Why Trump invited five African leaders to the White House

US President Donald Trump has launched a three-day summit in Washington, DC with leaders of five African countries, an event the White House considers as “incredible” commercial opportunities.

Trump's guests include leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal.

The meeting is expected to focus on Trump's “trade, not aid” policy, and they may want to trade that negotiates this rate as everyone faces 10% tariffs on goods exported to the US.

During lunch, aired at the White House on Wednesday, African leaders lavished with praise and lavishment on Trump, encouraging US economic partnerships.

Sitting diagonally across a long wooden table from Trump, Mauritania President Mohamed Urd Gazauni was the first African leader.

“In the short time you took office, you have come to rescue for peace for the last few months,” Gazouani said.

“You rushed to Africa to solve many years of problems,” he continued, referring to the Rwandan peace agreement promoted by Dr. Congo and the White House.

His comments were echoed by other African national leaders, most of whom commented directly in support of Trump being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Senegale President Basilou Diomai Fey praised his golf skills and invited him to build a golf course in Senegal.

“Thank you so much. It's so lovely. Thank you. I didn't know that this would be handled well. It's great,” Trump replied. “We were able to do this all day.”

The African state chief also used the platform to talk about the raw materials, each containing natural resources and rare earth minerals. Some have appealed directly to US investors and the president.

Faye spoke about the prospect of building a “high-tech city” in Dakar with “sea views,” saying, “I would like to invite American investors to participate in this.”

The president of Gabon's Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema said his country has “a huge resource” that includes rare earth minerals.

“You are welcome to come and invest, otherwise other countries may come in your place,” Nguema said.

Babakar Diagne, former ambassador to Washington in Senegal, said the invitation to African leadership reflects a recent “paradigm shift” in US policy towards the continent.

After taking office in his second term in January, Trump cut our aid to the continent, saying it was useless and incompatible with his “America's first” policy.

With Trump and the Republicans at the helm, there are also doubts as to whether the US will update Africa's Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) later this year.

“That's not different to Democrats before. They had two advantages: poverty reduction and development issues, through Agoa and other initiatives.

According to previous diplomats, the Trump administration's position reflects how he dealt with Ukrainian wartime leader Voldimia Zelensky.

“Pure trade. It gives, wins, wins. We saw it with Ukraine. When you sign a contract on minerals, you will put us on our side, otherwise you will forget everything.”

The peace agreement last month, signed in Washington between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic, is a trade diplomacy where the United States could gain favorable mineral access.

In fact, Nicaise Moulouumbi, head of a major non-governmental organization in oil-rich Gabon, said the Trump administration's focus on Africa depends on increasing competition from the power of rivals, including China and Russia, due to its respected resources.

“All these (invited) countries have important minerals, such as gold, oil, manganese, gas, wood, zircon – Senegal, Mauritania, Gabon,” he told the BBC.

Gabon holds about a quarter of the globally known reserves of manganese, provides 22% of China's minerals and is used in the production of batteries and stainless steel.

Mouloumbi added that the US may be most keen to strengthen its relationship with Gabon, not just with “strategic” minerals like manganese and uranium, but also with oils, as well as about 800km (500 miles) of coastline along the Gulf of Guinea.

Moulumbi said it could potentially host a US military base that the US plans to build in the area.

Diagne gave a similar point about copyright infringement, saying “maritime terrorism in the Gulf of Guinea has become a very important issue.”

Many tankers carrying oil and gas travel through the Gulf of Guinea, known for several years as a hot spot for piracy.

For Mauritania and Senegal, migration will be central to the debate, according to Ousmane Sene, head of the West African Studies Centre (WARC).

“Remember, between 2023 and 2025, more than 20,000 young Mauritanians left the US via Nicaragua between 2023 and 2025, along with hundreds of young Senegalese,” an analyst told the BBC.

“All these countries are also the starting point for illegal immigration,” he added.

“It's a very important point of his (Trump's) immigration policy, and people return to the border every day.”

Mauritania is one of five countries that have no diplomatic relations in the 2009 attacks in Gaza, and sources tell Semafor that restoring them could be a perfect point for the White House deal.

Visa overstay fees are another issue that should be resolved – Gabon and Liberia in particular, both have higher than Burundi.

Liberia may also be considering US proposals to accept people deported by the US, including criminals. Countries with close historical links with the United States are reportedly included on the proposed list of countries that the United States approaches.

Countries that have been kneeled by the 2014 civil war and then the catastrophic Ebola outbreak of ten years ago are desperately in need of cash as they are severely affected by cuts in US aid.

In particular, this impact has been felt by the vulnerable healthcare system that relied on US funding for 48% of the budget.

Guinea Bissau, who has suffered a series of coups and has been trying for years, is reportedly eager to reopen in the Bissau capital following the closure after the military rebellion in 1998.

President Umaro Cissoko Embaló was clearly proud of the White House invitation to Guinea-Bissau, which was labelled “Narco” by the United States and the United Nations several years ago, as it was the main transport hub for cocaine from Latin America to Europe and North America.

“Guinea-Bissau is now a real state of being emerged from a state of disability. Americans are not invited to their own country by any nation.

He and his counterparts – Brisk Rothea Origuiguima of Gabon, Joseph Boakai of Liberia, and Mohamed of Mauritania, want to hold the cards to trade with Trump.

They certainly don't want a replay of the infamous high stakes meeting in May between South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Trump in the oval office.

In fact, this week Africa's biggest economy appears to have backfired completely as it turns out that exports to the US will be slapped at 30% tariffs starting next month.