| Welcome to Next Africa, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed. Sign up here to have it delivered to your email. What’s next in line for Donald Trump’s hatchet? Having watched the US president slash foreign aid and throw out trade pacts, many African countries are concerned that military cooperation backing the fight against terror groups and rebellions may be in his sights. The sentiment was widespread among the more than 40 nations attending the US military’s premier annual meeting with African forces this week in Ghana.  A US Army Green Beret on a field-training exercise with Beninese soldiers. Photographer: Jael Laborn/US Air Force For example, Washington has supplied Benin with training, helicopters and intelligence to help prevent Islamist fighters from the Sahel region threatening shipping routes off the Gulf of Guinea. Without that aid, the battle to secure the country’s north would be “tough,” according to Major-General Abou Issa, chief of army staff for the tiny West African nation. Issa is one of many African army elites long courted by the US who now fear that Washington is losing interest in their affairs and may withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars in annual security assistance. They warn that if Trump goes ahead with a pullback, domestic insurgent groups including al-Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates will flourish.  WATCH: Jennifer Zabasajja reports about the concerns among African militaries on Bloomberg TV. Even US officials are worried. “I am grieving over programs that I’ve been very proud of,” US Ambassador to Ghana Virginia E. Palmer said, adding that aid may continue under a different guise under Trump. There’s still huge demand for US engagement, but the needs of countries like Benin are pressing and must be filled. With China having deepened its roots in African economies and Russia muscling out French and United Nations troops in the Sahel, Washington’s status — and clout — on the continent risks shrinking further. “The most difficult thing now is that we have agreements with the US,” Issa said. “If they remove it, then they will reduce the credibility of the US, both in Benin and across Africa.” — Peter Martin Key stories and opinion:
Trump Aid Cuts Stir Fears of Reduced Military Support in Africa
IMF Sees Requests From Africa Rising as Trump’s Policies Bite
Trump Cuts See Main African Health Agency Turn to Local Funding
Russia Ready to Ramp up Military Support to West African Juntas
The US Is Losing the Contest to Divide the World: Hal Brands A US medical-drone company is in talks with Nigeria to expand its service in Africa’s most populous nation, as gaps left by a freeze in US aid opens up opportunities for the private sector. An expansion of Zipline International’s infrastructure is under discussion “to ensure accessibility and prompt delivery of essential medical goods such as blood, vaccines and medicines,” said Eniitan Tejuoso, an adviser to President Bola Tinubu.  An employee loads a drone at a distribution center in Bayelsa state, Nigeria. Source: Zipline International Three US citizens jailed in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a failed coup were transferred to their home country. Washington sought an agreement and requested assistance from Qatar, which sent an envoy to Kinshasa for preliminary discussions with President Felix Tshisekedi. The exchange happened on Tuesday and the sentences were commuted to life imprisonment from death, Congo’s presidency said. The US attorney’s office in Utah revealed charges against four of its citizens for participating in the failed putsch. Terrorist group al-Shabaab is expanding land holdings across Somalia and increasingly working with Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen to disrupt Red Sea trade. That’s a stunning revival of an insurgency that the US has spent billions of dollars fighting. Al-Shabaab’s gains have come as a 13,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force has gone without funding since January, putting the government in Mogadishu at risk.  An AU peacekeeper in Somalia. Photographer: Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images South Africa is considering offering additional incentives to boost car production, as it weighs measures to offset the impact of Trump’s trade war. The US last month announced a 25% levy on vehicles produced outside America, threatening manufacturers that operate in South Africa including BMW, Ford and Toyota. While Trump offered a pause to his plan to increase reciprocal tariffs, he’s left in place the duty on vehicles. African nations will hold talks with the US in June or July on a trade pact that provided duty-free access to the world’s largest economy, South African Trade Minister Parks Tau said. The International Court of Justice began hearing Sudan’s case of complicity in genocide against the United Arab Emirates for its alleged involvement in the North African country’s civil war. The African nation’s army accuses the UAE of providing arms, training and cash to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has been fighting for control of Sudan since April 2023. The oil-rich Gulf nation has denied any involvement in the war and says it supports neither side. Separately, an unpublished report by UN investigators suggests the RSF looted and smuggled gum arabic and gold to sustain access to sophisticated weapons.  Pieces of gum arabic in a warehouse in Port Sudan. Photographer: Eduardo Soteras/Bloomberg A state-owned Zimbabwean mining firm is trying to protect assets that risk being seized because the country failed to honor a debt incurred when it lost an arbitration case over canceled nickel and platinum ventures. The $93 million owed by Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp. is among a litany of creditor woes confronting state entities, with the nation more than $21 billion in debt and locked out of international capital markets. Meanwhile, the government offered treasury bonds in compensation to White farmers whose property was seized 25 years ago. Next Africa Quiz — In which African nation were the former finance minister and ex-central bank governor arrested this week? Send your answers to gbell16@bloomberg.net. Data Watch - South Africa’s rand weakened to a record low against the US dollar on Wednesday, surpassing a level it last hit in June 2023 as investors reacted to the global trade war and fragile local politics. It recovered after Trump’s decision to pause reciprocal tariffs.
- Nigeria recorded its first surplus in its balance of payments in three years as reforms including boosting oil and gas production, removing fuel subsidies and free-floating the naira paid off. Also, its government is optimistic about being removed from the global dirty-money watchlist.
- Kenya’s central bank slashed its key interest rate by more than expected to 10%, the lowest level in more than two years.
- Mozambique approved Eni’s $7.2 billion floating liquefied natural gas project, the nation’s second led by the Italian major to export the fuel.
Coming Up - April 14 Cape Verde inflation data for March
- April 15 Democratic Republic of Congo interest-rate decision, Nigeria and Botswana March inflation, South Africa mining-production data for February & the central bank’s six-monthly monetary policy review
- April 16 Namibia interest-rate decision, South Africa retail sales for February
- April 17 Interest-rate decisions for Botswana and Egypt, monthly Bloomberg economic survey for South Africa, Sasol results
| 
