The United States is looking to strengthen cooperation with African nations as President Joe Biden welcomes dozens of regional leaders to the second annual U.S.-Africa Leadership Summit in Washington, DC this week. His three-day summit, which begins Tuesday, will focus on key challenges including the climate crisis, Good He governance, food security, global health, and enhancing trade and investment opportunities between the United States and Africa. “The Summit is … rooted in the recognition that Africa is a key geopolitical player. The African continent will shape the future not only of its people but of the entire world,” said Jake, U.S. National Security Advisor. Sullivan told reporters on Monday afternoon.
At a press conference, Sullivan said 49 African heads of state, governments, and the African Union had been invited to the summit. The meeting was a follow-up to the first meeting hosted by former US President Barack Obama eight years ago. It was the largest international meeting held in Washington, DC since the COVID-19 pandemic began. After four years of his predecessor Donald Trump’s “America First” approach to foreign policy, Biden is rebuilding Washington’s ties with other countries and realigning them with international bodies like the United Nations. I’ve been trying The U.S. role in Africa has declined during this time, and Biden administration officials have stressed the need to strengthen ties with like-minded countries in the region.
“Working closely with Congress, the United States will commit $55 billion to Africa over the next three years,” Sullivan said. “One of the unique aspects of this summit is the collateral damage that the Russian war did to Africa in terms of the diversion of food supplies and development aid to Ukraine,” said visiting professor of international relations at John Stremlau University. rice field. His Witwatersrand news agency Associated Press in Johannesburg. “The opportunity cost of aggression was very high in Africa,” Stremlau said.
The foreign minister of Zimbabwe, which is under US sanctions, is also expected.
Analysts said African leaders were optimistic, including Biden announcing his first presidential visit to sub-Saharan Africa and efforts to boost the continent’s economy through private sector investment and trade. He said he expects Biden to make some important commitments during the meeting. Mamba Fezo Disolele, head of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the United States would attend the summit “due to a lack of trust” since the last meeting in 2014. “The summit offers great opportunities, but also some risks,” he said. “This is an opportunity for the US to show Africa that it wants to hear it,” he added. “But now that the expectations are high, the question becomes:
What’s different now? ”
