The African newspapers dreamed of it, American voters did. “Africa is no longer a collection of ‘shitty countries’. As if by magic, the wish of Africans came true with the victory of Democrat Joe Biden ”, rejoices Today in Faso in his editorial. After the election of Joe Biden to the presidency of the United States, the press of the continent wants to see it a new beginning. It is not so much the arrival of Joe Biden in the White House as the departure of his predecessor that is literally celebrated. For African journalists and columnists, the passage of Donald Trump will remain above all an accident of the old American democracy. Yes, “Because with regard to this continent, the now former President of the United States will have been both particularly arrogant and contemptuous. Ignoring everything about Africa, Donald Trump however served as a bad example to those of the leaders of the continent driven by the desire to submit the institutions of their countries to their will. For all this, we should be happy about his departure. Because in this register, it is very unlikely that Joe Biden is worse than his predecessor, ”said Ledejely in an editorial by Boubacar Sanso Barry, head of the Guinean online media. Yes, “After four years of a tumultuous presidency, Donald Trump is leaving the White House on Wednesday, WalfQuotidien in Dakar. Then begins the Joe Biden era, the man everyone is waiting for to restore the image of a democratically tainted America and to renew timid relations between the United States and Africa. “Yes, moreover Donald Trump did not set foot on the continent and even put his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on the sidelines” in the middle of an African tour “in 2018. No great hopes, therefore, but a lot of caution and questions about the challenges that the new American president will have to face. Gone are also the days when Barack Obama, the first black president from the African continent, made the headlines of all the newspapers, and where his surname was displayed everywhere, and not only in Kenya – hairdressing salons, at the speed of drink, beaches etc. This Thursday, it was difficult to find a “front page” with a photo of the new American president. Most newspapers show a certain distance and expect concrete action.
The files that await him
So, Joe Biden at the White House: what is Africa gaining? The press has already asked the question in recent days. And among the responses that came back, we read that with the successor of Donald Trump, “American bi and multilateral support for the development of Africa should resume. It is also predicted that threats of withdrawal of American troops involved in particular in the hunt for terrorists in the Sahel could be suspended, ”explains Ledjely.
It should be noted that there is no shortage of hotbeds of African tensions. Today in Faso “as such, we have the Horn of Africa, characterized recently by the silent war between the Ethiopian army and the Tigray rebels. (…). Next to it, there is Somalia, which for several decades has remained an ungovernable petaudière and whose executive is forced into exile by the Shebabs despite the many supports provided by Uncle Sam. Twenty-eight years later The Battle of the Black Sea or The Battle of the Black Sea which resulted in the death of 18 soldiers and left 75 wounded, this country has still not returned to the freedom and justice that President Clinton wanted to import. And the Shebabs are the sole masters of a failed country, ”the newspaper recalls. Without forgetting, Uganda, where Yoweri Museveni has just been re-elected after a presidential election contested by the opposition. Still on the security issue, the press is unanimous in stressing that the pressing case of the Sahel “in the grip of terrorism where the relief announced by Paris is becoming more and more imminent, could see a readjustment of American security policy. It is not excluded that the Boys, whose departure was in the pipeline, no longer carry out their threat (reduction of the military, logistics and intelligence) ”, supports the Burkinabè media.
Africa is under no illusions
Of course, all of these predictions are legitimate and relevant. But meanwhile, El Watan, in Algiers proposes to look in the recent past at what has been the attitude of the United States towards Africa. “Before Trump’s arrival, American foreign policy did not undergo any major transformation, even when Democrats and Republicans succeeded each other in the White House. Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama generally had the same fundamentals in terms of international policy, centered on military predominance, preeminence over international organizations and the dismantling of trade barriers, ”notes the Algerian daily. On the other hand, WalfQuotidien invites us to look at the economic strategy, because in recent years, the Americans have ceded a lot of ground to China, especially in terms of trade. “Joe Biden is in favor of Africa’s debt relief,” the Senegalese newspaper informs. Moreover, the new American president has already promised to organize a summit of African heads of state, as Barack Obama had already done in 2014. Enough to forge concrete links with his African counterparts and enough to be able to revive the ‘AGOA, this trade program that allows Africa to export products to the United States without being taxed, ”Walf said in Dakar.
Nigeria already winning!
In Nigeria, the press is even more enthusiastic! First because one of the flagship titles “Destiny” of the successful singer Burna boy was chosen in the official playlist of 46 tracks of Joe Biden and his vice-president Kamala Harris, for their inauguration this Wednesday, January 20. The Nigerian press has not forgotten the lack of American reaction to the repression of demonstrations in October in Lagos. But she remembers that Joe Biden, then a candidate for the White House, had preceded the State Department by issuing a statement denouncing the live ammunition against the crowd. Another good news for the country is the signing on Thursday of the lifting of the ban on entry into the United States targeting nationals of several countries, mainly with a Muslim majority. In January 2020, the United States had added three African countries, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania, to the list of countries included in the anti-immigration decree promulgated in 2017 by Donald Trump.
And to top it off, says WalfQuotidien “two sons of the continent, Wally Adeyemo, 39, future Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, and Osaremen Okolo, 26, adviser in the anti-Covid-19 Team of the new president, both from Nigerian origin, will give many African colors to the new American administration. “Other appointments should follow” including those of seasoned diplomats who have already traveled to Africa, or worked for the development of the black continent, will be collaborators, near or far, of Joe Biden. “Beyond the people, it is the obvious intention of Joe Biden to revive a certain idea of the American dream which is at stake.
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