WASHINGTON (AP):
President Joe Biden told dozens of African leaders gathered in Washington that the United States is “all in on Africa’s future”, laying out billions in promised government funding and private investment Wednesday to help the growing continent in health, infrastructure, business and technology.
“The US is committed to supporting every aspect of Africa’s growth,” Biden told the leaders and others in a big conference hall, presenting his vision at the three-day US-Africa Leaders Summit of how the US can be a critical catalyst.
Biden, who is pitching the US as a reliable partner to promote democratic elections and push critical health and energy growth, told the crowd the US$55 billion in committed investments over the next three years – announced on Monday – was “just the beginning”.
He announced more than US$15 billion in private trade and investment commitments and partnerships.
“There’s so much more we can do together, and that we will do together,” Biden said.
The president, after his speech, spent some time with leaders, including Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, watching Morocco’s World Cup match with France. Morocco lost but made history as the first African team to advance to the tournament’s semi-final round.
The US has fallen well behind China in investment in sub-Saharan Africa, which has become a key battleground in an increasingly fraught competition between the major powers. The White House insists this week’s gathering is more a listening session with African leaders than an effort to counter Beijing’s influence, but the president’s central foreign policy tenet looms over all: America is in an era-defining battle to prove democracies can out-deliver autocracies.
That message was clear in Wednesday’s events. In his speech, Biden spoke of how the US would help in modernising technology across the continent, providing clean energy, moving women’s equality forward through business opportunities, bringing clean drinking water to communities, and better funding healthcare. First Lady Jill Biden’s office also laid out US$300 million for cancer prevention, screening, treatment and research in Africa.
On Wednesday, Biden also held a smaller meeting at the White House with the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
The president and first lady hosted a White House dinner for all the leaders and their spouses Wednesday night, with the food prepared by Mashama Bailey, the executive chef of The Grey, a Southern cooking spot in Savannah, Georgia. Gladys Knight provided the post-dinner entertainment.
Biden, in a toast at the start of the dinner, noted the “original sin” of enslaved Africans brought to US shores and paid tribute to the next generation of leaders in both the US and sub-Saharan Africa.
“Because particularly of our young people, in all our countries together, we can deliver a world that is healthier and safer, more equal, more just, more prosperous and more filled with opportunity for everyone,” Biden said.