A Key Summit on U.S. Relations with Africa: The First 10 Years of the Restoration of Cooperation and Trade Relations with the United States
LAGOS, Nigeria — Nearly 50 African leaders and delegates have arrived in Washington this week for a key summit hosted by President Biden. It is one part of a concerted effort to improve U.S. relations with African countries, which have had rocky relations with China and Russia.
The continent has become a vital region over the last 10 years due to its fast growing population. One fifth of the world’s population will be in Africa, an increase from 10% in 1950.
On Monday ahead of the summit, the White House announced plans to commit $55 billion in economic, security and health investment in Africa over the next three years, as well as naming a new special envoy to focus on these issues.
“In the last six months or so, we’ve really ramped up our engagement,” Judd Devermont, an adviser to President Biden on African affairs, told NPR. “What we have tried to focus on in this administration is to treat African countries as major geopolitical players not just the subject of geopolitics or some sort of junior partner.”
The then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was seen by some African diplomats as being more concerned with warning against investments and loans from China, which has poured $700 billion in infrastructure loans across the continent, than engaging with African policymakers on shared aims.
Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, said the current administration has been working hard to restore ties to Africa over the nearly two years since Mr. Trump left office.
The White House will soon have a new special representative for Africa with the appointment of Johnnie Carson, a longstanding foreign service officer.
The president’s meetings with African leaders resulted in an agreement that was meant to encourage the formation of a free-trade zone that has been on hold for several years. He vowed to help African countries do more to transition to clean energy and plug into the digital economy, a contrast to China, which has focused much of its investment in Africa on building roads, bridges, airports and other physical infrastructure.
U.S. officials told us that the administration wanted new trade and closer cooperation on fighting terrorism, but they had no idea what their signature aims were. Whether any major policy emerges from the summit remains to be seen.
Mr. Biden said that his approach was to spur shared success and not to create a political obligation or foster dependence. “Because when Africa succeeds, the United States succeeds,” he said. “Quite frankly, the whole world succeeds as well.”
The visiting African leaders and their wives were celebrated at a dinner at the White House on Wednesday night, as was the case with the first African nation to make the final four in the World Cup.
“I know you’re saying to yourselves, ‘Make it short, Biden, there’s a semifinal game coming up,’” he joked as he opened his speech just 13 minutes before game time. rocco lost to France, 2-0.
The U.S. Strategy for Africa, and the Biden Administration, at the Summit of the United States on Trade and Economic Cooperation with Africa
The Biden administration has sought to deflect the perception that its efforts this week were aimed at competing with China, which has surpassed the United States in trade and economic cooperation with Africa.
The African Union strategic vision for the continent was one of the topics Mr. Biden planned to discuss at the summit on Thursday. The Vice President will have a working lunch, and the Vice President will close the gathering with a discussion of food security.
Mr. Biden was able to make his pitch for the United States to deliver vaccines to Africa after seeing how many were delivered by the United States.
The war in Ukraine demonstrated the scale of American priorities. Mr. Biden made a mistake that highlighted the context. He described a digital economy initiative for Africa as a $350 billion investment, when in fact it will be $350 million, as noted in the official White House transcript correcting the president’s error. The Biden administration and Congress are committed to the war in Ukraine and the White House is asking for more money.
Some analysts wondered if the roster of projects put forth by the president and his aides was more effective than the ones that were introduced by Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama.
“When I hear a laundry list, a long list of investments, that’s just showing what the U.S. is doing,” said Aubrey Hruby of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. I don’t know if that will sink in. Whereas with Power Africa it was simpler, perhaps more memorable. It was possible because of the power of the podium.
The digital economy project includes a partnership with Microsoft and programs to train African entrepreneurs to write code. “American big tech recognizes that the demographic future of this world is African,” Ms. Hruby said. A million Africans turn 18 every month. This is how the future will be.
As ever in this week’s summit, China was the unspoken factor. When Mr. Biden announced $800 million in new contracts for Cisco Systems and a smaller company named Cybastion “to protect African countries from cyberthreats,” it offered a counterpoint to the dominance of Huawei, the Chinese technology firm whose cellphones and computers systems are ubiquitous across Africa, stoking fears that Beijing could use them for cyberespionage.
The Biden administration this week announced its support for an initiative to use minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo to make batteries for electric vehicles in factories in neighboring Zambia. That deal meets the African goal of keeping supply chains for one of the world’s hottest new businesses on the continent.
It also meets an American strategic objective, countering worries in Washington that China is obtaining a stranglehold on rare minerals in countries like Congo.
“Nowhere” is a cornerstone of democratic democracy and democracy in Africa,” says James Davis, the president and CEO of the World Affairs Council
Any time an administration chooses to not put as much emphasis into a place it has some ramifications, he said this week. But “we believe that we are not coming into this summit from a standing start. We’re coming into this summit with a head of steam around a set of issues that this summit, I think, is going to kick into a higher gear.”
The president and CEO of the World Affairs Council in Harrisburg is Joyce M. Davis, outreach and opinion editor for PennLive and The Patriot-News. She is a veteran journalist and author who has worked for National Public Radio, Knight Ridder Newspapers and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The opinions she gives are her own. Read more opinion at CNN.
The United States seems to have been outmaneuvered by Russia in Africa. In recent days, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov underscored that stark reality as he wined and dined his way through a tour of four African capitals.
Unlike Pandor, there is hope these emerging leaders will not see Russia as their friend but as it really is – an obstacle to stability, democracy, and African prosperity.
The leaders of five African countries treated the Russian Foreign Minister like a cherished friend instead of being treated like a pariah by the US.
In South Africa, Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor greeted Lavrov with open arms. She didn’t use the meeting to reiterate her calls for Russia to stop killing Ukrainians. She said that it would be “simplistic” and “pitiful” to do so.
Pandor said that South Africa will soon conduct naval drills with Russia and China, calling them exercises with friends. The US and Europe didn’t like it.
At the UN in March, 17 African countries abstained from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Eight people didn’t vote.
Eritrea was one of only four countries globally – the others being Belarus, North Korea and Syria – to openly side with Russia, which has a history of military co-operation with these decidedly undemocratic, authoritarian regimes.
The people of democracies can hold their leaders accountable. Human rights and rule of law are what Western democracies care about. Putin simply does not. And no one holds him accountable for anything.
According to the Human Rights Watch World Report 2022, Eritrea has carried out large-scale massacres, summary executions, and widespread sexual violence.
He doesn’t even care that Human Rights Watch says Mali’s government security forces are responsible for extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrests, and detentions of suspected armed fighters.
Russia’s private military group is bolstering authoritarian regimes throughout Africa, including in Mali, Sudan, Central African Republic, Mozambique and Libya. Human rights organizations think that Wagner is guilty of its own atrocities in Africa.
And Putin’s influence in Africa has had a dramatic impact on the world stage during a time of crisis when the US sought unified condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine. There is a voting station at the United Nations.
It is true, America has also been guilty of propping up authoritarian regimes and ignoring human rights abuses. We should not forget the atrocities done by the US in Africa.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/31/opinions/russia-africa-wagner-lavrov-putin-us-davis/index.html
U.S. commitments to climate change and access to clean energy in the 21st century: A message from Africa for the young people
Janet Yellin, US Treasury Secretary, used her visit to Africa to promise more money. She talked about American plans to increase partnerships with Africa on the issues of climate change and access to clean energy. And she said the United States will provide over $1 billion to support African-led efforts to combat climate change.
And as Russia focuses its efforts on controlling Africa’s despots, the US would do well to focus on the African people, especially on its youth. There are signs young people want more responsible and accountable governments when they take over power.