US Africa summit opens with bet on youth, $55 billion pledge but security a concern

WASHINGTON-

Vice-President Kamala Harris on Tuesday opened the US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington by spotlighting Africa’s youthful population, making the case that the continent’s demographics will inevitably lead it to become a key global player in the decades to come.

Harris offered the optimistic thread at the start of the Biden administration’s three-day gathering that is bringing in leaders from 49 African nations and the African Union for high-level talks.

The vice-president also announced that the administration would invest an additional $100 million to expand the Young African Leaders Initiative and that the US Export-Import Bank was entering new memorandums of understanding that will clear the way for $1 billion in new commercial financing in Africa.

The vice-president’s appearance at the forum was one in a series of events designed to showcase US interest in and commitment to Africa after years of what some officials have lamented as a lack of involvement in the continent, which has increasingly become a battleground for global influence between the US and China.

President Joe Biden, who is set to meet leaders on Wednesday, signed an executive order establishing the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement. The African diaspora includes nearly two million African immigrants as well as many African American descendants of enslaved people who have close connections to the continent.

About 60% of Africa’s population are under 25 and the young population is to grow to 80% by 2050, which Harris said makes increased focus on the continent necessary.

“This represents an enormous potential for the world in terms of economic growth and for social and political progress,” Harris told a young leaders forum. “I strongly believe that the creativity and ingenuity of Africa’s young leaders will help shape the future. And that their ideas, your ideas, innovation and initiatives will benefit the entire world.”

Even before the summit began, the White House announced Biden’s support for the African Union becoming a permanent member of the Group of 20 nations and said it had appointed Johnnie Carson, a well-regarded veteran diplomat with decades of experience on the continent, to serve as point person for implementing initiatives.

Moreover, Biden is expected to announce before the end of the summit that he will make a multi-country visit to Africa next year, according to a US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity before the announcement of the trip.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday met the presidents of Djibouti, Niger and Somalia. Blinken and Austin also held talks with the president of Angola, whose oil-rich country has been a major recipient of Chinese investment in recent years and has toyed with allowing China to open a naval base.

The meeting with Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud came as a United Nations report published Tuesday showed that several parts of Somalia are at risk of famine in the coming months.

Djibouti is home to a major US military base as well as a Chinese military facility while both Niger and Somalia have been epicentres of terrorist activity from the Boko Haram, al-Shabab and other Islamic State (ISIS) affiliated groups as well as American efforts to combat it.

“We simply want to use this morning to continue building on the close partnership that we have to discuss in particular security cooperation and other shared priorities, including climate, health, education, food security,” Blinken said.

“We’re grateful for all of your countries’ robust cooperation with the United States,” Austin said, noting that Djibouti hosts the US base Camp Lemonier. “Our partnerships contribute directly to many of the key goals in our National Defence Strategy, including defending our country, deterring aggression, and combating violent extremism.”

The administration is hosting leaders and senior officials this week in a not-so-subtle pitch to compete with China on the continent. The aim is to convince its guests that the US offers a better option to African partners.

The continent, whose leaders often feel they have been given short shrift by leading economies, remains crucial to global powers because of its rapidly growing population, significant natural resources and sizeable voting bloc in the United Nations.

Africa remains of great strategic importance as the US recalibrates its foreign policy with greater focus on China; what the Biden administration sees as the United States’ most significant economic and military adversary.

$55 billion plan

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Monday said the administration would commit to spending $55 billion in Africa over the next three years.

The money will go to “a wide range of sectors to tackle the core challenges of our time,” and is being distributed in close partnership with Congress, Sullivan said.

Much of the funds appear to come from previously announced programmes and budgets.

The Biden-Harris administration has invested and committed to provide nearly $20 billion in health programmes in the Africa region, the White House said on Tuesday.

That includes $11.5 billion to address HIV/AIDS; more than $2 billion to combat malaria; more than $2 billion in support of family planning and reproductive health as well as maternal and child health and more than $2 billion to address the health, humanitarian, and economic impacts of COVID-19.

The administration also plans to ask Congress for $4 billion for healthcare workers in Africa, investing $1.33 billion annually from 2022 to 2024.

Since January 2021, the administration has invested and plans to provide at least $1.1 billion to support African-led efforts to support conservation, climate adaptation, and energy transitions.

These funds include US International Development Finance Corporation investments into Malawi’s Golomoti JCM Solar Corporation, and a Climate Action Infrastructure Facility.

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