Former US Under Secretary for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, has called on the incoming US administration to foster cooperation ties with African Coup leaders.
In an interview with VOA recently, the diplomat said the United States should treat coups individually and also shun hypocrisy.
“US engagement needs to be different. Our lecturing, for example, the military government in Niger, I think, has a lot to do with us being kicked out of some very valuable airbases. In the whole issue of coups, I think it is important for the United States to look at coups individually.”
He criticised the fact that the United States calls some takeovers a coup and doesn’t describe the same for others. He questioned why the USA had not designated the takeover in Gabon as a coup.
“We just need to be a little bit more honest and say we need to be more flexible in our way of engagement with those governments,” He said.
According to him, the military governments need more engagement with the US so that the US can help them move forward, especially those popular with the people when the coup happens.
Tibor argues that the US is trying to lecture military junta leaders more about democracy, which should not be the case. He stated that the US should be less hypocritical in engaging with African governments where they are and not where the US wants them to be.
Urges for efforts in Sudan, Sahel
Regarding the conflicts in Africa, the former secretary said the US should look more into the conflict in Sudan and Sahel, among others. Sunday has been a conflict for almost a year now. The military leader has been battling with the paramilitary forces, which has created chaos in the nation entirely.
In the Sahel, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso are battling with the jihadists. These areas, Tibor Nagy says, should be of more interest to the incoming Trump administration. Tibor did not mention the armed conflict in Cameroon by name. He said he wants a situation where he is less hypocritical, while before Trump won the elections, he had championed the course for independence in Anglophone Cameroon, where separatists want a breakaway nation.
In the interview, he never mentioned the conflict as an area where the US should demonstrate interest. During his tenure as Under Secretary for African Affairs, he visited Yaounde and never saw anything wrong with the Anglophone crisis until he left power. That was when he made a U-turn on his personal views. Now that his former boss is back in power, his tune has changed again.
Says Africans Shouldn’t Worry About America First
The diplomat said clearly that Africans should not worry about making America great again. According to him, the policy will change once Trump assumes power, regardless of what he said during the campaign. He argues that there are resources in Africa that the US also needs. He sees no reason for the US to withdraw, leaving China to fill the void.
“I am very optimistic. I don’t think people should worry about the slogan, America first, because it doesn’t mean America only.” He said, “There are a lot of areas where areas of interest between the US and Africa intersect.”
To him, the US sees China as a long-term existential threat.
“I think that we will be a little bit more honest and say yes, part of our Africa relations are about China.”
To him, what the majority of African youth need are jobs. But China has been there and is not providing those jobs. So, there are US companies that can do that. From America and Western types of investments, it does lead to kinds of jobs that young Africans are looking for,” he said.
“Why should China monopolise mineral resources in Africa when it would do much when Western or American companies were also involved?” He added.
When asked about Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on goods coming to the US, he said the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is there. To Tibor Nagy, it is a law passed by Congress, and the Trump administration can just violate it.
