Perceptions that China is the foreign power that wields the most positive influence on Africa’s youth have strengthened, a biennial survey showed, while nations ranging from Germany and the UK to India are now viewed more favourably than the US. That’s prompted an increased focus on Africa and its store of mineral riches from the US, China and lesser powers. “Perceived influence from China and India has grown since 2024, with China increasingly viewed as a more favourable partner than the US — a sentiment shaped in part by the return of the Trump administration,” the foundation said in its African Youth Survey 2026. Youth in South Africa, which has had an adversarial relationship with the Trump administration, were the least favourable to the US of those interviewed in 16 nations, with just 58% seeing the country as a positive influence. Russia has courted African nations with renewed vigour since the start of its war against Ukraine in 2022, opening cultural centres and deepening diplomatic ties.