The United States sent a sizeable delegation to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent inauguration. While there was no vice president or cabinet member in it, it did include the head of the federal government agency that manages the financial backstopping for large-scale US international trade and investment projects, along with a number of others.
Often, agency agendas can collide, and then people in these lower level, but crucial, positions must contend with possible end runs around the formal organisational structure by very powerful or articulate officials who make their appeals directly to the president to do what they want. However, someone like Matthew Paige, a former Africa analyst in the State Department’s own Bureau for Intelligence and Research , told the media, “He has a razor-sharp intellect, has a deep understanding of Africa issues, but does not suffer fools gladly. While he lacks programmatic experience and a wide network of contacts outside government, he will no doubt understand how to articulate to more senior officials why Africa issues should matter to the United States.
Sartor further argued that the present administrative team is now pushing harder on efforts to help African nations improve the climate for attracting foreign investment — and for American companies to be in that mix. Important programs in that milieu would include continued support for the Millennium Challenge Corporation account and Power Prosper Africa , even if these efforts do not get the bright light of publicity shining on them in the way Chinese efforts do.