Africa Bazaar State Writer | INSIDE AFRICA
May 4, 2026
The U.S., under the Trump Administration, is not just signaling renewed interest in Africa. It is building the infrastructure—financial, diplomatic, and commercial—to compete for it as it steps up its engagement across the continent pairing renewed diplomatic outreach with a more structured push on trade and investment.
That shift was on display last week as Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau traveled to Algeria and Morocco from April 27 to May 1, turning the Trump administration’s American First foreign policy into a series of sector-focused meetings spanning energy, mining, technology, and market access.
Landau’s trip, which happened in parallel to the Export-Import Bank’s Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee’s meeting last week—where they outlined plans to expand financing support for U.S. companies on the continent, signals how that approach is being put into practice—through targeted commercial discussions and efforts to position American firms more competitively in key African markets.
In Algiers, the discussions centered on resource-driven sectors. Landau held meetings with Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab, Mines Minister Mohamed Hanifi, and Trade Minister Kamel Rezig focused on expanding cooperation in hydrocarbons, mining and trade—areas where Algeria’s resource base intersects with U.S. commercial and strategic interests. Officials discussed not only strengthening existing ties but identifying new opportunities tied to natural resource development and downstream investment.
Talks with Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf broadened the scope to include regional stability and economic coordination, underscoring a central feature of the administration’s approach: commercial engagement and security alignment are increasingly treated as mutually reinforcing.
The Algeria stop—Landau’s first official visit to the country and the first leg of the two-nation trip—signals a broader U.S. policy push into markets tied to global supply chains, particularly those connected to energy transition and critical resources.
In Morocco, the focus shifted toward investment ecosystems and long-term positioning.
In Casablanca, Landau and U.S. Ambassador Puneet Talwar Buchan met with American business leaders for a roundtable meeting to discuss growth opportunities, with an emphasis on job creation, entrepreneurship, and access to domestic and regional markets. The roundtable event underscored a broader effort to align foreign policy with commercial outcomes—linking U.S. companies more directly to growth sectors across North Africa.
The opening of a new U.S. consulate in Casablanca, also coinciding with nearly 250 years of bilateral relations, reinforced that push, marking a deeper institutional presence in a country widely seen as a gateway to both North an West Africa.
Discussions with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita covered bilateral, regional and global issues, including U.S. continued backing of Morocco’s autonomy proposal for Western Sahara. Morocco’s decision to join the Artemis Accords as the 64th signatory also points to extending cooperation into higher-value sectors such as technology and space—sectors increasingly central to long-term economic alignment.
The visit also included cultural engagements in Marrakesh and a stop in Rabat at the tomb of Mohammed V, gestures that, while softer in tone, reinforce relationship-building beyond formal negotiations.
