Barack Obama hosted the first US-Africa summit this year. The event confirmed a renewed push by developed economies to cement ties with Africa, with Europe holding its own regional gathering and Japan’s prime minister travelling to sub-Saharan Africa for the first time in nearly 10 years.
Left unsaid in public was that Washington, Brussels and Tokyo were all aiming to fight back against China’s growing commercial influence in Africa, the second-fastest growing region in the world. Did the US president and his counterparts succeed? In short, no.
At the inaugural FT Africa summit this week, the chief executives of six companies with huge operations on the continent – ranging from banking to telecoms to commodities and consumer goods – were asked which foreign power was playing its cards best in Africa. The unanimous answer: China is still winning, and big.