Patrice Motsepe's 'Africa loves Trump' comment divides opinion

Patrice MotsepeAFP

Patrice Motsepe told the US president that Africans want him to do well

South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe has divided opinion online after telling US President Donald Trump that Africans love him.

"Africa loves America. Africa loves you... we want America to do well. We want you to do well," the businessman told Mr Trump at a World Economic Forum event in Davos, Switzerland.

Critics said Mr Motsepe had given himself the role of Africa's spokesman.

A recent poll suggested that Mr Trump was popular in Nigeria and Kenya.

The Pew Research Center found that while most countries in the world had low confidence in Mr Trump to do the right thing in world affairs, he garnered 65% support in Kenya and 58% in Nigeria.

South Africa, the other country included in the poll, recorded 42% confidence in Mr Trump.

Mr Motsepe, 57, told Mr Trump it was an honour to meet him as they were both listed in a 2017 Forbes magazine profile of the Greatest Living Business Minds.

"You're doing a good job," Mr Trump replied.

A video of the event has been shared on Twitter:

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Responses have been mixed on Twitter with some trying to distance the continent from Mr Motsepe's comments:

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Others have been embarrassed that Mr Motsepe appeared to want to impress the president:

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But some have argued that in business and cultural terms there is a deep reverence for the US:

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The US president is yet to visit Africa but has made comments that have disparaged the continent.

In 2018, he denied that he was racist, after a row broke out over his alleged use of the word "shithole" to describe African nations.

The African Union later demanded that Mr Trump apologise for his "clearly racist" remarks.

But days after Mr Trump's reported comment Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni said in a speech: "I love Trump, he tells Africans frankly. The Africans need to solve their problems."

He recently raised eyebrows on the continent for suggesting that he, not Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, deserved to win the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

AFP

Mr Trump has made disparaging remarks about Africa

Last year, the American leader told four US congresswomen to go back to their "crime infested places from which they came".

The women were all born in the US apart from Ilhan Omar, who was born in Somalia and moved to the US as a child.

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