, existing partnerships between U.S. land grant colleges and African universities have established firm foundations and can build strong research alliances, especially in biotechnology.
Linking agriculture to broader economic interests, president-elect Trump could enthusiastically endorse the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), expanding its signature goal of boosting U.S.-Africa trade. AGOA has been a highly successful bi-partisan initiative that has both strengthened trade relationships and built stronger U.S.-Africa economic ties as a counterweight to Chinese and European trade competition. At the same time, AGOA has created 100,000 jobs in the United States. Strengthening it would create more U.S. jobs and demonstrate an inclusive approach to building relationships in Africa's strongest economic sector.
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There are about 60 days to the inauguration, not a lot of time to shift what is potentially a toxic narrative. As president-elect Trump refines his goals for a successful administration, he could forestall vocal protests and allay concerns over his relationship wth the extreme right and its exclusionary vision by forging early, strong relationships with sophisticated Africans eager to cooperate and embrace a new American leader.
These potential initiatives, and others such as investing in early childhood education, would signal mutual respect, while changing the fundamental narrative of the new administration. President Trump could become 'Mr. Africa' in a new, transparent, inclusive art of the deal.
What does he have to lose?
Vivian Lowery Derryck is president and CEO of The Bridges Institute,an Africa-focused bipartisan non-profit organization working to strengthen African governance and democracy through collaborative social development projects.
