Overview

• President Trump convened a White House summit with leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal to advance economic and security partnerships targeting critical minerals, Chinese influence and migration control.
• He presided over the signing of a U.S.-brokered peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, marking a diplomatic breakthrough in the Great Lakes region.
• Cuts to foreign aid, staff reductions at the National Security Council’s Africa desk, firings at the International Trade Administration and a proposed shutdown of the Millennium Challenge Corporation have raised doubts about implementation capacity.
• African officials have criticized U.S. tariff threats, travel bans and proposals to accept third-country deportees as counterproductive to the administration’s commerce-driven agenda.
• With the African Growth and Opportunity Act set to expire on Sept. 30, urgency is building for Congress and the White House to secure its reauthorization and preserve duty-free access to U.S. markets.