The trip, in both its timing and content, was designed compete with China and expand American influence. Senegal, the U.S. Secretary of State’s last stop, happens to be the host country of the upcoming Eighth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Ministerial Conference. That’s no coincidence.

China’s deepening ties to Africa has shaken up the status quo, with positive and negative outcomes rippling across the planet. What does the rapid development of Africa and China hold for the future?

China’s upward trajectory can be seen most tangibly in its many investments in Africa - home to many of the world’s fastest growing economies. The U.S., fearful of being unseated as the world’s central power, has to play catch up on the continent.

China should be praised, not criticized, for reaching out to poor countries in Africa with lifesaving vaccines. The United States, with all its vast resources and the best vaccines in the world, should follow suit for humanitarian reasons.

In the coming months, some of the worst collateral damage of US tariff wars will occur in sub-Saharan Africa. The adverse impact is likely to be aggravated by US protectionism, which shuns economic integration in Africa.

If your model is truly superior, you don’t need to push it on anyone.

Africa pins high hopes on the Belt and Road Initiative to promote African industrialization and infrastructure construction, and to turn the 21st century into an era of African development. The priorities of Washington and Beijing could be in concert here, giving the US and China historic roles to play.

China and the U.S. share common interests but very different approaches in Africa. If the two countries can explore possibilities to realize bilateral security cooperation and work to maintain peace and stability in the continent, they can set the stage for a new type of major-country relations that rises about fierce competition.