The Trump administration has signaled a sweeping shift in its engagement with Africa, placing trade and investment--not aid--at the center of U.S. foreign policy toward the continent.

At the Africa CEO Forum held in Abidjan last week, Troy Fitrell, the Senior Bureau Official leading the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of African Affairs, announced a new six-point U.S. trade strategy for Africa that seeks to deepen commercial ties and "finally reverse decades of stagnation" in U.S.-Africa trade.

The strategy--revealed at the inaugural American Chambers of Commerce (AmCham) summit, hosted in collaboration with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Embassy in Côte d'Ivoire--prioritizes commercial diplomacy, trade reforms, sustainable infrastructure, business missions, stronger export linkages, and a revamp of U.S. trade promotion tools. It may be too early to tell what all this means.

"It's time to move from assistance to partnership," Fitrell, who recently served as United States Ambassador to the Republic of Guinea, said at the event. "Assistance involves a donor and a recipient, but commerce is an exchange between equals."

He even hinted that President Trump would host his first-ever U.S.-Africa Leaders' Summit this year. The Trump Administration had discarded the annual summit, which started under America's 44th President, Barack Obama, and was revived during Joe Biden's Administration.

Now, with Trump having practically done away with USAID, his emissary came with a clear message: The U.S.-Africa Leaders' Summit "will absolutely [happen] this year, on the theme of trade and investment," Fitrell, speaking in French, told The Africa Report at a press conference following the AmCham Summit. "It won't be a summit to talk solely about politics and war, and such. It will prioritize exchange between partners and relations between equals."

The announcement came on the heels of the 2025 Africa CEO Forum, one of the continent's largest private sector gatherings. Held under the theme "A New Public-Private Deal," the forum brought together more than 900 African and global CEOs, five sitting African heads of state--including Côte d'Ivoire's Alassane Ouattara, South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa, and Senegal's Bassirou Diomaye Faye--and senior officials from multilateral institutions and development banks.

Despite the prominence of the event and its alignment with U.S. trade priorities, there is no indication that Liberia was represented at either the AmCham summit or the main Forum sessions.

With the United States gearing up for a high-level U.S.-Africa Leaders' Summit later this year--expected to take place in New York and focus exclusively on trade and investment--the question looms: Where does Liberia fit in this new trade-first engagement model?

Six Points, One Opportunity

According to Fitrell, the U.S. six-point strategy for Africa includes the following priorities:

"The Africa of today is not waiting on handouts," Fitrell said. "Trade, not aid--a slogan we've seen thrown around for years--is now truly our policy for Africa."

Liberia's Missed Presence and Emerging Potential

While Liberia did not field a visible delegation at the Forum or AmCham summit, several sectors within the country may be well positioned to benefit from the recalibrated U.S. trade posture--if the right groundwork is laid.

The proposed Liberty Corridor, a multimodal rail infrastructure corridor from Nimba County to Buchanan Port, could fit squarely within Washington's call for "bankable" infrastructure projects that crowd in private investment. With potential to boost exports of iron ore, agricultural products, and energy, the corridor also holds cross-border significance for Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire--countries whose ministers were present in Abidjan and already engaging with U.S. and European financiers.

Additionally, Liberia's nascent community of Made-in-Liberia entrepreneurs--particularly in cocoa and coffee products, textiles, shea-based cosmetics, and spirits--may be poised for export, particularly to African diaspora markets in the U.S. These SMEs could tap into U.S. financing tools if trade standards, branding, and logistics improve.

The country's vast agricultural base, still largely underutilized, represents another area of convergence with U.S. interests. Fitrell stressed the importance of reforming trade barriers and creating enabling environments for investment in sectors such as agribusiness and logistics. Liberia's ongoing reliance on food imports, coupled with large tracts of fertile land, makes the sector a natural fit for targeted U.S. private investment.

Meanwhile, tourism and culture--largely overlooked in Liberia's trade narrative--were among the top themes at the Forum, where creative industries were increasingly framed as export-worthy sectors. With the right infrastructure and marketing, Liberia's surf coasts, historical andmarks, and cultural heritage could become viable destinations in a continent rapidly diversifying its tourism offerings.

Throughout the conference, speakers returned to the importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in driving intra-African and global trade. President Ouattara emphasized that "we must now work to strengthen intra-African trade by continuing our efforts to process our raw materials and by accelerating the implementation of the AfCFTA."

For the United States, the AfCFTA represents an opportunity to support regional infrastructure and trade-enabling systems that benefit not just individual countries but the entire continent. Liberia's strategic location along the West African coast could position it as a logistics node--if key improvements are made to its ports, road corridors, and customs systems.

Yet Liberia's progress on implementing the AfCFTA has been slow, and trade facilitation remains a challenge. Fitrell was clear in his remarks: the U.S. is looking to work with priority countries that enact reforms quickly and create clear pathways for commercial partnerships.

Speakers at the Forum underscored a broader message: Africa is no longer a charity case--it is a market, an engine of innovation, and a partner in global commerce.

"In an era marked by economic and geopolitical uncertainty, Africa must unleash the power of its private sector to chart its own course," said Amir Ben Yahmed, founder of the Africa CEO Forum.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa echoed this sentiment: "Only a structured and sustained dialogue between governments and businesses will unlock Africa's full potential."

With the U.S. adopting a trade-forward stance -- albeit aggressive, given recent tariff hikes hitting the continent hard and fast -- and encouraging U.S. companies to invest on the continent, Liberia's window of opportunity is now. But seizing it will require deliberate engagement--by the government, the business community, and diaspora actors--before the upcoming U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.

The message from Abidjan was clear: the U.S. is ready to trade. Is Liberia ready to deal?