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Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The contradictions of Trump's 'commercial diplomacy' in Africa
When I told the head of an Africa-focused startup that I was going to be in Luanda, Angola for the US-Africa Business Summit earlier this week, their quip was revealing: 'So the US still does business with Africa?' That tongue-in-cheek skepticism was absent from the nearly 3,000 people in attendance as a flurry of deals across the continent were announced. President Donald Trump's administration has been keen to champion commercial diplomacy and 'trade not aid' so his top Africa lieutenants Massad Boulos and outgoing Africa bureau chief, Troy Fitrell flitted around for deal photo ops and to champion the US private sector. Witney Schneidman, a board member of the Washington-based organizer, Corporate Council on Africa, said the high attendance suggested 'the new approach is well-timed.' But concerns remain. The chaotic shuttering of USAID by Trump and Elon Musk and the still unfolding humanitarian fallout in several African countries has unsettled many. There's also the likely end of the AGOA preferential trade policy, then there's the overwhelming focus on African citizens facing US visa restrictions. On the opening day, the new African Union Commission chair Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, slammed the Trump administration's visa and trade approach. Jackie Chimhamnzi, regional director for southern Africa at the Tony Blair Institute said: ' It remains to be seen if the US is incentivized to respond to this unified moment of candor by African leaders' A decades-long American investor in Africa, who spoke with me on condition of anonymity so he could be frank, said he largely believes the commercial approach is working so far, but he still sees Trump's attitude toward Africa as 'atrocious' and called the visa constraints 'absurd.' He added: 'Somebody, maybe Boulos, needs to tell him that this directly hurts US business.' When Beijing announced earlier this month in the central Chinese city of Changsha that it would remove all tariffs on exports from 53 of Africa's 54 countries, it handily won a global news cycle. Much of mainstream US media — and even longtime US-Africa watchers — were handwringing over China's growing influence in Africa, even as the US put up more trade barriers that essentially ended the 25-year old AGOA preferential trade pact. But a closer look at China's plan shows it wasn't actually as dramatic a policy change as the headlines suggested. China already allowed 33 low-income African counties to export tariff free. This announcement just meant all countries except eSwatini (because it recognizes Taiwan). It's not even a guarantee to happen, writes China Global South Project's Christian Geraurd Neema: 'The reality is more nuanced,' he says. 'China says it is 'ready' to act,' not that it has agreed to act, he argued. It's all subject to negotiations and a new economic partnership, he explained.
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Business Standard
8 hours ago
- Health
- Business Standard
'Your cuts will kill 8 mn more children': Bill Gates warns US government
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has sounded alarm over the United States government's decision to cut funding for global health initiatives. Sharing a post on X, Gates warned that this could lead to the deaths of an additional eight million children by 2040. Citing a Lancet study, he wrote, 'It found that, by 2040, 8 million more children will die before their fifth birthday. To give some context for 8 million: That's how many children live in California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio combined.' Gates mentioned: 'When the United States and other governments suddenly cut their aid budgets, I know for a fact that more children will die.' When the United States and other governments suddenly cut their aid budgets, I know for a fact that more children will die. Here's the proof I'm showing Congress. — Bill Gates (@BillGates) June 25, 2025 Global health work spans decades Having spent more than 25 years in the global health space, Gates emphasised how aid has been crucial in saving lives. 'Over the past 25 years — the same span of time I spent leading Microsoft — I have immersed myself in global health... and worked in close partnership with national and local leaders to strengthen the delivery of lifesaving care,' he said. He underscored that aid withdrawals have tangible and tragic consequences: 'Global health aid saves lives. And when that aid is withdrawn — abruptly and without a plan — lives are lost.' Gates added, 'At this point, I know as much about improving health in poor countries as I do about software.' Cuts already impacting health services Gates warned that recent US cuts to global health funding are already affecting critical programs. Efforts to test for tuberculosis, prevent malaria, and distribute essential medicines are slowing down. During recent visits to Nigeria and Ethiopia, he observed how health services are suffering due to funding shortfalls. Despite the bleak outlook, Gates expressed hope. 'It's not too late to change course,' he wrote, urging the US Congress to restore funding for key programmes such as PEPFAR and the Global Fund. Gates slams Musk for USAID shutdown In May this year, Gates harshly criticised Tesla CEO Elon Musk, accusing him of contributing to child deaths in poor countries by supporting budget cuts. 'The picture of the world's richest man killing the world's poorest children is not a pretty one,' Gates told The Financial Times, accusing Musk of acting 'through ignorance'. Musk, the then head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spearheaded the closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) earlier this year. He had posted on X: 'USAID is a criminal organisation. Time for it to die.' Massive fallout from USAID's closure The abrupt halt in USAID operations has led to life-saving supplies expiring in storage, according to Gates. He warned that diseases like polio, measles, and HIV could see resurgence, potentially reversing decades of global health progress. With the Gates Foundation's annual budget expected to rise to $10 billion in the coming years, Gates acknowledged that private philanthropy cannot match the scale of government aid. 'I think governments will come back to caring about children surviving,' he said.
Bangkok Post
10 hours ago
- Business
- Bangkok Post
UN conference seeks foreign aid rally as Trump cuts bite
MADRID - Spain will host a UN conference next week seeking fresh backing for development aid as swingeing cuts led by US President Donald Trump and global turmoil hinder progress on fighting poverty, hunger and climate change. French President Emmanuel Macron, South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa and Daniel Noboa of Ecuador will headline the around 70 heads of state and government in the southern city of Seville from June 30 to July 3. But a US snub at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development underlines the challenges of corralling international support for the sector. Joining the leaders are UN chief Antonio Guterres, more than 4,000 representatives from businesses, civil society and financial institutions, including World Bank head Ajay Banga. Such development-focused gatherings are rare -- and the urgency is high as the world's wealthiest countries tighten their purse strings and development goals set for 2030 slip from reach. Guterres has estimated the funding gap for aid at $4 trillion per year. Trump's evisceration of funding for USAID -- by far the world's top foreign aid contributor -- has dealt a hammer blow to humanitarian campaigns. Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium are among the other rich nations that have announced recent aid cuts as economic and security priorities shift and national budgets are squeezed. From fighting AIDS in southern Africa to educating displaced Rohingya children in Bangladesh, the retreat is having an instant impact. The UN refugee agency has announced it will slash 3,500 jobs as funds dried up, affecting tens of millions of the world's most vulnerable citizens. International cooperation is already under increasing strain during devastating conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, while Trump's unpredictable tariff war plunges global trade into disarray. - Debt burden - Reforming international finance and alleviating the huge debt burden under which low-income countries sag are key points for discussion. The budgets of many developing nations are constrained by servicing debt, which surged after the Covid-19 pandemic, curbing critical investment in health, education and infrastructure. According to a recent report commissioned by the late Pope Francis and coordinated by Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, 3.3 billion people live in countries that fork out more on interest payments than on health. Critics have singled out US-based bulwarks of the post-World War II international financial system, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, for reform. Seville represents "a unique opportunity to reform an international financial system that is outdated, dysfunctional and unfair", Guterres said. At a preparatory meeting at UN headquarters in New York in June, countries except the United States unanimously agreed a text to be adopted in Seville. The document reaffirms commitment to achieving the 2030 UN sustainable development goals on eliminating poverty, hunger and promoting gender equality. It focuses on reforming tax systems, notably by improving the Global South's representation within international financial institutions. The text also calls on development banks to triple their lending capacity, urges lenders to ensure predictable finance for essential social spending and for more cooperation against tax evasion. The United States said it opposed initiatives that encroach on national sovereignty, interfere with international financial institutions and include "sex-based preferences". - Lack of ambition? - While the European Union celebrated achieving a consensus, NGOs have criticised the commitment for lacking ambition. For Mariana Paoli, global advocacy lead at Christian Aid, the text "weakens key commitments on debt and fossil fuel subsidies -- despite urgent calls from the Global South". "Shielded by US obstructionism, the Global North continues to block reform. This isn't leadership -- it's denial." Previous failures by rich countries to keep their promises have eroded trust. After promising to deliver $100 billion of climate finance a year to poorer nations by 2020, they only hit the target in 2022. Acrimonious negotiations at last year's UN climate summit in Azerbaijan ended with rich countries pledging $300 billion in annual climate finance by 2035, decried as too low by activists and developing nations. Independent experts have estimated the needs upwards of $1 trillion per year. Spain will be the first developed country to host the UN development finance conference. The inaugural edition took place in Mexico in 2002, followed by Qatar in 2008 and Ethiopia in 2015.
Hindustan Times
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Has there been a US policy shift on Myanmar in Trump 2.0?
The US's recent imposition of a complete travel ban affecting 12 countries, including Myanmar, among few other countries under partial ban, is becoming a contentious topic. Citing security concerns and high visa overstay rates, the travel ban itself is questionable, given that it imposed a travel ban on Myanmar where it was supporting the democratic forces, but not on Pakistan. This imposition of the travel ban has expanded its list which President Trump originally defined during his first term, but included Myanmar then as well. This article aims to explore whether the US policy is actually shifting sand or continuing to support the democratic forces in Myanmar. Time and again there has been a debate among scholars that the United States policy towards Myanmar, which involved sanctions and isolation of the military leaders and affiliated entities, has largely been ineffectual. The second term of the Trump administration has seemed to take cognisance of the same and there are conversations among the closed doors that may be US is re-considering its stand. US President Donald Trump (AFP) With a history of a reactive and punitive policy towards the Myanmar military regime which ruled the country for the majority of the years since independence, the US adopted the same approach post the 2021 military coup. While the US policy aimed to support the democratic forces by providing them aid/support, especially through the BURMA Act, it continued with the policy of isolating the military through targeted sanctions, to pressure the regime and hold it accountable. This policy has had the unintended consequence of pushing Myanmar further into China's sphere of influence, which continues to multiple stakeholders and ensure its pertinent presence in the country. Adding to this, a few others have claimed that the US might be planning a proxy war in Myanmar, to challenge the military leaders as well as restrict China's operations in the country. Though there is no hard evidence, only narratives around the recent developments in Bangladesh and reports of British and American missionaries entering Myanmar. Additionally, the evolving security concerns due to online scams and drug supply affecting US citizens has raised concerns among US policy makers to reconsider its policy towards Myanmar. Since coming to power for the second term, the Trump administration has deprioritised support for Myanmar's pro-democracy movement by terminating the funding for independent media, civil society, and refugee support on the Thai border. Even in the aftermath of the earthquake in March 2025, while the Trump administration announced that support of up to $2 million in humanitarian assistance was to be distributed through aid organisations. But it must be noted that during the same time, the US administration has done massive layoffs and cut in budgets of USAID, which thereby raised concerns about the implementation of such assistance. And the recent travel bans further questions the support to pro-democracy forces who are immigrating from a conflict-ridden State and the National Unity Government, which has even set up a representative office in Washington. UN's human rights chief, Volker Turk, said the ban "raises concerns from the perspective of international law." There are a few others who are now questioning whether the US is considering initiating talks with the military leaders in Myanmar. The rationale for such a move could be that while the US was isolating the military and SAC, this has driven them further closer into China's orbit. Earlier this year, the Trump administration imposed 44% tariffs on Myanmar's already fragile economy, and exposed them to risk of excessive economic isolation. As a result of economic isolation, Myanmar leaders have been deepening their engagements with China and Russia, and seeking diplomatic support, financial support for various infrastructure projects and most importantly, arms deals. And Trump's ambition to be a peace breaker and his recent relations with Putin could just be a starting point where there could be the possibility of engagement between Trump and Min Hlaing. Furthermore, Myanmar's strategic location—bordering China, India, Bangladesh and Thailand, and a direct access to the Bay of Bengal—makes it a key arena for influence for the major powers. Additionally, the ongoing civil war and the resulting cross-border movement of drugs, arms, and refugees has direct implications for the security and stability of the region and more importantly of India's northeastern states. India, too, is wary of China's growing presence in Myanmar, which could bring Chinese strategic interests uncomfortably close to its borders. Given these overlapping challenges/issues, there are voices in Washington which are suggesting the US must work with regional partners, especially—India, Bangladesh, and Thailand. Along with the need to provide humanitarian aid, the US can explore opportunities for regional dialogue and cooperation, aiming to include all stakeholders and provide the stage for inclusive elections, which the military is promising to conduct by the end of the year. Further, it might be a far possibility, but the US should think of options to conditionally engage with the military in exchange for concrete steps toward immediate cessation of violence, ensure dialogue and inclusive political processes and most importantly provide humanitarian aid. While there are uncertainties involved, and the prospects for a shift in US policy toward Myanmar lacks any conclusive evidence, the evolving regional dynamics and the risk of ceding the country entirely to Chinese influence, may eventually prompt Washington to reconsider its current approach. Additionally, the US must use all its sources to continue its support for the pro-democratic forces via providing aid, funding as well as engaging in dialogue to restore normalcy in the country. While many would argue that overthrowing the military regime and isolating will be the solution to the crisis, the real politic lies in engaging with the military as well as including the National Unity Government (NUG) and ethnic armed organisations in the political process. The military has ruled the country for decades, its involvement cannot be put down to zero, but strategic alignment with democratic principles could be the beginning of a new era in Myanmar. This article is authored by Cchavi Vasisht, associate fellow, Chintan Research Foundation, New Delhi.
Int'l Business Times
16 hours ago
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
UN Conference Seeks Foreign Aid Rally As Trump Cuts Bite
Spain will host a UN conference next week seeking fresh backing for development aid as swingeing cuts led by US President Donald Trump and global turmoil hinder progress on fighting poverty, hunger and climate change. French President Emmanuel Macron, South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa and Daniel Noboa of Ecuador will headline the around 70 heads of state and government in the southern city of Seville from June 30 to July 3. But a US snub at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development underlines the challenges of corralling international support for the sector. Joining the leaders are UN chief Antonio Guterres, more than 4,000 representatives from businesses, civil society and financial institutions, including World Bank head Ajay Banga. Such development-focused gatherings are rare -- and the urgency is high as the world's wealthiest countries tighten their purse strings and development goals set for 2030 slip from reach. Guterres has estimated the funding gap for aid at $4 trillion per year. Trump's evisceration of funding for USAID -- by far the world's top foreign aid contributor -- has dealt a hammer blow to humanitarian campaigns. Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium are among the other rich nations that have announced recent aid cuts as economic and security priorities shift and national budgets are squeezed. From fighting AIDS in southern Africa to educating displaced Rohingya children in Bangladesh, the retreat is having an instant impact. The UN refugee agency has announced it will slash 3,500 jobs as funds dried up, affecting tens of millions of the world's most vulnerable citizens. International cooperation is already under increasing strain during devastating conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, while Trump's unpredictable tariff war plunges global trade into disarray. Reforming international finance and alleviating the huge debt burden under which low-income countries sag are key points for discussion. The budgets of many developing nations are constrained by servicing debt, which surged after the Covid-19 pandemic, curbing critical investment in health, education and infrastructure. According to a recent report commissioned by the late Pope Francis and coordinated by Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, 3.3 billion people live in countries that fork out more on interest payments than on health. Critics have singled out US-based bulwarks of the post-World War II international financial system, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, for reform. Seville represents "a unique opportunity to reform an international financial system that is outdated, dysfunctional and unfair", Guterres said. At a preparatory meeting at UN headquarters in New York in June, countries except the United States unanimously agreed a text to be adopted in Seville. The document reaffirms commitment to achieving the 2030 UN sustainable development goals on eliminating poverty, hunger and promoting gender equality. It focuses on reforming tax systems, notably by improving the Global South's representation within international financial institutions. The text also calls on development banks to triple their lending capacity, urges lenders to ensure predictable finance for essential social spending and for more cooperation against tax evasion. The United States said it opposed initiatives that encroach on national sovereignty, interfere with international financial institutions and include "sex-based preferences". While the European Union celebrated achieving a consensus, NGOs have criticised the commitment for lacking ambition. For Mariana Paoli, global advocacy lead at Christian Aid, the text "weakens key commitments on debt and fossil fuel subsidies -- despite urgent calls from the Global South". "Shielded by US obstructionism, the Global North continues to block reform. This isn't leadership -- it's denial." Previous failures by rich countries to keep their promises have eroded trust. After promising to deliver $100 billion of climate finance a year to poorer nations by 2020, they only hit the target in 2022. Acrimonious negotiations at last year's UN climate summit in Azerbaijan ended with rich countries pledging $300 billion in annual climate finance by 2035, decried as too low by activists and developing nations. Independent experts have estimated the needs upwards of $1 trillion per year. Spain will be the first developed country to host the UN development finance conference. The inaugural edition took place in Mexico in 2002, followed by Qatar in 2008 and Ethiopia in 2015.
