The 2020 US presidential election has come and gone, and the posited victorious candidate: Joe Biden, the Democrat’s party flag bearer has already given his victory speech.
Every four years, the world is at ease, because the decision of Americans at the polls has a reverberant effect on global affairs.
America is a practicing democracy and as is expected, all candidates gunning for any electoral position should have a manifesto, a compendium of all he/she hopes to achieve in the office with optimum effort. The wealth of the manifestos serves as a judge of the candidate with better plans.
At this point before the inauguration of the next administration, all postulations of the outcome of the incoming government as regards policies and actions should be hinged on campaign promises. Joe Biden, the winner of the 2020 US presidential election, had on many occasions during his campaign, shared his plans and view on many issues concerning the US-Africa relationship.
According to many analysts, the major challenge the next US administration will have to deal with in Africa is the issue of China’s dominance across the African economies. China has over the last decade made significant intrusion into all sectors of the economy of most African nations, via investments and providing credit facilities.
In the energy (power) sector, China has between 2010 and 2015, injected an estimated $13-billion in Africa. In the renewable energy sector, China has also made appreciable investments. In 2017, the China-Africa renewable energy cooperation and innovation alliance was launched to liaise with the Africa renewable energy initiative (AREI) to boost the development of renewable energy systems across the continent.
Joe Biden during his propaganda, described his relationship with China as regards Africa as a peer competition, given what he describes as the hostile competition, which the Trump administration has had with China. Judd Devermont, a former US diplomat on Africa relations under the Obama administration, also describes the Biden approach in Africa as incremental changes in attitude and introduction of humble economic policies.
Again, Biden described climate change as the most troubling issue facing the world and vowed to invest heavily in renewable energy.
The African energy sector is a fertile ground for healthy competition between interested investors. Despite the heavy investments made in this sector, a lot of work is yet to be done, given the still existing inadequacy of power across the continent. The expectation of the new US administration is a foreign policy that wants to create influence by entering in healthy competition with parties of common interest. The expected US-China economic brawl will ultimately mean improvement in energy access across the African continent.