What Donald Trump’s presidency means for Africa

Climate change

Trump's victory will land as a bombshell in Marrakech, where politicians and activists are gathering to continue implementation of the landmark climate deal signed in Paris last year. But many of Trump's supporters are climate change skeptics.

For the many Africans living on coasts threatened by rising seawaters – 20 million people in Nigeria alone – this is bad news. Likewise the two in three people on the continent who rely on agriculture, and are threatened by drought and water shortages.

European repercussions

And with elections scheduled across Europe in 2017 – France, Germany, Italy – might far-right forces like the Front Nationale feel the wind at their back? Should a populist wave crash across Europe, migrants already under siege will face tougher pressures.

Already in post-Brexit Britain, racists have been emboldened in their physical confrontations with migrants. Identity checks, internment camps, populist-inspired violence, closed borders: Europeans may have uncomfortable flashbacks to the 1930s.

By Mark Anderson and Nicholas Norbrook. This article was first published by The Africa Report

See also:

Jonathan Moyo on Trump victory and Clinton loss

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