By Sylvia Chebet
US President Donald Trump's "MAGA" chant has gone from being a catchy campaign slogan that resonated with American voters to a lodestar seemingly guiding the world's largest economy through what his ardent backer Elon Musk calls a "fork in the road".
Trump's journey down the path of protectionism with aggressive proclamations, including an executive order freezing foreign aid for 90 days, has predictably elicited strong responses to this paradigm shift in policy-making with repercussions worldwide.
However, not everyone is fulminating at the thought of the new US administration seeking to change course on foreign and economic policies.
Kenya's former President Uhuru Kenyatta urges Africa to treat Trump's move as a "wake-up call", contesting the notion that protectionist American steps would leave the continent in the lurch.
"I saw some people the other day crying, 'Oh! I don't know...Trump has said he's not giving us any more money.' Why are you crying? It is not your government. It is not your country," Kenyatta said at the East Africa Region Global Health Security Summit in Mombasa on Jan 28.
He has no reason to give you anything. I mean, you don't pay taxes in America...This is a wake-up call for you to say, 'Okay, what are we going to do to help ourselves?' He has no reason to give you anything...He's appealing to his people; too bad for you.
Self-dependence model
Africa possesses a wealth of natural resources that can be harnessed to achieve self-sufficiency and reduce reliance on foreign aid.
A 2019 United Nations report https://www.unep.org/regions/africa/our-work-africa states that Africa is home to about 30% of the world's mineral reserves, 12% of its oil and 8% of natural gas reserves.
The continent is also the storehouse of around 40% of the world's gold and nearly 90% of its chromium and platinum.
The report mentions petroleum and coal as the most abundant minerals in 22 of Africa's 54 countries.
In 2019, Nigeria produced most of the continent's petroleum (25%), followed by Angola (17%) and Algeria (16%). The agricultural sector, which employs a significant portion of the population, also has immense potential.
Experts have long been saying that sustainable management and extraction of natural resources could help African nations generate substantial revenue, create jobs, and stimulate economic growth.
Strategies to leverage internal financing mechanisms can support these development goals and help nations break free of the cycle of debt and underdevelopment.
According to the World Bank, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) presents a significant opportunity for countries on the continent "to bring 30 million people out of extreme poverty and raise the incomes of 68 million others who live on less than $5.50 per day".
With the implementation of AfCFTA, trade facilitation measures that cut red tape and simplify customs procedures alone would drive $292 billion of the $450 billion in potential income gains.
‘Good stewards of tax dollars’
So, what does the Trump administration's radical funding turnaround mean until Africa and the rest of the world learn to do without it?
In her first briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump's plan to pause billions of dollars in US funding was all about being "good stewards of tax dollars".
The move potentially cuts off billions of dollars’ worth of life-saving assistance worldwide. In 2023, the US remained the largest single donor of aid globally, disbursing $72 billion in assistance.
UN chief Antonio Guterres recently called for "additional exemptions to be considered to ensure the continued delivery of critical development and humanitarian activities for the most vulnerable communities worldwide".
"Lives and livelihoods depend on this support," Guterres' spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, told reporters.
However, former Kenyan President Kenyatta believes that Trump is justified in protecting US interests.
"Nobody is going to continue holding out a hand there to give you. It is time for us to use our resources for the right things," Kenyatta said at the Mombasa summit.
Legal hurdles
Some of Trump's executive orders have run into legal snags. A US judge temporarily blocked the order to freeze funding for a wide range of federal programmes minutes before the directive was slated to take effect.
However, officials in the new administration maintain that the freeze was necessary to ensure that all funding complies with Trump's priorities for the US.
Experts have observed that Trump 2.0 sounds much like he did during his first term — except that he has the advantage of experience and is surrounded by a team that spent years planning for his White House return.
It isn't surprising, therefore, that Trump has unleashed a blitz testing the bounds of presidential power.
"The man is back," David Monyae, an associate professor at the University of Johannesburg, told TRT Afrika.
"That requires the world to be on notice in key and strategic areas."
Republican pollster Whit Ayres is convinced that "this is a far more active and aggressive administration than the first time around."
"It's just been a breathtaking barrage of initiatives and executive orders, of comments that have captured the world's attention. It's been quite the whirlwind," he said of the first couple of weeks of Trump's second term.
The whirlwind notwithstanding, some analysts suggest that Trump's America-first policies are laden with lessons.
Pan-Africanist Momodou Taal, who has authored The Malcolm Effect Revisited, says African leaders should similarly embark on an "Africa-first" agenda, drawing insights from where the US is going.
"African leaders can learn from this. These protectionist models we see throughout history have been inextricably linked to development," Taal told TRT Afrika.
"You realise that free market capitalism cannot succeed without some state intervention. Therefore, protectionist policies will be required if we want to develop the continent."
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