Prof. Baffour Agyemang-Duah, a Governance and Democracy Analyst, has expressed serious concerns about Donald Trump’s leadership approach, cautioning that it could have negative implications beyond U.S. borders.
In an interview with the media Prof. Agyemang-Duah explained that Trump’s leadership style appears focused on leveraging global policies to favour only American interests, potentially to the detriment of Africa and other regions.
Describing this approach as “dangerous,” Prof. Agyemang-Duah warned that such a strategy could undermine global cooperation, weaken economic ties, and increase inequality, particularly in regions with developing economies.
He urged African leaders to prepare for potential shifts in U.S. policy that may affect trade, aid, and diplomatic relations.
“Seriously, I see Trump potentially re-arranging the world according to his image. Trump is not only a unilateralist, he’s also anti-globalist. He sees America at the centre of everything, America first is his mantra.
“The current works order as constituted is something he may wish he may want to unravel. of course, there are new forces in the international arena, he even chastised NATO, threatening to withdraw from NATO, when he was president. That is where the unilateralist comes from and at the same time, it also reflects anti-globalist.
“Where would he stand then? …His whole life has been nothing but dealing. If globalism will make America great to use his term. I’m sure he will approach it from a perspective that will make America great again. Not necessarily what could be mutually beneficial for all of us and that is the danger.”
He warned that the rest of the world would suffer and that Africa would be used as a pawn in the international power play between China and the USA.
He suggested that Africans reconsider their dependence on foreign aid to earn greater respect from the Western world.
“If you bring Africans into the picture, I’m not quite sure how he’s going to deal with us. So far he’s unable to deal with China. And China is going to continue to explore Africa and elsewhere, it’s going to make Africa more of a pawn in global politics. We are on the chessboard for these powers to play with.
“We need to build our own base for developments and stop going to IMF to queue. The challenge for us as Africans and Ghanaians is to begin to rethink how we relate to the rest of the world. Our dependence on the global system, we need to delimit our dependence on foreign charity… Let’s stop agonising and organise.”
