Trump mini-summit: Why these five West African countries?

• Trump holds mini-summit with five West African countries. 
• Curiously, the forum excluded any of Africa’s biggest economies.
• Reports show that the U.S. is considering troops on ground in DRC to fortify access to critical mineral sites.

Trump tariffs and Trump cuts remain the trending media topics with the latest news break announcing U.S. President Donald Trump has held a mini-summit with five presidents of West African countries.

“The presidents of the West African countries of Senegal, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Gabon are in Washington this week for a three-day mini summit hosted by President Trump — part of what the White House describes as a push to deepen “commercial opportunities” between the U.S. and African nations and replace aid with trade,” NPR reported mid-week.

Swinging from his earlier travel restrictions stance, Trump lauded the West African region for what he described as “it’s vibrancy and opportunities.” Trump went on to specify the “opportunities” to include Africa’s “very valuable lands, great minerals and great oil deposits.”

With the opportunities laid on the table, President Trump did not mince his words as to his administration’s plan for Africa. “The U.S. approach would be shifting from aid to trade. In the long run, this will be far more effective and sustainable and beneficial than anything else that we could be doing together,” he asserted.

Trump’s aid cuts that have severely wounded the continent. The push for trade ties comes on the backdrop of U.S. need for West Africa’s critical minerals. Reports say the U.S. is looking to broker a deal for critical resources such as Gabon’s manganese and uranium and rare earth elements from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The DRC is the world’s leading source of cobalt, with over 70 per cent of global production originating from its mines, reports Financial Times. Cobalt is a critical mineral used in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, smartphones, and other devices, making it one of the most coveted minerals of modern times, and the US fancies a controlling share in the DRC, the world’s largest producer.

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Trump: Is the end game control of DRC’s cobalt?

While the US boasts of leading the peace mission that managed to strike a deal between the DRC and Rwanda, it is understood that the end game is DRC’s cobalt. “The United States is seeking to diversify its sources of critical minerals, including cobalt, and has expressed interest in the DRC’s resources.” On the flip side;  “The DRC is seeking to build stronger economic and security partnerships with the US, potentially in exchange for access to its minerals.”

“Reports indicate that in return for giving American firms exclusive access rights to the DRC’s critical mineral wealth and infrastructure projects, the US government would provide security assistance in the form of training, equipment, and potentially direct assistance, meaning U.S. boots on the ground,” details the PIIE institute of research in it’s recent review of the pact.

According to PIIE, there is widespread criticism against U.S. advances in DRC for cobalt and other critical minerals. “While such an agreement (security for cobalt) might appear attractive, it would come with substantial risks that echo past entanglements in complex and unstable regions,” warns

Rather than turn to DRC, the PIIE report suggests that; “The U.S. should instead focus on repairing relations with Canada, a critical mineral powerhouse, and engaging with countries such as the DRC on economic and diplomatic terms rather than militarized ones.”

All facts taken into consideration, right now, the winds are blowing in favor of the U.S. Right after the trade offer, a bilateral approach that most African countries have been calling for, Trump swung back to describing Africa as an angry continent.

“There’s a lot of anger on your continent,” he purported to the West African leaders, and with that assumption, Trump cited the DRC-Rwanda peace deal; “We’ve been able to solve a lot of it,” he blew his own trumpet.

In his comments about the US-Africa mini-summit, Prof. David Okoye of Nigeria’s Niger Delta University said; “Trump is transactional — he wants to know what these nations can offer.”

Well, it is clear that these countries can offer much needed minerals to the U.S. but an undercurrent suggests that these countries can also offer a counterbalance military solution for the U.S. against China’s growing influence in the region and continent.

“The summit also comes amid growing U.S. concern over China’s expanding footprint in Africa — particularly rumors that Beijing is scouting port locations along West Africa’s coast for possible military use,” alludes the NPR report of Trump’s mini-summit.

Reached to comment, Cameron Hudson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies had this to be say; “The U.S. has been watching Chinese interest in places like Gabon, Guinea, and Mauritania very closely.”

Notably, NPR writes, China remains Africa’s top trade and investment partner and its military presence on the continent is expanding, as is Russia’s.

“The U.S. military has significantly reduced its presence or been pushed out of the Sahel…since 2020, military juntas in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have expelled Western forces — including U.S. troops — and turned instead to Russia for security support.

Finally, the report acknowledges persisting tensions over Trump aid cuts which it says “are likely to hang over the talks.”

It gives a few key examples like Liberia, a longtime recipient of U.S. foreign assistance, and a country where U.S. support previously made up nearly 3 per cent of its national income and has now “been hit hard by Trump’s closure of USAID earlier this year.”

While the five West African leaders sit at the table with Trump to discuss trade, critics query as to how and why those specific country’s were chosen instead of  Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and Ghana; the four of the region’s largest democracies and longtime U.S. allies.

It is speculated that Nigeria’s growing ties with BRICS may be to blame, while outright locked-horns with South Africa are known even as the latter is to be hit by 30 percent tariffs this August.

As for Ghana, President John Mahama had condemned Trump for ‘ambushing’ of South Africa’s President back in May, and described the move as “an insult to all Africans.”

In conclusion, none puts it well as does Prof. Paul Agwu of Nigeria’s University of Port Harcourt when asked about the mini-summit, it’s attendees and absentees, said; “We’ll see what comes out of it — but I doubt it’ll be anything new.”