With major wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East, Africa may well be low on Trump's foreign policy priorities. He has yet to appoint an Africa team, in contrast to his defeated opponent U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who named a team for the region in the days before the Nov. 5 election.

A decline in U.S. influence in Africa means U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration will have to grapple with blind spots in its understanding of a fast-changing continent increasingly allied with China and Russia and threatened by spreading jihadist insurgencies.

During his first term as US president, Donald Trump sparked outrage over his remarks about African nations, but Africa leaders have been quick to congratulate him since his re-election.