Editor's Note: Hisham AbuBakr Metwally is the First Economist Researcher at the Central Department for Export & Import Policy under the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

U.S. President Donald Trump approved a new policy toward Africa last week under the title of "promoting prosperity in Africa and America."

The initiative will support trade, investment, and selective peacekeeping missions between the U.S. and Africa.

According to U.S. national security adviser John Bolton, this new policy aims to combat the "predatory" practices of China and Russia.

Bolton accused Beijing and Moscow of using investment and trade to gain direct leverage on African governments, often through corrupt means, and indicated that the United States was losing ground to the two countries.

Why does America always deal with the African continent in terms of war, not peace? Why does America put Africa as a place of conflict rather than an arena for rapprochement and cooperation?

The new U.S. strategy has been built on the principle of weakening the Chinese and Russian gains in favor of its own interests.

Should Africa abandon cooperation with China and Russia to cooperate with Washington? It is a strange question: Why should Africa choose between the two sides when it wants to cooperate with everyone and open its doors for all countries to jointly build the future?

Why the U.S. wants to counter the Russian influence in Africa

Russia is seeking to regain its influence in the African continent as it has been a major arms exporter to many African countries with ongoing energy cooperation.

For example, Russia and Egypt have enjoyed strong relations after signing contracts for the construction of four nuclear power plants, followed by a contract to establish a large Russian industrial zone in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

Russia is also seeking to restore strong ties with Libya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and other African countries.

The Ambassador of the Central African Republic to Sudan Abdullahi Ibrahim has said that the cooperation with Russia has brought the conflicting parties in Central Africa in Khartoum to forge peace.

Russia is clearly re-adjusting its foreign policy by opening more to Africa and promoting military and trade cooperation with regional countries. This has raised the anxiety level of the U.S. and set its sights on the continent.

U.S.'s previous policies brought debts crises to Africa

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is one of the largest lenders to the African continent. The United States has 16.75 percent voting share in the IMF, while China has around six percent, which means that almost all the debt falls under the responsibility of the United States.

For example, any change in members' quotas requires a majority of 85 percent of the vote. In this sense, the United States, which alone holds a share of about 17 percent of the voting power, can stop any decision on quota changes.

The IMF starts its negotiations by requiring that the loan-seeking country reduce subsidy rates, requiring political and economic decision-makers to cut subsidies on commodity prices. This directly leads to the inability of the poor and low-income population to meet basic life requirements, and lands large numbers of citizens under the poverty line.

Previous experiences suggest very few countries that have obtained IMF loans were able to restore their economy to previous levels, as they were often unable to achieve an economic or developmental renaissance.

The loan policies have negatively affected African countries' national economies, throwing the middle class into poverty. At the same time, the rich class has been fragmented, with some seeing their wealth shrink and others deepening their pockets.

U.S.'s new policy doesn't follow UN orders

President Trump wants to make his own decisions in disregard of the UN resolution in maintaining peace and security in Africa.

With the new policy, the U.S. wants to support what is called effective peacekeeping operations in the region and end ineffective ones that don't meet their goals.

Bolton said the U.S. has already demanded a change of the mandate of the peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, refused to increase funding of a mission in the Central African Republic, and has threatened to cut funds for the mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is up for renewal of its mandate in the new year.

Admittedly, the new policy has some positive effects, such as supporting economic growth, improving the business climate, encouraging the investment and trade, and eventually creating new jobs in Africa.

But building policy on the principle of confronting the Chinese and Russian presence on the continent is sinful and will never give rise to optimism. Cooperation is what makes a policy popular and stable. The African arena should be a land of cooperation, not a theater of conflict.

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