Africans woke up to the news that former President Donald Trump was on course to win the U.S. election, with newspaper headlines raising questions over what it could mean for the continent.
“America elects Donald Trump president, spelling change for [South Africa] and the world,” one headline on popular South African media website News24 read.
By lunchtime as the results continued to roll in and Trump made his victory speech, African leaders were congratulating the president-elect.
“I look forward to continuing the close and mutually beneficial partnership between our two nations across all domains of our cooperation,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement.
“In the global arena, we look forward to our Presidency of the G20 in 2025, where we will work closely with the US who will succeed us in the G20 Presidency in 2026,” Ramaphosa, who leads the continent’s most developed economy, continued.
The office of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu also posted congratulations on X, saying he believed Trump’s return to the White House would “usher in an era of earnest, beneficial, and reciprocal economic and development partnerships between Africa and the United States.”
The platform many used to share election news is itself owned by someone born in Africa: Elon Musk, who grew up in Pretoria, South Africa, before becoming a U.S. citizen. Musk, who owns X, has been a vocal supporter of Trump — who thanked him in his victory speech.
Many in Africa had been following the election closely with the knowledge that U.S. politics have knock-on effects across the globe, in terms of conflicts, trade, economics and social issues.
South African cartoonist Zapiro summed up the anxiety some were feeling with a cartoon in a local paper that showed a number of hideous Halloween monster masks, titled “Kinda scary,” juxtaposed to a Trump mask titled “Truly terrifying.”
The South African currency the rand tanked on the election news.
Trump raised ire in Africa during his last presidency after U.S. officials said he referred to some African nations as “shithole countries" and for Trump's mispronouncing Namibia’s name and comparing himself to liberation hero Nelson Mandela.
However, he is popular with some Africans who have said they admire his “strongman” style.
Analysts said ahead of the vote that an “America First” Trump presidency could spell bad news for the continent in terms of global trade as well as U.S. funding for health, especially reproductive rights and HIV/AIDS.
Others said it mattered less who was in charge of the U.S., given U.S. leaders from both parties have paid scant attention to Africa. This has left room for other global powers, like China and Russia, to make diplomatic inroads on the continent, analysts said.
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