The future of U.S-Africa relations post – elections

The United States of America needs to be in dialogue with African Leaders in order to understand fully where to place emphasis in terms of bilateral relationships. That’s according to Ambassador Charles Stith, Chairman of the Pula Group in an exclusive interview with CNBC Africa’s Onyi Sunday

How would you describe US-Africa relations at the moment?

STITH: There is obviously a desire to see how the bilateral relations across the continent straighten.

Talking post- elections in the US, Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton, the question everyone is asking- who would be better for the continent?

STITH: Unequivocally, Hilary Clinton would not only be better for Africa, she would be better for United States and the Planet. Given some of the outlandish comments we have heard from Candidate Donald Trump it certainly does not inspire a lot of confidence in a potential president. Hilary Clinton on the other hand, is a seasoned diplomat, a well-vast formal legislator having served in the US senate and First Lady who has known Africa, been to Africa and has engaged African leaders over the past two decades so I think she undoubtedly fits in than Donald Trump.

Having said that, there are some things the next president of the United States needs to pay attention to in engaging Africa, we have some very important transnational security issues on which we need African assistance as well as profound economic interests. We need to develop a comprehensive framework for engaging African States, particularly Africa’s democracies. Our relationships with the democratic states of continents need to be more neutralised and more comprehensive.

We also need to develop a different diplomatic protocol; we need to be patient and where we have concerns, we need to let them play out constitutionally, we need strong institutions and constitutions and not strong men. There is also a need for better data because where there is no sufficient data; it is difficult for the Unites States to appreciate where opportunities lie in Africa. All these are necessary to improve our bilateral relationships across the continent.

What possible policy shifts do you envisage post the US elections?

STITH: There are some staples in our portfolio for engaging the continent, the challenge for the incoming administration is to look at a better coordination between all initiatives; coming with a board and comprehensive vision is number one on the agenda. Secondly, in the spirit of partnership, to expand and build upon the bilateral agendas across the continent, we need to ask the African leaders some questions like what they like to see out of the USA that will help them fuel the democratisation in and further develop their countries. In Africa’s democracies unlike others, leadership is being accountable based on what they are able to deliver to the people on a day to day basis not on the change that improves their lives and that requires a great deal of flexibility.

As a result of that, we need to be in dialogue with African Leaders in order to understand fully where we need to place emphasis in terms of our bilateral relationships in other to provide the most help and assistance in creating stability.

Earlier, you mentioned that most African Countries need strong institutions and not strong men; you also mentioned the need to be in dialogue with African Leaders; over the years do you think these dialogues have made any influence or impact on most of these ‘strong men’ that we have on the African Continent.

STITH: What we have seen over the past almost thirty years is a dramatic shift over the continent in terms of democratisation and development. In 2001, there were eleven democratically retired African Head of States in government, today there are more than forty and at the end of the decade, there will be more than fifty.

What that suggests is that the trend towards democratisation is headed in the right direction, there are sixteen countries across the continent that are fully democratic, developing their economies along free market lines and they are the most heavily populated.

They have an aggregate population of about 700 million people which means that a vast majority of Africans wake up every day in a country where they have the opportunity to hold their leadership accountable for improving the quality of lives of people and expanding opportunities. So, the continent is clearly headed in the right direction.