Africa could stand to benefit if the US-China cold war gets hotter

US President Donald Trump’s anti-China rhetoric and actions have significantly upped the stakes in the US-China cold war. But far from being a threat to Africa, the conflict between Washington and Beijing offers a rare opportunity for emerging markets in general, and Africa in particular, to renegotiate terms of trade on a more level playing field.

The ongoing strategic rivalry between the United States and China has been dubbed the Cold War of the 21st century. Much like its forerunner – which saw a multi-decade contest between capitalism and communism – the current rivalry between Washington and Beijing lays out competing political and economic systems and visions for the future. The fault lines between the two vastly different approaches have created stark choices for policymakers and businesses to contend with. Most notably, they have highlighted trade-offs and tensions in the pursuit of economic prosperity between authoritarianism and democracy, stability and liberty, and nationalism and globalism……more