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When President Joe Biden hosted 49 African leaders at a White House summit in December 2022, he pledged to make a trip to Africa in the coming year to showcase renewed interest and partnership after the Trump administration鈥檚 disregard for the continent.

The presidential trip would symbolize a U.S. commitment to a new kind of relationship with Africa 鈥� one based on furthering mutual security and economic interests while respecting African nations鈥� pursuit of independent paths, including deepening ties with other powers.

But the trip never happened. Instead, it symbolized what many Africans say is more of the same: an unreliable relationship of periodic fanfare over a promised new direction, with little follow-through.

鈥淭he way that the Africans perceive the U.S. is that the U.S. promises a lot and does not deliver what it said it will deliver,鈥� says Mvemba Phezo Dizolele, director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. 鈥淪o there鈥檚 a trust deficit.鈥�

Mr. Biden will again try to jump-start U.S.-Africa relations 鈥� and reduce that trust gap 鈥� when he receives Kenyan President William Ruto for a state visit this week. It is the first state visit by an African leader since 2008, and the first by a Kenyan president in over two decades.

Ruto鈥檚 reputation

Mr. Ruto would appear in numerous ways to be the right choice to represent the path for Africa that the United States under Mr. Biden wants to encourage and cultivate.

Promoter of what he has dubbed a 鈥渉ustler economy鈥� that favors grassroots entrepreneurship and innovation over Africa鈥檚 more traditional reliance on business elites, the Kenyan leader is held up by many diplomats and regional experts for his stewardship of both a vibrant economy and a stable and advancing democracy.

鈥淩uto is quite popular in his own country; many Kenyans see him as dynamic and a break with the past,鈥� says Phiwokuhle Mnyandu, assistant director of the Center for African Studies at Howard University in Washington. 鈥淎t the same time, he seems to inspire that enthusiasm around the African continent.鈥�

Indeed Kenya 鈥� viewed as a 鈥渕iddle power鈥� when stacked against giants South Africa and Nigeria 鈥� has emerged as a new kind of leader in Africa, serving as a hub for humanitarian interventions across the continent, and increasingly on the international stage.

Kenya hosts U.S. special forces keeping an eye on Islamist extremists in neighboring Somalia, and recently accepted to take on 鈥� at U.S. encouragement 鈥� the tricky task of deploying what will be a United Nations-helmeted stability force to restore order to Haiti.

Kenya鈥檚 special forces police force, which has experience fighting East Africa鈥檚 Al Shabab extremist group, is set to arrive in Haiti within days.

鈥淧resident Ruto is using this as an opportunity to raise his profile on the global stage,鈥� says Cameron Hudson, senior fellow with the CSIS Africa Program. 鈥淪ince coming to office he has really promoted himself internationally as a leader of the continent,鈥� he adds, 鈥渉osting the African Climate Summit, his engagements at the U.N., his engagement around peacekeeping outside of Africa.鈥�

Setbacks for U.S.

Yet at the same time, Mr. Ruto鈥檚 visit comes against a backdrop of setbacks for U.S. standing and influence in Africa.

U.S. troops are withdrawing from Niger after a decade of counterterrorism operations there. They were ordered out by the ruling military junta in favor of Russian soldiers from the Africa Corps 鈥� the new iteration of the mercenary organization formerly known as the Wagner Group.

Last month, military rulers in Chad also ordered U.S. troops stationed there to leave.

Elsewhere, Chinese investment and development deals have advanced, often in sensitive sectors like rare earth metals. A further sign of waning U.S. influence came last year when many African countries rebuffed U.S. diplomatic efforts to line up developing world support for Ukraine and global condemnation for Russia over its invasion of a neighboring country.

U.S. presidents going back to Bill Clinton have touted the idea of building trade and economic partnerships with Africa, but over the past decade, China has solidified its economic footprint on the continent. In recent years, China has been joined by smaller regional powers like Turkey and the Gulf states.

鈥淲ashington is learning late that it鈥檚 missing opportunities,鈥� says Mr. Hudson. One of the 鈥渆xcuses鈥� he says he has heard from U.S. officials for a long time is, 鈥溾�榃ell, we鈥檙e not China. We鈥檙e not a state-run economy. I can鈥檛 just tell Microsoft to go invest in Kenya [or] open a factory there.鈥欌��

While that may be, Mr. Hudson says that does not explain what has struck many as a roller coaster of initial attention to Africa followed by a step falling off.

The administration鈥檚 launch of a new Africa strategy in August 2022, followed a few months later by the leaders鈥� gathering in Washington, stoked fresh confidence that the Biden administration really was going to break the pattern of fanfare followed by neglect that has typified U.S.-Africa relations, he says.

鈥淗owever, after that summit, we really saw a drop-off in at least presidential, if not high-level senior involvement from the administration,鈥� he adds. 鈥淲e have seen not the level of engagement that we would have expected from an administration that had launched this strategy and launched this summit.鈥�

For their part, White House officials push back forcefully against any notion of administration neglect. They emphasize that an unprecedented number of Cabinet-level officials 鈥� 17 last year 鈥� have visited, as have first lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Howard University鈥檚 Dr. Mnyandu says there鈥檚 no denying the pattern of ups and down in U.S.-Africa relations 鈥� but he also says it can鈥檛 all be laid at the White House doorstep.

鈥淵es, there are ebbs and flows,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut sometimes it鈥檚 not the U.S. that is responsible, but the Africans themselves鈥� who lack follow-through.

African exports

One item on President Ruto鈥檚 U.S. agenda that gives Dr. Mnyandu hope that this leader鈥檚 visit will be different is his planned stops at two Kenyan companies: Vivo Fashion in Atlanta and Wazawazi, which makes leather goods, in Denver.

鈥淚t wouldn鈥檛 be an eyebrow-raiser if it were the French president visiting French companies, but this augurs well for a new narrative about U.S.-Africa relations,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t says Africa isn鈥檛 always on the receiving end, but is now exporting to the U.S. and is a source of innovation.鈥�

The expert on China-Africa relations says the way Mr. Ruto has organized his weeklong U.S. visit around business and investment opportunities, including with a dynamic diaspora, should also demonstrate to Americans a truth about most Africans: They would rather engage with the U.S. than with China if the opportunities are there.

鈥淎 typical African country realizes now that relations with the U.S. are going to be more comprehensive and people-to-people than [relations] with China,鈥澛燚r. Mnyandu says.

Even Chinese people tell him they know the typical African country relates better with the U.S. 鈥渂ecause of this approaching each other as human beings,鈥� he notes. 鈥淭his is something that both sides should view with optimism.鈥�