One would think that because America is the world's largest economy that by all rights, it would also be Africa's biggest trading partner, but in actuality as reported by census.gov, America exported $26.7 billion worth of goods to Africa in 2019, and imported $30.2 billion worth of goods, in return. On the other hand, as reported by scmp.com, China imported $95.5 billion worth of goods from Africa in 2019, and exported $113.2 billion, which absolutely crushes the amount of business that America did with Africa in 2019. This is especially disappointing in consideration that China has never had a President of African descent, and does not have any major corporations in which the executive of such is of African descent; whereas, America has had and does.
It is true that a significant amount of what China imports from Africa is oil, and that also in most trading between countries, that there is some basic sort of quid pro quo, so that the more that is exported one nation to another, the more that is thereby imported in kind; but this is qualified by the general statement, that nations do business where it makes the most economic sense to do so. Further to the point, America has millions of people of African descent that live upon its shores, whereas China clearly does not; of which one would reasonably think that Africa would be, all things being equal, more inclined to do business with a nation that has people descended from their own land.
Additionally, as reported by the economist.com, it is estimated that by the year 2050, that the African continent will see its population increase to 2.5 billion peoples, or a nearly doubling from its present size, of which from a business perspective, there is always money to be made, and good business opportunities to be had in those areas of high population growth, especially when such is combined with corresponding economic growth.
So too, it must be kept in mind, that the more business that is done by Africa with China, the more that the United States loses export market share today, as well as probable future market share, that will hurt its own domestic GDP and growth. It would seem that America is not playing its relationship with Africa in a meaningful competent manner today, while also clearly not seeming to be treating the African continent as a real priority for the future. Rather, than America having itself some sort of "pity party", what it needs to do is to come up with a comprehensive program to increase their exports and overall business with the African continent, recognizing that ceding billions of dollars of business to China, is not a sound strategy, especially in recognition of Africa's population growth to come.
The world was circumnavigated, centuries ago, of which, one of the seminal purposes of that circumnavigation was to open up trading markets, previously unknown. The world today is a known quantity, and the African continent has a deep desire to modernize and to urbanize itself at a scale that will bring that continent into the modern age; of which, those that are the integral trading parties to such, will surely benefit from. Thus those then that are asleep at the wheel will permanently cede such markets to those others that have their nose to the grindstone.