A continent recalculating; how Africa is filling the vacuum Washington left behind
When the G20 leaders’ summit convened in Johannesburg last November, the empty chair reserved for the United States said more about the state of the international order than anything spoken from the podium. Washington had boycotted its own founding forum rather than sit under an African presidency it accused of hostility toward its own citizens. […]
The United States has abandoned its role in Africa, leaving a power vacuum for other nations to fill. At the G20 summit in Johannesburg, the chair reserved for the U.S. remained unfilled, signaling the country's boycott of an African-led forum. In December, South Africa was formally excluded from the 2026 Miami summit, and by January, Pretoria agreed to a temporary withdrawal from G20 proceedings.
This retreat is not merely a personal disagreement but a broader shift, with the U.S. stepping back from the continent and other powers seeking to fill the void. The scale of the U.S. withdrawal is clear. The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development eliminated most of Washington's foreign aid contracts, with sub-Saharan Africa, which received about 40% of USAID's budget in 2023, absorbing a disproportionate share.
Analysts predict that the cuts could push nearly six million more Africans into extreme poverty by the end of the year, with that number expected to triple by 2030. Healthcare systems reliant on American funding for HIV treatment, malaria prevention, and maternal care are struggling, and the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns of millions more deaths annually.
Tariff threats have also put the preferential access African exporters enjoyed under the African Growth and Opportunity Act in jeopardy. Despite the aid withdrawal, some African governments have adapted swiftly. Nigeria mobilized nearly half of the funding USAID had provided for its health budget within a month, while Ethiopia introduced a new domestic tax to cover the shortfall, and Ghana removed the cap on its national health insurance levy.
China's presence in Africa is not as straightforward as it seems. While China has not abandoned the continent, its policy bank lending has significantly declined from 28.8 billion dollars in 2016 to 2.1 billion dollars in 2024. Beijing has focused more on trade partnerships and selective commercial investments rather than stepping into Washington's shoes as a financier of last resort.
This leaves the Gulf states as the primary actors filling the gap. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have pledged over $100 billion in African capital over the past decade. The UAE alone has deployed $44 billion in African capital, and in June, sovereign wealth funds, commercial banks, and development finance institutions launched the Africa-Middle East Corridor in Dubai.
This investment is focused on sectors like ports, logistics, agriculture, energy, and critical minerals, aiming to secure long-term influence over African resources and trade routes rather than broad-based development.
Written by urgent.news from MyJoyOnline Ghana's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
