President Donald Trump's administration wants to eliminate trade deficits and drive mutual prosperity, African Affairs Senior Bureau Official, Troy Fitrell said on Thursday.

"Assistance involves a donor and a recipient, but commerce is an exchange between equals," he added at the launch of the policy in Ivory Coast on Wednesday. The remarks come as US ambassadors in Africa had already shepherded 33 agreements worth $6 billion in Trump's first 100 days, Fitrell said.

"Trade, not aid, a slogan we’ve seen thrown around for years, and it is now truly our policy for Africa," he said.

US goods exports to sub-Saharan Africa amount to less than1% of total US trade, according to US think-tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Despite Trump's aggressive spending cuts, Washington has pledged a $550 million loan for the Lobito rail corridor, a shortcut for copper and cobalt from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, to Angola's Atlantic port, bypassing China-controlled routes.

The US is keen to counter both Chinese and Russian influence on the continent, particularly over minerals and trade. In one of China's latest deals on the continent, a $652 million loan agreement was reached with Nigeria, through the Exim bank for a highway feeding the new Lekki port and Dangote refinery. The US has set six targets to be met before the next US-Africa Leaders’ Summit later this year, the envoy said.

They include to make commercial diplomacy a core mission, push priority countries to enact business-friendly reforms and back "bankable" infrastructure not "vanity projects". It also wants to embark on more business-only diplomatic trips, match export-ready US firms with African ventures and overhaul financing tools to offer faster and more risk-tolerant blended funding.

Global aid groups have widely criticised Washington for slashing aid funds to Africa, which they say is costing lives of those in need.

--Reuters--