WASHINGTON, December 13 — The United States is rolling out the red carpet for Africa’s leaders today with plans to reveal US$55 billion (RM243.5 billion) in support as part of a renewed bid to regain influence on the continent.
Nearly 50 African heads of state or government arrived in Washington in the midst of a cold snap before Christmas for a three-day engagement with President Joe Biden after years of forays into the continent by China and Russia.
In a preview of the summit, Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the administration would seek $55 billion for Africa over the next three years “across a wide range of sectors to address the major challenges of our time.” ”.
He said the model would be the African Union’s own Agenda 2063, its blueprint for sustainable development.
“We are elevating African voices and African priorities in what we are doing at this summit,” Sullivan told reporters.
The Biden administration, which has identified China as its main global competitor, hopes to display a subtle contrast to Beijing during the summit rather than pepper domestic critics.
“It will be about what we can offer. It’s going to be a positive proposition about the United States, its partnership with Africa,” Sullivan said.
“We are bringing the resources to the table in significant amounts,” he added.
Welcoming African businessmen for a reception last night, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States is guided by the principle of partnership.
“We can’t solve any of the great challenges we face if we don’t work together. So it’s about what we can do with the African nations and people, not for them,” Blinken said.
promote democracy
During the summit, Biden will outline US support for the African Union for a formal place in the club of major G20 economies, months after he threw his support behind a permanent African seat on the Council of UN Security.
Unlike China, which holds summits every three years with Africa, the United States plans to promote democratic values.
Sullivan said Biden will meet with African leaders facing the 2023 election.
“We would like to do everything we can to support making those elections free, fair and credible,” Sullivan said.
Successive US presidents have undertaken signature initiatives for Africa, with George W. Bush launching a major push to fight HIV/AIDS which he sees as one of his main legacies and Barack Obama spearheading a campaign to bring electricity, which he says US officials have brought power for the first time to 165 million people.
Obama’s successor, Donald Trump, by contrast, has made no secret of his lack of interest in Africa, and Biden’s summit with the region’s leaders will be the first by a US president since Obama’s historic first in 2014.
In the eight years since, China’s investment in Africa has consistently outpaced that of the United States, and countries have ignored American warnings that billions of dollars in infrastructure spending from Beijing could set China back. long term.
Before the summit, China’s ambassador to Washington, Qin Gang, said his country was “sincere” in Africa” and that its investment “is not a trap.”
“We believe that Africa should be a place for international cooperation, not for the competition of great powers for geopolitical gains,” he told an event on the Semafor news site.
“We welcome all other members of the international community, including the United States, to join us in global efforts to help Africa.”
cultural connections
The United States has also been alarmed by the growing presence of Russia, whose Wagner mercenary group has become involved in various hot spots and which has tried to convince African nations that Western sanctions, not its invasion of Ukraine, are the responsible for the increase in food worldwide. prices.
Biden will highlight food security during an event with African leaders on Thursday, officials said.
The summit will also feature events connecting the African diaspora, hoping to emphasize cultural familiarity.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said the success of African Americans showed the need for Africans to “walk differently.”
“They have been denied, ignored and exploited on the African continent for far too long,” Adams, the second black person to run America’s largest city, told African visitors at the State Department.
“You are the largest producer of cocoa and others have made chocolate with it. Now you make the chocolate with your cocoa!” — AFP
