Radio Islam News | 01 Muharram 1439/22 September 2017

(Picture: Meme, via ElElegante101 on Twitter)

US President Donald Trump referred on Wednesday to the non-existent country of ‘Nambia’, during a lunch with leaders of several African nations on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, sparking scorn from several commentators.

As Trump spoke to African leaders at the United Nations on Wednesday, he made not one but two references to a country called Nambia.

He mentioned it once at the opening of his speech and a second time as he spoke about the country’s health system, which he described as “increasingly self-sufficient”

A White House transcript of Trump’s comments later clarified the matter, making clear that the president had not intended to invent a new nation and had, in fact, been referring to the very real country of Namibia, which borders South Africa.

For much of Wednesday and Thursday, the term “Nambia” outweighed “Namibia” in online searches worldwide. And while search traffic for the latter also experienced a notable spike, Nambia saw a far greater increase, MemeBurn reported.

Not unexpectedly, the eccentric US president’s comments swiftly invited ridicule on social media, with many suggesting that Trump had created an entirely new nation by combining two existing ones — Zambia and Namibia.

“Let’s talk #Namibia!,” said Twitter user @Curate_Namibia. “Not to be confused with Nambia – a fictional land probably somewhere between the borders of Namibia and Zambia”.

Some Namibians responded with anger at the gaffe, describing it as a serious affront, accentuated by the fact that Namibia’s US educated president Hage Geingob was present in the room when the remarks were made.

Few, however, seemed surprised, considering Trump’s notorious reputation, as well as a widespread perception of American ignorance of the rest of the world.

Namibia’s government or diplomatic missions have reportedly not commented publicly on the incident.

Trump’s speech had another awkward moment when his comments on Americans getting rich in Africa were met with silence.

The US president congratulated leaders of African countries on the continent’s economic progress, telling them, “I’ve so many friends going to your countries, trying to get rich. I congratulate you. They’re spending a lot of money.”

While Trump almost certainly meant it as compliment, and even seemed to pause for applause, CNBC reported, not one attendee clapped.

The broadcaster pointed out Trump’s scant focus on Africa post election, as well as the less than rosy American track-record with the continent.

“For centuries, Europeans and Americans have exploited Africa’s natural resources and labor force, not least during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In the post-Colonial era, the U.S. government has supported dozens of authoritarian regimes on the African continent, while American companies have made billions of dollars from deals with dictatorships.”

Trump also announced at the sitting that he was dispatching US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley to Africa “to discuss avenues of conflict and resolution and, most importantly, prevention”.

South African President Jacob Zuma was present at the event.