By Gerald Mashange
China’s economic relationship with Africa has expanded greatly since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013. After becoming Africa’s largest trading partner in 2009, China’s total trade with Africa rose from $198.5 billion in 2012 to $295.6 billion in 2024 (see China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Report, August 2013; Communiqué, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, People’s Republic of China, June 2025). By comparison, total U.S. trade with Africa amounted to $104.9 billion in 2024 (see Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Africa).
In 2025, total trade between China and Africa rose by 17.7% to $348.05 billion, primarily driven by a 25.8% increase in exports from China, while imports from Africa rose by 5.4% (see China Global South Project). However, this trade expansion coincided with a major shift in U.S. foreign policy. On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order requiring U.S. foreign assistance to be reevaluated and realigned with his administration’s priorities, and on January 27, 2025, the Office of Management and Budget directed agencies to pause and review a broad set of financial-assistance programs (see Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid; see OMB Memorandum M-25-13). By March 2025, roughly 83 percent of programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had been canceled, sharply reducing the institutional footprint of U.S. development engagement abroad, including in Africa (see Reuters, March 10, 2025).
In today’s farmdoc daily article, we examine how China’s Belt and Road Initiative has expanded Beijing’s economic presence in Africa through infrastructure and related investments. However, the U.S. has an initiative of its own, known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides eligible sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the U.S. market for more than 1,800 products. Although President Trump signed legislation on February 3, 2026, reauthorizing AGOA (with retroactive effect to September 30, 2025), the program is scheduled to expire at the end of this year, leaving its longer-term future uncertain (see Statement from Ambassador Jamieson Greer).
Source : illinois.edu