The U.S. government is urging its supporters in Africa to raise “independent businesses” and “burden sharing” under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The U.S. military’s recent call for American allies to become less dependent on the United States and become more independent contrasts with the military’s conventional focus on addressing the root causes of insurgencies in African nations.
The Trump administration’s new African Lion mutual training exercise, which is the largest joint training exercise for the U.S. military in the area, highlighted the country’s shift in policy toward its allies in Africa, according to The Associated Press. U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, the leader of U.S. Africa Command, said in an interview with The Associated Press that” we need to be able to find our companions to the level of separate activities.”
There needs to be some problem sharing, Langley said during the last day of the African Lion mutual training exercise last Friday.
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According to The Associated Press, Langley noted that under Trump’s authority, one of the Department of Defense’s priorities is to assist U.S. allies develop the capacity to manage their own security, despite the U.S. government’s customarily been forthright regarding the connections between security, development, and diplomacy with regard to security in Africa.
According to Langley, “protecting the homeland is one of our top priorities right today,” Langley told The Associated Press. Langley continued,” And we’re even looking for various countries to lead to some of these international volatility areas,” in reference to the government’s support for Sudan.
U.S. military officials stated in a statement on the website of the U.S. Army Europe and Africa that African Lion 25 was the “largest, top, monthly exercise” that the organization’s “mainstream” program was hosting across Morocco, Ghana, Senegal, and Tunisia.
More than 10,000 individuals from more than 20 countries, including regiments from NATO, are included in this cooperative, all-domain, multi-component, and global exercise, according to the U.S. Army Europe and Africa statement. ” African Lion aims to improve connectivity among individuals and increase readiness to deal with problems and emergencies in Africa and around the world” says the organization.
