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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will face one of the most daunting challenges of his storied political career when he holds crunch talks with Donald Trump.

While the US is South Africa’s largest trading partner after China and a key destination for its vehicles and agricultural produce, the relationship between Pretoria and Washington has grown increasingly dysfunctional.

Cyril Ramaphosa.  Photographer: Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump and his Pretoria-born backer Elon Musk have alleged — without proof — that White Afrikaner farmers are victims of a genocide and the state is seizing their land. Last week, a first batch of White South Africans who Washington designated as refugees arrived in the US, further raising temperatures ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.

Ramaphosa has also attracted Trump’s ire for other reasons that were spelled out in an executive order entitled “Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa:” the country’s genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice and its cordial relationship with Iran.

Meanwhile, laws that in some instances require businesses to have Black shareholders have riled Musk.

Ramaphosa has been warned by advisers and commentators that he may be walking into a trap and risks being given a humiliating public dressing down, as Ukranian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy was in February — a concern piqued by the White House’s decision to fast track the meeting. 

WATCH: Bloomberg’s Jennifer Zabasajja discusses Ramaphosa’s trip to Washington. 

A seasoned negotiator, Ramaphosa led the talks to end apartheid, oversaw the drafting of South Africa’s democratic constitution and is a successful businessman in his own right. 

He’ll need all his experience to cut a favorable trade deal, coax the US to participate in a Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg this year and persuade Trump that cordial relations are in both their best interests. 

Having seen the US president’s love of the deal, a last-minute concession to allow Musk’s Starlink to operate in Africa’s biggest economy without giving away any equity may well help ease the mood. — Alexander Parker 

Key stories and opinion: 
Ramaphosa Walks a Diplomatic Tightrope in Risky Trump Meeting 
Trump Attacks South Africa Again Before Ramaphosa Visit 
South African President to Meet Trump in Bid to Mend Ties 
Why South African Refugees Get Special Treatment: Patricia Lopez 
Why Trump Is Taking Aim at South Africa’s Land Laws: QuickTake

Tanzania’s main opposition leader is facing treason charges months before presidential elections, a case that has heightened concerns about the state of democracy in the East African nation. Tundu Lissu, head of the Chadema party, appeared in court on Monday, more than a month after he was arrested. His trial stems from an insistence that the election won’t be allowed to proceed unless its credibility is assured. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

Tundu Lissu arrives at the magistrate’s court in Dar es Salaam on April 10.  Photographer: Ericky Boniface/AFP/Getty Images

Africa’s first space agency has been established to boost Earth observation and data sharing at a time when more hostile global relations are limiting the availability of climate and weather information. The new organization, headquartered in Cairo and under the umbrella of the African Union, will coordinate existing national programs. It aims to improve the continent’s space infrastructure by launching satellites and setting up weather stations.

Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund reduced its exposure to the US at the start of this year and bought other investments to diversify its portfolio. The fund, which had about $2.8 billion under management as of December, acquired more Japanese, Australian and European assets, Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority Chief Executive Officer Aminu Umar-Sadiq said in an interview on the sidelines of Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

WATCH: Aminu Umar-Sadiq’s interview with Bloomberg TV’s Joumanna Bercetche and Jennifer Zabasajja at the Qatar Economic Forum.

Uganda’s exports have surged despite the East African nation losing its preferential access to US markets after it enacted a harsh anti-homosexuality law, according to a top presidential adviser. The country shipped coffee, gold and other goods worth about $8 billion in 2024, almost double what it did two years earlier, Odrek Rwabwogo, President Yoweri Museveni’s adviser on trade and industry, told us. To boost demand for its products, Uganda appointed trade representatives in key export destinations to study consumption patterns. 

Ghana faces a dispute with African Export-Import Bank, one of its biggest commercial creditors, over whether it should take losses on a $768 million liability. The finance ministry says the debt must be treated comparably to others it’s recently restructured — from bilateral loans with China to $13 billion in eurobonds. But Afreximbank, which was set up by African countries and private investors more than three decades ago, insists it has preferred-creditor status, meaning member states can’t force it to take losses.

A street vendor in Accra, Ghana’s capital. Photographer: Ernest Ankomah/Bloomberg

South African asset manager Ninety One plans to deploy more than $1 billion to fund critical infrastructure projects in Africa and Asia by 2028, after raising debt from global financial institutions. The firm’s Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund raised $325 million in debt in its latest financing round that closed in March, Martijn Proos, its co-head of emerging market alternative credit, said in an interview. That brought total recent commitments to $620 million.

Thank you for your responses to our weekly Next Africa Quiz and congratulations to Deon Fourie, who was first to correctly respond that South Africa’s 2025 budget has been rejected twice so far. 

Mauritius is emerging as one of the world’s fastest-growing wealth markets, with its millionaire population projected to double by 2033. Now, the island nation is working to harness the boom — and shed its reputation as a tax haven. It is courting family offices, wealth managers and fintech firms as it looks to diversify the $14.6 billion economy beyond tourism and real estate. “You may call us a low-tax jurisdiction or an efficient-tax jurisdiction,” said Jyoti Jeetun, the minister of financial services. “But we are not a tax haven.” 

Thanks for reading. We’ll be back in your inbox with the next edition on Friday. Send any feedback to mcohen21@bloomberg.net