It’s mind-boggling. Donald Trump is a darling of more than half of Nigerians, the very people he derided as hut-dwellers not so long ago. This, of course, is if a new study conducted by the Pew Research Center, a US-based pollster, is to be believed.

The study, which surveyed respondents in 25 countries across the world, found that 59% of Nigerians believe that The Donald, as Trump is known to his fans, is a positive influence on world affairs, a sentiment shared by 56% of Kenyans and 39% of South Africans.

Okay, at 39%, the popularity of the American President among those of us who reside in Mzansi is rather low – but this is way above the global median of about 27% that the Pew survey revealed. The African continent as a whole is the region where Trump’s handling of world affairs enjoys the greatest approval.

Trump’s remarks about Nigerians being hut-dwellers came to light in December last year, when the New York Times reported that he had told officials during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House: “Forty thousand [immigrants] have come from Nigeria. Once they have seen the US, they will not go back to their huts in Africa.” And he described the home countries of US-bound immigrants in terms that only grossly uncouth characters like him can utter. This is despite the fact that credible research has shown that Africa sends only its best brains to Trumpland, some of whom go on to start their own businesses and create employment for Americans.

The hut-dwellers insult was not a fluke – Trump has been uncharitable about Africa on numerous other occasions. About two months ago, he suggested to the Spanish government that it should build a wall in the Sahara to stem the tide of African refugees fleeing poverty and other ills in their home countries. More than 30 000 African migrants – most of them Moroccans – have arrived in the European country since the beginning of the year, making it the top destination in the European Union.

South Africans have not been spared his tongue lashing. In 2013, following the passing on of former President Nelson Mandela, he took to Twitter: “I really like Nelson Mandela but South Africa is a crime-ridden mess that is just waiting to explode – not a good situation for the people!” Two years later, he was at it again, tweeting: “As I have long been saying, South Africa is a total – and very dangerous – mess. Just watch the news (when not talking weather).”

Trump is not only mean towards Africa but also unknowledgeable about it. Here is a President who publicly praised a non-existent country called Nambia for its superb healthcare system and seems to believe that land seizures are under way and a genocide is being perpetrated against white South African farmers, if a tweet he posted in August is anything to go by. True, farm murders are part of the South African reality and all of us wish they would stop, but equating them to “the large-scale killing of farmers” betrays gross ignorance of the situation on the ground.

Despite all this, Trump still gets the thumbs up from many of us Africans. How is that possible? One commentator puts this down to ignorance on the part of the African respondents in the Pew survey, pointing to an earlier study that revealed that 38% of Kenyans could not name the American President. I tend to agree.

How many of the South African respondents realised that Trump’s August tweet about land seizures and a genocide targeting white farmers raised the possibility of South African products ceasing to enjoy preferential access to US markets under the African Growth and Opportunity Act? This is because Section 104 of the Act requires eligible sub-Saharan African countries to commit to the protection of private property.

I have the highest regard for the Pew Research Center, having used some of its research reports for my graduate studies. But I am convinced the institute got it wrong this time round. No, Trump is not popular in Africa – among the uninformed, perhaps.