By Alexander Parker
With just days to go until the US is due to impose punishing new tariffs on imports, not a single African nation has clinched a deal with Washington to soften the impact.
The new dispensation aims to give effect to President Donald Trump’s pledge to reset relations between America and Africa by pivoting from aid to trade.
Trump has been as good as his word with regard to halting most handouts to the least-developed region, bringing key healthcare initiatives and other programs to a halt.
But instead of clearing a path for African exporters to do more business with the world’s biggest economy, he appears intent on doing just the opposite.
Trump has effectively scrapped the 25-year-old African Growth and Opportunity Act, which was endorsed by Congress and enabled thousands of products from more than 30 countries to enter the US duty free.
The new levies will place
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