US midterm elections: Why Africa must stop looking abroad for answers

US President Donald Trump dances after speaking at a midterm campaign rally at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida on October 30, 2026. [AFP]

America has voted again, and Africa is watching, once again. Africans are assessing what the Democrats’ resurgence in both houses of Congress should mean for them. The resounding defeat of President Donald Trump’s Republicans in both chambers is the kind of development that leaves Africa sighing with relief.

The continent would hope for a relaxation of some of Trump’s extreme policies that have thrown Africans deep into the doldrums of disease, insecurity, and economic and political ruin. Africa would pray that USAID returns, complete with the hundreds of thousands of jobs that were lost and the millions of dollars whose flow was suddenly cut off when Trump returned two years ago. Other areas of concern would include trade, security, human rights and democracy.