Afrika in Focus Special: Trump, Tariffs and Afrika!

Donald Trump's  decision to impose worldwide tariffs has sent shockwaves through the global economy, with African nations experiencing some of the most severe impacts. In what Trump described as "America's Liberation Day," he announced tariffs that disproportionately affect African economies, with Lesotho facing a staggering 50% tariff rate, Madagascar 47%, and several other African nations facing double-digit tariffs. This economic maneuver represents more than just a policy shift; it's a stark reminder of Africa's economic vulnerability in the global marketplace and the urgent need for continental unity and self-sufficiency.

The imposition of these tariffs exposes a fundamental weakness in Africa's economic structure: its overwhelming dependence on external markets. For decades, African nations have oriented their economies toward exporting raw materials to global powers and importing finished goods at premium prices. Ghana, like many African nations, imports everything from food to toothpicks, despite having abundant natural resources to produce these items domestically. This economic model has kept the continent vulnerable to external shocks and policy decisions made in Washington, Brussels, or Beijing.

Kwame Nkrumah's vision of a united Africa seems more prophetic now than ever before. During his leadership in Ghana, Nkrumah established over 400 state-owned factories within nine years, deliberately pushing for rapid industrialization to achieve economic independence. According to declassified CIA documents, Ghana was on track to become a middle-income country by 1970 had this industrialization continued uninterrupted. Nkrumah understood that political independence without economic emancipation was meaningless, a lesson that resonates powerfully in today's context of Trump's tariffs.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represents a potential market of 1.5 billion people, significantly larger than both the European Union (500 million) and the United States (300 million). This massive internal market could serve as a buffer against external economic pressures if properly leveraged. By removing artificial boundaries created during the 1884-1885 Berlin Conference and promoting intra-African trade, the continent could develop resilience against global economic fluctuations.

Burkina Faso under Ibrahim Traoré provides an instructive model of economic self-sufficiency. By investing heavily in agriculture to achieve food security and nationalizing the gold mining sector to retain value within the country, Burkina Faso is working toward an economy that doesn't depend on Western goodwill or policy decisions. 

The opportunity now is for Afrika to Unite or PERISH!!

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Trump's Global Tariffs
• 4:44 Trump's Economic Liberation Strategy Explained
• 8:52 Africa's Hardest Hit Nations
• 10:34 The Case for African Self-Sufficiency
• 17:22 Nkrumah's Vision for an Industrialized Africa
• 22:12 Burkina Faso's Model of Economic Independence
• 26:30 The New World Order and Africa's Response

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Good evening and welcome to this edition of Africa in Focus with myself, kwame, ghanaian broadcaster, journalist, writer, entrepreneur and podcaster. And in this edition of Africa in Focus there's a special Trump terrorists in Africa over the hubla, over US President Donald Trump's decision to impose worldwide terrorists. What does it mean for Ghana? What does it mean for Africa? That's the theme for this week's show. But before we get into the show, if you like what you hear, appreciate to your friends, family, social media networks, you know, sign up to Africa Ghana Infections on YouTube. We want to get at least 100 subscribers by the end of the year. So look out for Ghana Africa Infections on YouTube. Hit the notification button, subscribe and YouTube will notify you every time we upload a new podcast. Also, we're on Spotify. Again, we want to get at least a thousand followers this year on Spotify. So again, we want to get at least a thousand followers this year on Spotify. So if I've got 583, so thank you to all those who follow me on Spotify, again, look out for Africa or Ghana, african, and focus on Spotify and hit the follow button, meaning that every time I upload a new podcast, spotify will notify you. And also we'd like to know what you think about the shows, particularly if you're listening on Spotify. So please send us your comments, tell us what you think about the shows.

Speaker 1: 1:34

All right, so let's get into this week's podcast, looking at Trump and the tariffs that he's imposed on worldwide. Now I'm going to put a different spin to what you may have heard from other media as to the whole issue about the tariffs that Trump has raised. So in that speech that he gave at the Rose Garden, the White House, a couple of days ago, he said that this was America's Liberation Day. Yeah, what did he mean by that? Yeah, so what he meant by that is that he's going to free America economically. Now you've been thinking is America free economically? Well, probably not, because, according to Donald Trump, all these tariffs that other countries have paid to America has ripped off the American consumer, american customers, and have left America's poorer, and also a lot of the industry that America had in terms of automobile and other manufacturing base have left America and went to Asia. Automobile and other manufacturing base had left America and went to Asia and so leaving America's poor. And if you go to you know, uh, former states like Detroit, which was the home of comic in America, you go to some of these states in the in the upper, you know, in the midwest, you know some of the states you you know, like Nebraska, these were part of America's industrial heartland. Yeah, so, but up until you know the 70s and 80s and 90s, you know, when China started to become economically powerful, a lot of American businesses, you know, relocated to Asia because of, basically, cheap labour. So a lot of these companies moved to Asia ie, vietnam, china, japan, etc. Because of the cheap labour that they would get there as opposed to paying, you know, $10 an hour or $12 an hour to your average American worker.

Speaker 1: 3:38

So, in view of this, you know, you could say America has got poorer. Yeah, so that's why Trump said it is liberation, because by, in his opinion, by imposing these tariffs on the rest of the world because that's literally what it is, the rest of the world America is going to be, you know, liberated economically, because now, you know, from his calculations, a lot of jobs will come back to america. Uh, and a lot of uh, you know my because companies will want to do business in america, because america is a big market 300 million people in america. It's not the biggest market, it's the third biggest market in the planet behind the europe Union, and the biggest market in the world is Africa, and I'll come to that in a minute. So he believes that, by having these tariffs imposed on other countries, that will enable America to get back some of this industrial business lost and also, by doing so, that will create more jobs in America and put more, put more money in people's pockets. So this is a gamble in quote that Trump has taken.

Speaker 1: 4:52

But my take on this is that it's two things here. Right, america, trump said a long time ago, even when he was first in office, uh, eight years ago, he said that he came to America. He said he wants America to be great again. Yeah, what does he mean by that? What does he mean by that? Yeah, and also, he's putting America first yeah, so Trump is doing what is in the interest of America Now, as Africans, as Ghanaians and Africans, right, what are we doing? Yeah, so, rather than be knee-jerk reaction or be reactive, we've got to understand what this is all about. This is all about American supremacy, yeah, and Trump being the catalyst of this American supremacy. Yeah, and Trump being the catalyst of this American supremacy because, let's not forget, america is still.

Speaker 1: 5:52

America might be a superpower, military right, but economically it's suffering. Yeah, you go to America. Right now We've got high inflation. I think inflation is pretty high For American standards it's about 5%. That's pretty high in America. Gas is pretty high in America, consumer goods are high in America and so by Trump bringing these tariffs, he thinks that over the short Million term this will do Will make things life easier For American consumers. He thinks that over the short meaning term, this will do will make things life easier for American consumers.

Speaker 1: 6:30

Now let's look at the Africa dimension. Yeah, because Africa has been hit hardest with some of these tariffs. So if you look at Lesotho, that's got 50% tariffs that have been imposed by it. That's the highest of any country. Think, yeah, 50%. Madagascar 47%, maurit Africa 31% tariffs, algeria 30%, tunisia 28%, cote d'Ivoire 21%, malawi 18%, zimbabwe 18%, Zambia 17%, mozambique 18%, nigeria 14%, chad and the Gatora, guinea 13%, cameroon 12% and the DRC 11%.

Speaker 1: 7:49

These are the African countries that have been affected most by these tariffs that Trump has imposed on the world. Other countries like Ghana, gambia, you know, they're like the standard, you know, because Trump has imposed a flat rate of 10% on those countries that he deemed as friendly. So the UK also has got that 10%. Yeah, so countries like Ghana, you know the Gambia, guinea-bissau, etc. Have got that flat rate of 10%.

Speaker 1: 8:19

But you know, and this is where history comes into this question, because had we heeded, had Africa heeded, kwame Nkrumah's call for the United States of Africa to bring Africa together, the 54 countries of Africa together, do you think this would affect Africa? It wouldn't, because as a continental body, as a state, a big state, africa would be able to easily cushion these ties that Trump has imposed on the continent. A big state in Africa, we'd be able to easily cushion these tariffs that Trump has imposed on the continent. But because we're not heeding criminal's call for African unity, we're now being faced with a point that some of these countries likely suit to 50% in Madagascar, 47%. That's going to potentially destroy you know the economies of those countries. And then you see there also early on in the year, when Trump has took out USAID, yeah, a lot of those countries were depending on that money for their healthcare programs, their education programs, their you know, their education programs, their you know women empowerment programs, etc. But, as I mentioned, you know Africa, you know we don't need USAID. Ghana does not need USAID? Yeah, because there's money elsewhere that we can tap into to cushion that blow.

Speaker 1: 9:45

So, from my perspective, right, trump is doing a very good thing, because this man is obviously a racist. He did say Africans are shithole, yeah, but Africans didn't notice, didn't know what he was about. But now the devil has exposed himself. This racist, this anti-African racist called Trump, has exposed himself. And you know, africa is going to suffer for a lot right from these terrorists.

Speaker 1: 10:16

But my thing is also this right, you know why are we importing that? Take something like Ghana. Ghana, basically and I've said this on many, many occasions Ghana imports everything under the sun, everything From food to on many, many occasions, ghana imports everything under the sun, everything From food to toothpick, to toothpaste to, you know, slippers, everything. Now, this is a prime time for Ghana and other African countries to do for self. So you don't depend on the Asia, you don't depend on America, you don't depend on the European Union. You start doing for yourself, and this is what Ibrahim Chou is doing in Burkina Faso, and I'll come on to that also in a minute. So, ghana, why are you importing toothpick, when toothpick is made from bamboo tree? And if we go to villages of Ghana, bamboo tree is abundant. We can make this thing ourselves. I even heard that the wooden pole that we see for electricity you know poles in the cities and villages of Ghana, that is imported. I mean how, that wood apparently there's a lot of wood in the Bono region of Ghana, right, that can be used to make the electricity poles that the electricity company of Ghana use for, you know, electricity poles why are we importing those? Yeah, toilet roll why are we importing toilet roll when we can make it ourselves in Ghana easily?

Speaker 1: 11:47

Food why are we importing rice from America, from Vietnam, from China? Why are we importing poultry from the European Union, from Asia, from America? We can be making our own, you know, poultry. We can be making, growing our own rice right the Volta Lake in Ghana, which is the third largest man-made lake in the world, it's prime for rice cultivation. Yeah, why are we wasting billions, literally billions, on importing rice right, which is basically, they're good to us Now, good for us, where we have the Volta Basin, the third largest man-made dam, sorry, the third largest man-made lake in the world. We can use that to cultivate rice. Hmm, why are we importing tomatoes, onion, you know, jantan, even cassava here we're importing from China.

Speaker 1: 12:52

These are staple foods that we can easily grow for ourselves in Ghana, so there's no need for us to have a massive, massive importation bill right where we are importing everything under the sun and we are spending billions upon billions of dollars that we haven't got on importation bill. And so if we are able, as Guyanese and as other African countries, to particularly look at agriculture because Africa is a growing society If every African country is able to feed itself ie eat what it produces and produce what it eats we wouldn't be suffering on these tariffs that Trump has imposed on us. Yeah, because we'd be self-sufficient, particularly when it comes to food, and this is an important thing that African leaders don't really think about Food sustainability and food sovereignty. For too long, we have relied on the IMF and Bretton Woods institutions to tell us not to grow food but to import food, and you see, now we're paying the price for listening to these institutions that really have our interests at heart. We should be growing our own food.

Speaker 1: 14:16

Likewise, when it comes to trade, we shouldn't be trading with the EU, which is a 500 million people market. We shouldn't be trading with America, which is a 300 million people market. We should be trading with America that is a 300 million people market or Asia. We should be trading amongst ourselves, as Africans, that African content, right under the AFTA, the African Free Content to Trade Area is 1.5 billion people. That's the market 1.5 billion people. So if we were able to get rid of those artificial boundaries that were drawn by the white man at the Congress of Berlin 1884-1885, these boundaries that have divided Africa for more than 150 years, yeah, and trade properly amongst ourselves, we wouldn't need, you know, america, we wouldn't need the European Union, we wouldn't need India, we wouldn't need America, we wouldn't need the European Union, we wouldn't need India, we wouldn't need China, because we'd be self-sufficient amongst ourselves as Africans, by trading along with each other, yeah, of that massive 1.5 billion people market.

Speaker 1: 15:25

But because we've allowed divide and rule to come between us. So if I, as a Ghanaian, if I go to Nigeria, I'm a foreigner. If a Nigerian goes to South Africa, he's a foreigner. I look what's happening in South Africa and regarding Africans, other Africans from the continent living in South Africa, divided as the other, if a Zimbabwean goes to, you know, liberia, that Zimbabweans look at it as a foreigner, why? Yeah, we're all Africans.

Speaker 1: 16:00

Yeah, so we've allowed divide and rule by the European, by others, to not see ourselves as one people. And you see what? You see the consequences now, because we're not united in our thinking, in our behavior, in our attitude, in the way we do business with ourselves, in the way we conduct business with one another. You see what's happening now with all these tariffs imposed on these different countries, african countries. Yet if we were one block, that could not happen, because you have to deal with Africa not as 54 countries, separate countries, but as one massive continent. And that's what Nkrumah talked about, the United States of Africa, whereby Nkrumah said if we unite ourselves, africa could be a force for good, africa could be a power on the world stage. And so, had we taken Nkrumah's advice, these times that Trump come, it wouldn't mean anything to us Because, a we're really trading amongst ourselves, b we're one block, massive block. And, more importantly, why we wouldn't even need America and Europe as trading partners, because we'd be trading and doing business amongst ourselves.

Speaker 1: 17:20

And so Trump is doing what is in interest of America. Yeah, his America first policy, morning and night. America first, america first. America first. Make America great again, maga. So Trump is playing to his constituents, which are, which are predominantly rednecks and your dirt poor white working class or white working middle class. That's Trump's base and this is the people that got him elected in November, alongside many misguided Africans, and also many misguided Africans, and also many misguided, you know, so-called Latinos, but that's another matter. Yeah, but Trump is playing to his constituents by making America great. This is a policy that he believes will make America great again and, in his language, make America wealthy again by making America more competitive, and that's what he meant by economic liberation.

Speaker 1: 18:30

Now, what are we, as Guyanese and as other African people, what are we doing to be economically free? Because this is what this whole thing is about, as Trump said economic liberation for America. What is our agenda? To make Africa economically liberated? Yeah, because this is what Nkrumah talked about, because Nkrumah said physical independence is meaningless without economic emancipation, and that's why Nkrumah set out to make Ghana economically independent and within 9 short years, nkrumah built more than 400 state owned factories that looked at everything we need of Ghanaian, from cement factory to tile factory, to rubber factory, for tyres for cars, to a TV factory at Kusama factory, you know, to steel factories, to an airline company, to sugar company, to, you know, to pharmaceutical company, to, you know, to the you name it.

Speaker 1: 19:39

Krumop was trying to industrialise Ghana because he knew, yeah, that time will come that if Ghana that country like Ghana were not self-sufficient, you name it. Nkrumah was trying to destroy Ghana because he knew, yeah, that time will come that if Ghana, a country like Ghana, were not sufficient, this tariff right could expose Ghana and Africa to something that would be very bad for them. Yeah, so Nkrumah was thinking ahead. Nkrumah knew the game. Yeah, I know this is a big game. People, brothers and sisters, it's knew the game. Yeah, I know this is a big game. People, brothers and sisters, it's a big game. Yeah. So Nkrumah was smart.

Speaker 1: 20:11

Nkrumah knew what he was doing when he wanted to industrialise Ghana in the shortest possible time, and he did that within 10 years. Yeah, and if it wasn't for the coup, ghana would have become a middle-income country by 1970, according to CIA documents that we've seen. So that tells you why, how, if a country can meet every need of its people, how fast and quickly a country can become independent economically and achieve middle income status. So now you know how. Why does Africa need to be economically independent? This is what I've said all along if you listen to the podcast I've done.

Speaker 1: 21:02

Yeah, africa needs to be free economically, because right now, africa is not free economically. All that we're doing is you know raw materials, you know we are, we are heroes of wood and rivers of water for the West India, china and others to take our resources at a dirt price, cheap price, and then use those raw materials as finished goods and sell those finished goods ten times to us for what they took initially from the raw materials. That's the African economy. That's slavery. That's not freedom, that's slavery. And so if Africa is going to ever, ever, right, be in a position to challenge the US, india, china and the European Union, there's no if no, but no, maybe.

Speaker 1: 21:51

But Africa's got to unite, period. Yeah, what Nkrumah said 60 odd years ago, right, it's even more relevant today than what it was now. Africa's got to unite, end of. It's even more relevant today than what it was now Africa's got to unite, end of. Let's put all this nonsense about tribe and language and this and that every excuse that we've got not to unite. We have to unite. That's the only way Africa can become economically free, economically independent by harmonising, yeah, coming together right and doing it for ourselves. And this is what Ibrahim Chouwe is doing in Burkina Faso.

Speaker 1: 22:35

Ibrahim Chouwe, you know, burkina Faso, he don't care. You know he don't care about Trump's tariffiff, because he is not relying on America for Burkina Faso's. You know, destiny. He has put the destiny of Burkina Faso in his own hands. So that's why over the last two to three years, right, you know, he's invested a lot in agriculture so that Burkina Faso becomes food secure. Right, so that Burkina Faso becomes food secure, so that Burkina Faso becomes food independent, so that it doesn't have to depend on us for food.

Speaker 1: 23:09

How can, how have Africans allowed themselves to rely on Ukraine? Remember all that hoopla about the Ukraine war? How have we allowed ourselves to allow Ukraine to supply us with is it grain or wheat for bread? And then, when the war came between Russia and Ukraine, we were running to Russia to stop the war because it's making us starving. How so?

Speaker 1: 23:38

Ibn Shorwe understands that. This is why he's invested a lot of money in agriculture in Burkina Faso, so that our people in Burkina Faso become food secure, yeah, and don't rely on others for their food. Also, his national life, the mining sector, particularly the gold sector, in in in Burkina Faso. And, by the way he'll be completing a gold mine this year. Ie, you know that will make Burkina Faso keep all of his gold in his country. So, rather than take the raw material out of Burkina Faso and it's mined outside and then resort to Burkina Faso at the same prices, burkina Faso is mining his gold in its own country using a gold refinery. Again, ibram Chowdhury is implying skills in all the people of Burkina Faso so that they can become self-sufficient in areas like manufacturing, in agriculture, in textile, in other areas of the economy that are key to their life, and so by doing so, ibn Chiroui is making sure that Burkina Faso does not fall prey to these so-called external shots that can affect African countries.

Speaker 1: 25:10

And so, in closing, you know there is a new world order. I've talked about that a long time ago A new world order, and this new world order is that America wants to be great again In its eyes, and Trump has been brought in by the elite. Yeah, don't forget, don't get it wrong, don't get it twisted. Trump is an elitist. He's part of the elite, but he's a different part of the elite. He's not the Joe Biden part or the Obama part of the elite. He's a different angle of the elite, but he's been brought in by the elite to quote unquote save America. Yeah, so he will do what's in the interest of America.

Speaker 1: 25:54

The question is, what is Africa going to do? That is in its own national and regional and international interests, and Africa needs to wake up to this reality. Yeah, and these tariffs that trump has imposed on many, many african countries should be a wake-up call. Yeah, that a you. You you're not included in in the green market. America don't care about you. The european don't care about you. Indian, chinese don't care about you. The Europeans don't care about you, indians and Chinese don't care about you. All the way is your raw materials. So there's a new world order because Africa is the final, final, you know, destination in terms of the world economic order.

Speaker 1: 26:44

Yeah, so, even though Trump is doing what he's doing, america is doing his African raw materials to pump up its industry, particularly this AI, fourth industrial revolution, whereby a lot of the raw materials for AI is Africa. Yeah, coal, tan, coal, bat, titanium, lithium, iron ore yeah, is in Africa. That's going to power the AI fourth industrial revolution. Also, these drive towards electric cars yeah, electric cars. A lot of the minerals and components are found in Africa. So, for example, the lithium, the mineral lithium. Lithium is a key component in batteries for electric cars. Yeah, iron ore is also another key component in electric cars. All those two materials are found in places like Ghana, zimbabwe, del Congon.

Speaker 1: 27:39

So if we need this, we're in South Africa. We've got to unite by any means necessary. We've got to unite because we are now in a new world order. Whether you like it or not, whether you resist it or not, trump has played his trump card, so to speak. We are now in a new world order, a different dispensation, and Africa needs to wake up and do for itself and do what's in the interest of the content and, more importantly, do what's in the best interest of the masses of African people. And we've got to industrial Africa. So there's no more excuses. We have to industrial Africa and give our people jobs and hope, because we cannot allow Trump to dictate these in the global economic order by imposing these draconian tariffs on African people, because you know a lot of these tariffs are going to affect Africa hard, because we failed to unite, as the increment did, yeah, and so we got to unite in order to safeguard African interests and safeguard African interests and safeguard the interests of future generations.

Speaker 1: 28:52

So I thank you for listening to this special edition of African Focus with myself, kwame. If you like what you hear, please share to your friends, your family. Social media networks. Subscribe to Ghana African Focus on YouTube, subscribe to Ghana African Focus on Spotify and like the show and until next week, where we continue our series into business and investment opportunities in Ghana. It's thank you for listening to this special edition of African Focus with myself, kwame, and for myself and all the crew here on African Focus, it's thank you very much for listening and we'll see you in the next edition of Avaka in Focus.