What would a Trump victory mean for Africa?

I think every country should be able to vote in the American elections. It sounds absurd but true. When America sneezes, the whole world catches a cold, this time it might be more than a cold.

With Americans going to the polls in less than a week there is so much uncertainty surrounding who is going to win. At one point in time we all thought it was quite clear on who the winner is, but now we all just watch and pray.

During the Presidential debates the world had the opportunity to hear and judge for themselves the candidate with the best or rather better foreign policy. Although Africa did not feature much in either candidates’ foreign policy during the debate the little that was said has risen questions in the minds of many African people whose countries still heavily rely on foreign aid, American aid.

I am not going to focus much on Hillary Clinton because her candidacy has never raised questions in my mind and I have never doubted her ability to lead. In fact as a young woman hoping to make it in the world of global policy making she is a role model to me and many other women seeking to be leaders in a male dominated political space. I question the candidacy of her opponent.

Donald Trump wants to build a wall, not just between US and Mexico but world. As an African coming from a country were US foreign aid covers more than 50% of the health burden and  in 2014, approximately 76% of the world received some form of economic assistance from the U.S. of which the majority was located within Africa. With this reality in mind one can not help but to ask “What if Trump wins, is this going to change?”

Just listening to his speeches from the sidelines, one gets the impression that Mr Trump wants to isolate the US from the rest of the world. He feels like America has given so much and gotten so little in return. If only he knew the many silent thank yous that people who are now able to get life saving HIV treatment through President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the young women who have been given a chance to go school and communities that have been transformed because of initiatives sponsored by USAID in Africa.

It’s not because he is a Republican, many outside the US would not care which party he belongs to. It’s the anger and the hate speech that he shows and says that cripples us as we anticipate and fear the unknown future that is going to become reality and fact in the next few days. It’s the future of hundreds of thousand of people that rely on American support that hangs in the balance.

All eyes are on America and I still maintain that we all should be allowed to vote in US elections because the outcome affects us all. However, since we all can’t and it is the right and privilege of every American national to do so, Africa calls on them to vote wisely.