from bossito@lemmy.world to world@lemmy.world on 19 Feb 16:43
https://lemmy.world/post/43334162
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What’s the story?
U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed steep tariffs on several African nations and cut off almost all aid programmes. Lesotho, a small country in the south of the continent, has been hit hardest by these measures.
In recent decades, Lesotho responded to Western calls to industrialise, and built up a textile industry focused on exports to the United States. Now thousands of jobs are at risk and the government has declared a ‘‘state of disaster”.
Lesotho tried to appease Trump with a range of U.S.-friendly measures and proposals, including a quickly granted licence for Elon Musk’s internet provider Starlink. But these moves have made little impact in Washington and officials in the African country fear the damage has already been done.
Why does it matter?
Other potential partners are stepping in to fill the gap left by the United States. The EU is looking for allies in Africa, but China is already acting “quickly and aggressively” to forge ties, according to a government minister in Lesotho. The extreme events in Lesotho illustrate Trump’s increasingly erratic approach to foreign policy that is alienating even traditional allies across the world.
How was this investigated?
Follow the Money visited Lesotho and spoke with a minister, entrepreneurs, civil servants, NGO workers, diplomats, academics and journalists.
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