Didier Gondola is professor and chair of the History Department at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis and the author of several books on colonial history, politics, China-Africa, and popular cultures in Africa. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) With his win of the White House, president-elect Trump has made no secret that his electoral college mandate to "make America great again" should apply to US foreign policy as well.

During the campaign and after his victory, Trump has unabashedly and unpredictably turned US policy on its head with a cascade of jaw-dropping statements about Mexico, China, Russia and Putin, ISIS, Muslims, NATO, Israel and more.

There is, however, one area of the world Trump seems to have eschewed altogether, an area where his skittishness could prove a boon.

For the past eight years Africa has been relegated to the back burner of US foreign policy. President Obama, whose father hailed from Kenya, elicited high expectations when he came to office and was seen, initially, as a potential champion for African causes. Yet, aside from his struggling "Power Africa," a $7-billion presidential initiative launched in 2013 and aimed at doubling Africa's electrical grid by 2030, Obama has little to show for when it comes to Africa.

Unlike his immediate predecessor, who morphed into a staunch Africa supporter with several African programs to boot (including his Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR ), the first black president departed from the White House in January 2017 with a legacy of soaring rhetoric and lofty slogans, but no tangible and successful African signature policies.

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