From aid to trade? The US just stumbled on its own Africa strategy

Opinion: With the quiet expiration of AGOA and the dismantling of USAID, the Trump administration has shut down U.S. foreign policy tools in Africa, ceding ground to China's zero-tariff policies.

Published in Devex by Alexanderia Haidara on November 12, 2025

While the U.S. government remains in gridlock due to the shutdown, the quiet expiration of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, undermines the Trump Administration’s commitment to transition the continent from foreign aid recipient to a reliable trading partner. By 2050, a quarter of the world’s population will be African and, collectively, African countries could account for a $29 trillion economic bloc in today’s currency.

With only a faint possibility of a one-year extension, American business investors hang in the balance while they wait for U.S. Congress to make a decision before the end of the year.The Trump administration’s lack of urgency to renew AGOA, even after meeting with five African presidents this summer in the White House, underscores the consequences of a failed U.S-Africa policy and a lost opportunity for American investors.

USAID and AGOA

Since African countries gained their independence in the 1960s, foreign assistance has been the cornerstone of U.S.-Africa relations. For sixty years, the U.S. Agency for International Development has sought to address economic development, humanitarian assistance, and global health issues in Africa. By the late 1990s however, American business and political leaders recognized the need to move beyond aid to trade partnership.

In 2000, then-U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law a trade preference program granting duty-free access to the U.S. market for over 5,000 products from more than 30 eligible African countries. USAID was the lead implementing agency providing technical and policy formulation assistance to eligible countries to help them maximize the

program’s benefits.

AGOA did work

Since 2002, AGOA has generated over $1.2 trillion in two-way trade between the United States and Africa. This has created a pathway for U.S. companies to enter African markets, diversify their supply chains, and create more American jobs. U.S. companies including Target, Victoria's Secret, and Walmart have sourced T-shirts, jeans, and other apparel from Kenya, Lesotho, and Madagascar through AGOA. AGOA has created over 500,000 U.S. jobs

and 1 million African jobs over the past 20 years.

Does Washington value African partnerships?

The fall of AGOA comes following the Trump administration’s shuttering of USAID, which funded trade and investment programs through Prosper Africa and Power Africa. While the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which manages infrastructure projects in Africa, survived, many of its programs have been cut. President Donald Trump’s message to Africa is crystal clear: The dismantling of the very agency that drove trade programs with the continent shows that America does not value African countries as equal trading partners.

Although U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed the New York Times report on the closing of the African Affairs Bureau at the State Department as “fake news,” the political damage had already sent shock waves across the continent. It’s increasingly clear that African political and business leaders no longer view America as a reliable partner.

The Trump administration has yet to announce a rescue plan for American investors to recover business and job loss resulting from the expiration of AGOA. The possibility of only a one-year extension reveals that Washington still does not have a long-term vision for deepening commercial ties with Africa.

With USAID gone, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation is next in line to deepen U.S. investment in Africa — but it has little to no presence on the ground and has traditionally partnered with USAID staff to implement its investment projects. Equally, U.S. State Department diplomats, who are now the main bulk of government staff left to carry out the country’s foreign policies, do not have the capacity or necessarily the expertise to help American businesses enter new emerging markets while managing foreign assistance programs.

Meanwhile in China …

As the Trump administration summoned USAID diplomats serving abroad to return home by July 1, China’s President Xi Jinping announced zero-tariff policies to nearly all African countries. While the African market offers U.S. investors ample business opportunities across multiple sectors, Trump remains laser-focused on the critical minerals industry. China dominates the global critical mineral supply chain, controlling nearly 60% of the market. 

According to the Stimson Center, while the U.S. invested $7.4 billion in Africa in 2023, it invested less than $300 million — just 4% — into critical minerals. American investors will need more U.S. government support to navigate this politically risky business venture and counter Chinese investment.

Just before Trump’s second-term inauguration, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi kicked off 2025 visiting African countries for critical minerals discussions. Traditionally, meanwhile, many U.S. presidents have not made Africa a top foreign policy priority, barely squeezing in an official African tour during their terms in office. Meanwhile, Trump has yet to commit to visiting other African countries this year.

Looking ahead

With USAID dismantled and AGOA expired, Washington is shutting down foreign policy tools that fostered deep diplomatic and commercial ties over the past 60 years. AGOA was more than a trade deal — it was a pathway for future U.S. government private sector engagement on the continent.

Many U.S. businesses have already lost hope of any possibility of renewal, while African exports to the U.S. have significantly dropped. With potential U.S. military action in one of Africa’s largest economies, Nigeria, over the country allegedly ignoring attacks on Nigerian Christians, the prospects of deepening trade ties with the continent

are becoming grimmer by the day. Closing USAID was a huge loss of institutional knowledge and expertise that will be a difficult gap to fill. The Trump

administration should restore USAID and restructure it to increase public-private partnerships on the continent.

In the long term, Washington also needs to build a strong infrastructure across the entire U.S. government, academia, media, think tank, and U.S. business community to properly support African countries transition from foreign aid recipients to trade partners.

Without a robust diplomatic core and local experts serving at U.S. embassies, American investors will be left in the dark. If Washington wants to remain a serious player on the continent, it must go beyond partisan politics to rebuild a credible trade policy that empowers African industries and strengthens U.S. global competitiveness.