Trump hosts West African leaders as the region reels from US aid cuts

DAKAR: US President Donald Trump is hosting five West African leaders on Wednesday for a "multilateral lunch" at the white house as the region reels from the impact of US aid cuts. The leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau are expected to discuss key areas of cooperation, including economic development, security, infrastructure and democracy, according to a statement from the Liberian presidency.

The White House has not provided further details. The surprise meeting comes as the Trump administration has taken radical steps it said are meant to reshape the US relationship with Africa. Earlier this month, US authorities dissolved the US agency for International development, and said it was no longer following what they called "a charity-based foreign aid model" and will instead focus on partnership with nations that show "both the ability and willingness to help themselves." The US African affairs senior bureau official Troy Fitrell earlier this year said that Trump administration wants to focus on eliminating trade deficits with Africa. "Assistance involves a donor and a recipient, but commerce is an exchange between equals," he said. Critics say that the abrupt shift will result in millions of deaths. A study published in the Lancet medical journal late last month projected that USAID's dismantling and deep funding cuts would lead to more than 14 million additional deaths globally by 2030, including 4.5 million children.

West African countries are among the hardest hit by the dissolution of the USAID. The US support in Liberia amounted to 2.6 per cent of the country's gross national income, the highest percentage anywhere in the world, according to the Center for Global Development. Five nations whose leaders are meeting Trump represent a small fraction of the U.S-Africa trade, but they possess untapped natural resources. Senegal and Mauritania are important transit and origin countries when it comes to migration, and along Guinea Bissau are struggling to contain drug trafficking, both issues of concern for the Trump administration. Liberia's President Joseph Nyuma Boakai in a statement "expressed optimism about the outcomes of the summit, reaffirming Liberia's commitment to regional stability, democratic governance, and inclusive economic growth." Gabon, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal are among 36 countries which might be included in the possible expansion of Trump's travel ban