Africa is important to Trump, US envoy tells BBC

US Senior Advisor for Africa Massad Boulos has said that President Donald Trump values Africa, despite announcing sweeping aid cuts that have caused considerable humanitarian distress across the continent.

Trump announced the aid freeze on his first day in office in January in line with his “America First” foreign policy, while Trump’s recent tariffs have raised fears of the end of a trade deal between the US and Africa meant to boost economic growth.

But Mr Boulos told BBC’s Newsday that Africa was “very important” to Trump and downplayed reports that the US was planning to close some of its missions in the continent.

“He highly values Africa and African people,” Mr Boulos added.

The aid cuts have affected health programmes across Africa, including shipments of critical medical supplies, including HIV drugs.

The majority of the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) programmes, which provided health and humanitarian assistance to vulnerable nations, have since been terminated.

Eight countries – six of them in Africa, including Nigeria, Kenya and Lesotho – could soon run out of HIV drugs following the US decision to pause foreign aid, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

There are fears that nearly six million more Africans could be pushed into extreme poverty next year following the aid cuts, according to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) – a pan-African think-tank.

Earlier this month, eight people, including five children, died after walking for hours to seek treatment for cholera in South Sudan after aid cuts by the Trump administration forced local health clinics to close, the international charity Save the Children reported.

But Mr Boulos said those reported deaths could not be directly linked to the US aid cuts and said they were needed to ensure the money was being well used.

“It is absolutely necessary [for the US] to review some of these programmes for much more efficiency and transparency,” Mr Boulos said.

“We have to make sure the [aid funds] are going to the right place and that we are getting the desired outcome,” he added.

Mr Boulos, whose son is married to Trump’s daughter, Tiffany, said several US companies had expressed an interest in exploiting minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo, following his recent trip to the resource-rich central African nation.

DR Congo, home to vast natural reserves like lithium which is essential for battery and electric vehicle production, has been battling Rwandan-backed M23 rebels, who have seized large areas of territory this year.

Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi believes US involvement in extracting the minerals could help quell the violence that has plagued the east of the country for nearly 30 years. Currently, DR Congo’s mineral wealth is dominated by Chinese firms.

Mr Boulos said his country was also interested in exploring minerals in neighbouring Rwanda, but called on the country to first withdraw its troops from DR Congo and stop its support for the M23. Rwanda denies involvement in the conflict.

Asked if the US was only interested in benefiting economically from Africa and not its welfare, Boulos said “our job is to promote the US interests and promote our strategic partnerships”.

Trump is also determined “to end wars and establish peace” across the world, the envoy said, citing the conflict in Sudan as a big concern for the US government.

Mr Boulos, who has served as Washington’s senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs since December, also visited Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda in his trip.

He has business interests in Africa, including in a Nigeria-based company that distributes motor vehicles and equipment in West Africa.

The Lebanese-born businessman said Trump felt it was time to end the “unfair advantage” taken by other international players of Africa.

Responding to reports in the US media that the Trump administration was planning to close most of its diplomatic missions in Africa, Mr Boulos said this was “not very accurate”, adding: “Africa is very important to Trump.”

On the trade tariffs announced by Trump, Mr Boulos said they had “zero net-effect” for most African countries as they touched on “small trade volumes” from the continent.

“Many countries have lined up for negotiations and at the end of the day we want fairness and a win-win solution,” he added.

The small southern African country of Lesotho was hit by the highest of the most recently announced tariffs – 50% – before they were paused for 90 days.

It has used the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) to become a major exporter of textiles, including jeans, to the US. This trade accounts for more than 10% of Lesotho’s national income.

Agoa was set up by former Us President Bill Clinton in 2000 to encourage trade and investment in Africa but analysts fear that it is unlikely to be renewed by the current, Republican-dominated Congress.