As US businesses announced billions of dollars for the continent, where China has become a major player, President Joe Biden has called for a long-term partnership with Africa based on trade and good governance.
Biden didn’t mention Beijing in his address to a summit on Wednesday, but he did say that the United States would take a different approach. The summit brought 49 African leaders to Washington.
Biden stated that the United States sought “partnerships — not to create political obligation, to foster dependence, but to spur shared success and opportunity” at the first gathering since Barack Obama invited African leaders in 2014.
“The United States of America succeeds when Africa succeeds. “Everyone succeeds,” Biden stated.
Over the course of the three-day summit, the Biden administration will provide support totaling more than $55 billion. On Wednesday, businesses from the United States and Africa will be welcomed, with promises of more than $15 billion in trade deals.
“The core values that unite our people — all of our people, especially young people,” Biden emphasized. opportunity, freedom, transparency, and good governance.”
“Africa’s financial progress relies upon great government, sound populaces and dependable and reasonable energy,” he said.
The White House announced an additional $800 million in public and private financing for digital development in Africa, in addition to Biden’s announcement of a $100 million aid package for clean energy.
"The United States is committed to supporting every aspect of Africa's inclusive growth and creating the best environment for sustained commercial engagement between African companies and American companies." said @POTUS at the U.S. Africa Business Forum. #USAfricaLeadersSummit22 pic.twitter.com/jwFWZN6PnZ
Investing in technology
Visa, the market leader in credit cards, announced in one of its biggest corporate announcements that it would invest $1 billion in Africa to develop digital payments, an area in which China has emerged as the global leader.
In order to address a security flaw that has hampered online development, Cisco and Cybastion, its partner, announced that they would invest $858 million in ten contracts across Africa to improve cybersecurity.
The ABD Group stated that it would invest $500 million, beginning in Ivory Coast, in cloud technology adoption through data centers that are compatible with major US technology companies.
Microsoft, a global technology leader, announced that it would use satellites to provide internet access to approximately 10 million people, half of whom live in Africa, in an effort to close the digital divide that has impeded the continent’s progress.
Internet access will be prioritized in areas of Egypt, Senegal, and Angola that have not previously had internet access, frequently due to unreliable electricity.
Brad Smith, the head of Microsoft, stated that the company’s engineers in Nairobi and Lagos have impressed them.
A lot of the infrastructure aid that the United States provides is contingent on democratic standards.
Under the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed a $504 million agreement with Benin and Niger to fund projects in nations that meet key standards for good governance.
The United States estimates that the deal will benefit 1.6 million people by connecting the capital of Niamey in Niger and the port of Cotonou in Benin, which is landlocked.
Mohamed Bazoum, the president of Niger, stated, “We’ve considered this to be our natural port for a long time.”
He promised “institutional reforms” to support trade and praised the partnership with the United States.
Blinken said that the deal will not “saddle governments with debt,” a covert reference to China.
“The American partnership’s hallmarks will be evident in the projects. They’ll be open and honest. The quality will be high. Blinken stated, “They will be accountable to the people they intend to serve.”
https://twitter.com/ProsperAfricaUS/status/1603052555927429120
‘Not an arena for great power confrontation’
The idea that the summit was partly about countering China’s influence was rejected by White House officials.
According to John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, the administration is “refusing to put a gun” to Africa’s head and force it to choose between the United States and China.
“There’s nothing inconsistent about calling a fact a fact and shedding light on what is increasingly obvious to our African partners about China’s malign influence on the continent,” he stated simultaneously.
China’s involvement in summit-related activities, however, increased.
The United States should “respect the will of the African people and take concrete actions to help Africa’s development, instead of unremittingly smearing and attacking other countries,” according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin.
“Common responsibility of the international community to support Africa’s development,” Wang stated at a briefing on Wednesday.
However, he added: Africa is not a place where great powers clash or where certain nations or individuals can exert arbitrary pressure.”
China now invests more in Africa than the United States does, primarily through obvious infrastructure projects that are frequently financed by loans that have totaled more than $120 billion since the turn of the century.
China’s mega-contracts lacked transparency, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who issued a warning to African leaders on Tuesday that both Russia and China were “destabilizing” the continent.
