Africa left puzzled after Tillerson visit hits dramatic end

NAIROBI, March 16 (Xinhua) — The first official visit to Africa by Rex
Tillerson as top U.S. diplomat ended expectedly with him being fired by
U.S. President Donald Trump, leaving Africa perplexed and dubious of the
sincerity of U.S. diplomacy.

As African countries are still not over Trump’s alleged “shithole” remarks
against them, Tillerson’s visit to five African nations including Ethiopia,
Djibouti, Kenya, Chad and Nigeria last week was seen as a gesture to mend
U.S.-Africa ties. Tillerson had wanted to use the visit to deepen the
United States’ partnerships in Africa in areas including counter-terrorism,
peace and security as well as trade and investment; however, this has
become even more uncertain with his sacking.  Kenya-based newspaper The
Standard on Wednesday described Tillerson’s firing as a “dramatic” end to
his 14-month tenure in a report that also pointed out the unusualness of
Tillerson’s visit to Africa because he had suspended his itinerary due to
“illness” while in Kenya and cut short his trip in Africa because of other
more urgent work.

John Campbell, an Africa scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations, told
a U.S. media outlet that Trump’s sacking of the top U.S. diplomat could be
interpreted as “another example of the administration disrespecting
Africa.”     “I don’t know how the Africans are going to take that,”
Campbell was quoted as saying.  “Tillerson ouster troubling on many
fronts,” Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, wrote in a
Twitter post Tuesday. “Rude, disrespectful treatment of a loyal supporter,
dumping him while representing America abroad, during his trip to Africa.”
According to long-time Africa and international relations researchers in
China, Africa has been marginalized in the Trump administration’s foreign
policy, and the situation will likely remain so during his time in office.

The marginalization could be mirrored through Trump cutting foreign aid for
Africa as well as the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, to which
African nations attach great importance, said Li Wentao, Institute of
African Studies Director at the China Institutes of Contemporary
International Relations.  In a different perspective, Liu Hongwu, an Africa
researcher at Zhejian Normal University, said that Tillerson’s visit to
Africa has been more about formality than concrete results. Apart from his
announcement of 533 million U.S. dollars in humanitarian aid for Ethiopia
and some other African countries, Liu said, Tillerson’s visit to Africa has
not raised specific measures benefiting the continent. Given the latest
development, it looks that the aid amount is yet to be finalized.  Abebe
Aynete, a senior researcher with Ethiopian Foreign Relations Strategic
Studies Institute, said Tillerson and Trump come from a business
background, and they see U.S. relations with the rest of the world as
transactional. It’s unclear whether Tillerson’s visit will show a clearer
U.S. global diplomatic strategy. So far, it appears that the trip by the
embattled Tillerson has failed to achieve just that, Aynete added.