At the second US-Africa Leaders Summit, hosted by US President Joe Biden in Washington from December 13 to 15, 2022, and attended by 49 African leaders, the United States pledged to foster its engagement and cooperation with Africa.
Diverse Outcome
The second US-African Leaders Summit held eight years after the inaugural summit hosted by former US President Barack Obama in 2014, came up with multiple important results that can be outlined as follows:
1- Wide-Ranging Agreements:
At the summit, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the US would commit USD 55 billion to Africa over the course of the next three years. Moreover, American and African firms reached more than USD 15 billion at the US-Africa Business Forum.
US Government foreign aid agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and the governments of Benin and Niger signed the first regional compacts totaling USD 504 million, with additional contributions of USD 15 million from Benin and Niger, to support the construction of new roads to improve transportation along the corridor between the Port of Cotonou in Benin and Niger’s capital city of Niamey. Moreover, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) announced USD 369 million in new investments across Africa.
US-based Kobold Metals signed a USD 150 million deal with the government of Zambia to invest in the African country’s copper mines using AI technologies. The government of Angola signed a EUR 371 million agreement with ABD Group and Acrow to construct 186 steel bridges across the African country. Other US firms which signed agreements to invest in Africa include General Electric, Cybastion, Standard Bank, and others.
2- Support for the African Union’s bid to join the G20:
US President Joe Biden announced he would support the African Union joining the G20 group of large economies as a permanent member. President of Senegal and Chairperson of the African Union Macky Sall appeared at the recent United Nations Assembly to support the bloc’s bid. Moreover, Biden noted that African countries should also be represented through permanent seats at the UN Security Council because Africa plays a crucial role in the future of the world order.
3- Calling for drastic measures against Russia:
US Secretary of State Anthony Bliken, US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, and Samantha Power, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, held a meeting with African leaders in the presence of AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat at the Peace, Security, and Governance Forum. They discussed a proposal to impose tough measures against Russia, which has become a key market for Russia’s arms industry. The talks also covered the issue of recurrent military coup d’etats in Africa, where new regimes work on promoting their relations with Moscow.
New US Commitments
US President Joe Biden reiterated his administration’s commitment to African countries, mainly because the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war impacted the United States’ interest in the continent. That is why the recent summit in Washington renewed the United States’ commitment to Africa. This can be explained as follows:
1- Restoring Africa’s Trust in the United States:
In his speech to the leaders of Africa, Biden reiterated the United States’ commitment to offering all kinds of support to achieve sustainable development across Africa. He said that African success and prosperity are also essential for a better future for the United States. This support aims to prevent Russia and China from expanding their influence in Africa.
Washington wanted to alleviate African concerns that this summit would be a one-time exceptional event and that US momentum would fade away again when the summit ended with the appointment of Ambassador Johnnie Carson as Special Presidential Representative for U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit Implementation. Moreover, President Biden issued an executive order to establish the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States (PAC-ADE), another step within the United States’ efforts to prove it is serious about its commitments towards Africa.
2- Backing Western-allied African countries:
The recent summit sent implicit messages about Washington’s efforts to support African countries allied with the West. The US commitment is related to efforts of the fight against terrorism and the growing danger of terror groups across the continent, and in the Horn of Africa in particular.
Future of US Role in Africa
The outcome of the US-Africa Leaders Summit shows some aspects of the future of the US role in Africa. These can be outlined as follows:
1- Restructuring US presence:
Biden, in August 2022, gave a hint about the new US strategy in Africa that focuses on enhancing trade and investments in the continent. Within this context, the United States will shift its focus from security and healthcare, especially HIV/AIDS and family planning to expand its engagement in infrastructure, energy, and digital communication. Biden, at the end of the recent summit in Washington, reiterated his country’s commitment to supporting all aspects of growth in Africa and announced the commitment of billions of dollars in direct funding from the US government, in addition to investments in infrastructure, public health, food security, and technology.
2- Less utilization of democracy issues:
The current international rivalry prompted the Biden Administration to stop considering the issue of democracy a determinant of Washington’s relations with African states. This was evidenced in Biden’s speech when he focused on economic cooperation. Moreover, among the participants were African states long criticized by the US over human rights and democracy issues. The only states Washington excluded from the summit were the four countries suspended from the African Union because of military coups and Eritrea, with which Washington does not maintain full diplomatic relations.
3- Biden’s anticipated trip to Africa:
In recent years, Africa was downgraded from high to low priority in the United States agenda, especially under the administration of Donald Trump, a situation that President Biden is trying to change by planning to make an extended tour to Africa in 2023 accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris.
4- Establishing a free-trade zone:
United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, signed an agreement to establish a free trade area between the United States and Africa to reach a combined continent-wide market of 1.3 billion people and USD 3.4 trillion.
At the recent summit in Washington, talks were held to discuss the African Growth and Opportunity, or AGOA, which gives African economies ِduty-free access to the US market for a large number of products. Because it expires in 2025, African countries are trying to convince Washington to extend AGOA again.
Existing Challenges
Some assessments have doubts that the current US moves to restore its influence in Africa, noting that Washington has already lost it to China. The following are the most prominent challenges facing the US bid.
1- Washington’s declining credibility:
This means African states’ confidence in the US as a partner has eroded. But the recent summit in Washington is seen as a last attempt to repair the rift with Africa and rebuild confidence. But so far, these efforts have not materialized as President Biden was reluctant to visit Africa or hold meetings with African leaders on the fringe of United Nations meetings like his predecessors did.
2- Continued Supremacist approach:
Some assessments noted that African leaders who attended the recent Washington summit were unhappy about the agenda, which did not include any bilateral meetings with Biden on the margins of the summit. Biden only held a small group meeting with the leaders of Gabon, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Madagascar, all of which will hold presidential elections next year. Some assessments viewed this as further insistence by the US to follow a supremacist approach to Africa.
3- China’s growing influence in Africa:
The US implied that Russian and Chinese penetration into Africa was a main impediment to bolstering partnerships with African states. The Biden Administration has long warned African leaders against growing cooperation with Beijing. Moreover, the US believes that China’s moves in Africa threaten American interests in the continent, especially after China became Africa’s largest trade partner at USD 254 billion dollars in 2021, compared to USD 64.3 billion between Africa and the United States.
4- Fierce competition for influence in Africa:
International involvement in Africa is longer limited to China’s growing influence. In recent years, as the pace of regional and international penetration of the continent picked up, summit meetings similar to the one held recently in Washington were hosted by the European Union, Frace, Russia, Japan, Turkey, and China.
In conclusion, the US policy on Africa is characterized by continuous change resulting from different priorities of successive administrations, as opposed to China’s steady, unchanging policy. That is why the pace of rivalry between the US and China in Africa is likely to escalate in the coming period. This was evidenced in statements by the Chinese foreign ministry calling on Washington to respect the will of the African people and take concrete actions to help Africa’s development instead of unremittingly smearing and attacking other countries. Moreover, China’s ambassador to Washington, China’s ambassador to the United States Qin Gang, rejected US charges that China had mired African countries into debt. Qin cited a study issued in July by the British charity Debt Justice that said African countries owed three times more debt to Western institutions than to China.
