Africans react to Trump’s election
BY JIBRIL TURE
In Africa where former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are very popular, Donald Trump’s upset victory came as a shock. Bitter disappointment gave way to a litany of unanswered questions and comments: Does the defeat of Hillary Clinton, whom Africans expect would carry on the Obama’s legacy, have anything to do with the first black president? Is America so racist and so polarized that voters “repudiated” Clinton — one of the best qualified presidential candidates in U.S. history — just to send a message to Obama? How do Africans assess the Obama administration’s policy to Africa?
The African magazine reporters Usman Mama, Lou Sifa, Jibril Ture and Ruth Aine wasted no time in asking African opinion leaders across the continent their reaction to Trump’s victory, and what they expect from the next administration in terms of African policy.
But, first, we provide the following in-depth analysis of the hiked racism that has permeated America throughout the tenure of the first black president the country has known.
Publisher’s statement: President Trump? The gods must be crazy!
Why the surge of anti-black racism during Obama’s presidency?
AFRICANS ASSESS OBAMA’S LEGACY AND REACT TO TRUMP’S ELECTION
Rogatien Biaou, Benin’s former Foreign Minister
Issa Badarou Soule on the grudge over the killing of Muammar Gaddafi
Chambi Hachage, Harvard Ph.D. student & business historian
Saliou Akadiri, Benin’s foreign minister and diplomat
Gustave Gazard, a lawyer and business consultant
Maurice Ongala, a development consultant
Samuel Mathey, an international consultant
Carmen Vidjangni, accounting auditor
Richard Senou, a political activist