The US President Donald Trump has promised to help Africa end what he calls “vicious and violent” conflicts.
But instead of many commending his desire to end the conflicts he talks about, his comments have attracted anger.
Trump told a news conference at a Nato summit that “Africa right now has got problems like few people would even understand”.
“It is so sad, it is so vicious and violent,” Trump said. He then promised to strengthen the US military base and bring peace to the world.
But many people are outraged by his comments with some social media users suggesting he has limited knowledge about Africa.
Why Trump offered to help Africa
Mr. Trump decided to offer help to Africa to end the conflicts he talked about when a Tunisian journalist asked him a question.
The journalist had expressed gratitude for US efforts in North Africa, where Islamist militant groups have wrecked havoc.
The US president said Africa “got things going on there that nobody could believe in this room”.
“If you saw some of the things that I see through intelligence – what’s going on in Africa – it is so sad, it is so vicious and violent,” he added.
Reactions to Trump
Some social media users said Mr. Trump was promoting and reinforcing western stereotype of Africa.
Some suggested Mr. Trump didn’t know that Africa had many countries and was treating it the continent as a single country.
Vicious. Violent. Sad. Trump reinforces Western stereotypes on Africa.
— Robyn Dixon (@RobynDixon_LAT) July 12, 2018
If Trump thinks Africa is vicious and violent, he should see an American school when a mass murderer is on a rampage.
— Allan Golombek (@AllanGolombek1) July 12, 2018
I hope someone can help you. But I wouldn’t count on Trump. He can’t do a single thing about mass shootings in U.S schools, nor for that matter reunite families he tore apart.
— Allan Golombek (@AllanGolombek1) July 12, 2018
Africa has suffered some devastation through conflicts and militant activities in countries like South Sudan, Niger, DR Congo, Somalia and Nigeria.
The US Army has set up some operational bases in some of these countries to help deal with such crisis.
In 2017 four US soldiers were killed in an ambush in Niger.
Source: Africafeeds.com
