How can Africa benefit from a US, Chinese battle for influence?

Podcasts

White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump, left, shakes hands with Kwesi Quartey, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Monday April 15, 2019, after they met and signed a statement together at the AUC headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The United States unveiled its ‘Prosper Africa’ agenda last month, a new effort that shifts American focus on the continent from military to industry. The goal of competing with Russian and Chinese influence on the continent is top priority.

The $50 million program will offer technical help to companies looking to enter or grow in Africa, which is urbanizing more rapidly than anywhere else on Earth. But why now? And how does competing with two of Africa’s largest global partners shape the U.S.’s geopolitical influence?

On this episode of The Heat Podcast, host Anand Naidoo talks with Abdullahi Boru Halakhe, an Africa security and policy analyst mostly recently with Amnesty Eastern Africa, about how the U.S. would fair in an influence race in Africa, and how vital the continent will be in the battle for global influence.