The Trump administration has unveiled what John Bolton, the national security adviser, has billed as a “new” Africa strategy for the US. On the commercial front there is indeed some fresh thinking. But much of what Mr Bolton says has emerged from a detailed inter-agency debate about America’s future engagement with the continent, seems to belong in the past.

If his speech on Friday is the guide, Washington’s take on Africa is stuck somewhere between the 19th century scramble and the cold war, when the continent played proxy for superpower rivalry. Mr Bolton depicts US relations with Africa as a geostrategic board game in which Africans have less agency than a pawn. Whatever “predatory” moves by Chinese and Russian policymakers may be going on, he somehow finds America to be the principal victim.

“Great power competitors, namely China and Russia, are rapidly expanding their financial and political influence across Africa. They are deliberately and aggressively targeting their investments in the region to gain a competitive advantage over the United States,” Mr Bolton claims.