海角大神

For decades, the United States has vaunted the advantages and promise of deeper engagement with Africa, but more often than not the action has failed to match the rhetoric.

President George W. Bush introduced his groundbreaking PEPFAR AIDS-response program, while Barack Obama intervened to save a region from Ebola and then established a vast public-private electrification project to help boost Africa鈥檚 development.

But to a large extent 鈥� and notably aside from a steady buildup of counterterrorist security partnerships in recent years 鈥� the US has steadily retreated to the sidelines as African states have sought to develop their economies. And that鈥檚 been true even as other powers 鈥� most notably China 鈥� have leapfrogged the US to become Africa鈥檚 dominant foreign partners.

This week Rex Tillerson makes his first trip to Africa as secretary of State, aiming to reassert America鈥檚 role not just as a hard-power security blanket but as a soft-power partner.

He鈥檒l talk up the importance of democracy, good governance, and respect for human rights on his five-nation tour, according to State Department diplomats. He鈥檒l pledge American partnership in fulfilling Africa鈥檚 bright economic promise, as some African countries register impressive growth rates and international economists spotlight Africa as the world鈥檚 next Southeast Asia.

And as he suggested in a speech Tuesday at George Mason University before jumping on a plane, Mr. Tillerson will warn his African hosts about China鈥檚 development model, which to America鈥檚 way of thinking is stripping Africa of its natural wealth 鈥� particularly precious metals 鈥� and indebting countries to dangerous levels while giving little back.

Touting America鈥檚 model of development assistance as one that demands transparency, good governance practices, and respect for human rights in exchange for US 鈥減artnerships,鈥� Tillerson said it 鈥渟tands in stark contrast to China鈥檚 approach.鈥�

The Chinese model, he said, is typified by 鈥減redatory loan practices and corrupt deals that mire nations in debt and undermine their independence鈥� while 鈥渃reating few if any jobs in most countries.鈥�

But for many, the US is coming late and with little bang to the African dance. Moreover, African leaders are likely to receive Tillerson with a mixture of longing for American engagement and mounting skepticism over America鈥檚 desire and capability to play its traditional global leadership role.

Much of the world is 鈥渜uestioning whether we really have the energy, the engagement, the investment to sustain what has for 70 years been the rules-based liberal world order the US built after the Second World War,鈥� said Sen. Christopher Coons (D) of Delaware, speaking last week at Washington鈥檚 Hudson Institute.

Contrasting US, China

Senator Coons, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and something of an Africa expert, was speaking specifically about the Middle Eastern countries he鈥檇 recently visited, and drawing a conclusion from the resounding message he said he鈥檚 received from leaders around the world.

In Africa in particular, he says, leaders want America鈥檚 involvement and partnership 鈥� but in the absence of that strong engagement they are turning increasingly to China and its very different model of development.

鈥淭here is no continent on the planet where the US is more positively viewed than Africa,鈥� says Coons, who has visited 27 African countries over his tenure as senator. But he says there is no other continent 鈥渨here the contest of ideas and systems between the United States and China is so daily and widely evident.鈥�

Describing China鈥檚 message to Africa leaders as basically, 鈥淵ou can have development without all the messiness of human rights and journalists and [political] opposition,鈥� he adds: 鈥淭he force of China鈥檚 engagement with Africa is like a tidal pull. They鈥檙e present, they鈥檙e engaged, and they鈥檙e providing a powerful counterexample of how you can organize society.鈥�

Tillerson will make stops in Ethiopia, where he鈥檒l meet with national leaders as well as with representatives of the African Union, and then Djibouti, Kenya, Chad, and Nigeria. All are key security partners of the US 鈥� indeed Tillerson dedicated the first half of his George Mason speech to the importance of US security arrangements in Africa.

But some Africa experts worry that the secretary鈥檚 trip is heavy on countries where the US focus is largely on battling extremist groups, like Boko Haram in Nigeria and Chad.

Over-emphasis on security?

鈥淭he countries being visited by Secretary Tillerson have an overarching common denominator, and that is security and counterterrorism,鈥� says Johnnie Carson, a former assistant secretary of State for African affairs and ambassador to several African countries. 鈥淔or some of these states security is indeed the key issue,鈥� he adds, 鈥渂ut it should not be the only focus of US policy in Africa.鈥�

What sub-Saharan Africa is looking for in the US 鈥渋s a good partner in economic development 鈥� a better commercial and investing partner,鈥� adds Ambassador Carson, who is now an Africa expert at the US Institute of Peace in Washington.

Others say they can appreciate the reasoning behind Tillerson鈥檚 emphasis 鈥� but that it risks confirming the perspective of a broader section of Africa鈥檚 political and economic players that the US is out of all but the security game.

鈥淚 get that [Tillerson] is positioning security as the precondition for prosperity, and many African leaders 鈥� clearly those he鈥檒l be meeting with 鈥� will agree with that,鈥� says Aubrey Hruby, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council鈥檚 Africa Center.

鈥淏ut for broader stakeholders in the economy, the emphasis leaves the US out of the picture,鈥� she says. 鈥淪ecurity partnerships are important, but they are invisible to a lot of people, and so leave US engagement invisible as well.鈥�

As it had before, the US launched with great fanfare a new initiative for commercial and economic engagement with Africa in 2000, says Ms. Hruby, former managing director of the Whitaker Group, an Africa-focused corporate strategy and investment advisory firm.

But then the results never lived up to the promise. 鈥淲hat has happened is that over the last 10 years the US has not increased its engagement of African economies as much as others have,鈥� she adds, 鈥渟o that has made it look like the US is slipping behind.鈥�

Need for sustained partnerships

Certainly the US has slipped behind China, which has built huge infrastructure projects across Africa (including a transnational railroad in Djibouti) largely financed by big long-term loans.

Carson says the US is right to warn African countries about the consequences of the large amount of debt they are piling up with China. 鈥淲e certainly don鈥檛 want Africa falling back into another debt trap like the one that was so debilitating in the 70s and 80s,鈥� he says.

But the Atlantic Council鈥檚 Hruby says that more effective than warnings about other countries鈥� level of engagement would be a move by the US 鈥� both public and private sectors 鈥� beyond rhetoric to sustained partnerships.

鈥淎frica鈥檚 leaders are not na茂ve, they are not hoodwinked into deals with China or anyone else, and they鈥檒l be the first to tell you that the Chinese have their own agenda,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut they do feel like they don鈥檛 have a lot of alternatives.鈥�

What the US should be doing, she adds, is demonstrating that the option of 鈥渂road-based, productive, and sustained partnerships鈥� with US public and private sectors is more than Washington rhetoric.