Reflecting on the U.S. Strategy Towards Africa: Embracing Partnership & Pragmatism

In August 2022, the White House unveiled a new U.S. Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa, which marked a shift from previous administrations. Notably, it underscored African agency and partnership as central tenets, rather than afterthoughts, in U.S. foreign policy. As the world grapples with reinvigorated debates about the structure of the global order and the geopolitical balance of leadership across multilateral institutions, the Belfer Center’s Africa in Focus discussion series offered opportunities for Harvard students and fellows to engage policymakers involved with the U.S. strategy to reflect on its successes to date, challenges, and the future of American engagement with the continent.

As a guest of the Africa in Focus series in Spring 2024, Judd Devermont, former Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council and a central architect of the strategy, explained, “It was my view and the President’s view that it was time to re-frame Africa’s importance to U.S. national security interest. And that is because our key goals globally - whether it’s climate change; or a free, open, prosperous stable, international system; addressing pandemic and other global health threats; dealing with democratic backsliding – all of those problems require an African voice, African leadership, African contributions, African input. And sometimes that’s been missing in our policy.”

Discussions between Harvard students and guests Chidi Blyden, Rama Yade, and Judd Devermont touched on trends in democratic backsliding, insecurity and civil conflict, and geopolitical tensions across the continent. Notably, however, discussions also elevated themes around African global leadership and its potential to further shape a shifting world order, the role of the private sector in generating growth and advancing economic development on the continent, and strategic engagement with the African diaspora as a foreign policy tool.

“Oftentimes, we talk about what we can do for Africa and not what we can do with Africa." - Judd Devermont

Both Blyden and Devermont highlighted the strategy’s deliberate effort to embrace African agency and focus on opportunities, not just challenges. On the global stage, the U.S. supported the African Union’s ascension to the G20 and voiced support for a permanent African seat on the UN Security Council. Policymakers shaping the strategy also considered how unique and varied African interests could align with U.S. interests. For example, not all regimes are interested in long-term relationships to build norms and institutions, but may favor transactional deals to assist in a particular area of concern; not all states may be interested in democracy, but may seek collaboration on shared security concerns.

The latest U.S. strategy also reflects a more pragmatic stance in emphasizing opportunities for cooperation: with African partners or even with strategic competitors – in regions where geopolitical competition is fierce. This departure from a rigid ideological stance could allow the U.S. to engage constructively with African nations, irrespective of other global players’ presence.

“Our policy can’t be divorced from global competition with China, but it also can’t be defined by it.” - Judd Devermont

Nevertheless, commentary on the strategy has praised its lofty ambitions and purposeful rhetoric, while also underscoring the challenge of translating this into actionable and sustainable policy. One review noted that “in practice, the Biden administration’s expressed commitment to democratic values in Africa has been in tension with interests-based foreign policy goals, including countering violent extremism.” Others have highlighted Sudan and Niger as examples where U.S. efforts to date are not working.

Sustaining robust and strategic U.S. engagement with Africa can be challenging across time and presidential administrations, particularly as other pressing national interests repeatedly push Africa down the priority list.

This propels the role of the private sector into greater importance as an avenue for engagement that is not tied to political cycles and competing national security demands. How can U.S. businesses develop greater risk tolerance and see broader investment opportunities in Africa? How can the U.S. government – building on programs like Prosper Africa – facilitate deeper connections in both directions? How can new investments and partnerships meet profitability and also generate sustainable local economic growth?

Ambassador Yade noted that African economic growth will be imperative for global prosperity this century. However, foreign capital still does not understand how to invest in Africa, while African businesses and entrepreneurs must learn how to unlock and tap into capital. Finding ways to develop more effective access for Western capital to generate African- driven growth that returns wealth to local communities rather than exporting it abroad will be key. Moreover, 25% of the world’s population will be African by 2050, presenting a huge and under-served consumer base; countries or business sectors that don’t recognize this reality will lose out. This point was echoed in conversations with Devermont, who added a nuanced point, noting, “I think that we need to get away from being so overly bullish that it doesn’t make any sense, that it challenges what any businessperson would think about a new venture. But there are [business/investment] opportunities - in the creatives, in the tech sector, in agriculture, and increasingly in infrastructure.”

A final highlight of the discussion series: Blyden and Yade raised points around the potential role of the African diaspora in shaping U.S. foreign policy priorities and implementation. Blyden – sharing her personal narrative and family’s direct links to the African diaspora in the U.S. – noted that the African diaspora can be a tool to counter strategic competition. The diaspora has the knowledge of what challenges exist in their former home countries and ideas for how to address such issues. This new component of the U.S. strategy, the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States, holds the potential to strengthen particularly economic, cultural, and social ties between the U.S. and Africa, if not core geopolitical policies. However, the initiative is still in nascent stages, having been launched only in the fall of 2023.

Through these discussions, HKS students—poised to become future policymakers and change agents—had an opportunity to go deeper into the complexities involved in crafting foreign policy strategies and the challenges inherent in creating cohesive whole-of-government narratives. These conversations illuminated the limitations of traditional government policy tools and underscored the need for strengthening and mobilizing the roles of the private sector and civil society. Students were encouraged to think critically about how these external forces can complement and enhance government efforts, particularly in areas where government policy levers may fall short.

We hope students who engaged with our Africa in Focus discussion series left inspired to experiment with innovative solutions to mutual challenges and to harness the potential for more collaboration between Africa and the U.S.