For years, the case for US investment in Africa has run into the same wall: Companies and financiers argued the regulations, infrastructure, and technical capacity needed to make projects bankable simply weren’t there. ADThe initiative embodies the Trump administration’s pledge to prioritize “trade over aid,” using development dollars to create the conditions for private investment. The goal, she told me, should be “trade through development,” not trade instead of development. It recasts the State Department as a market-maker, using diplomacy to shape investment opportunities rather than simply deliver assistance. If it succeeds, US influence in Africa may increasingly be measured by the private capital it unlocks.