What is behind Washington’s renewed focus on Africa?
Here's how US policy toward the African continent is shifting from an approach that emphasized counterterrorism collaboration (which still remains) to one grounded in economics. An extract from Luca Mainoldi's article for Agenzia Fides
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will visit Senegal, Zambia and South Africa Jan. 17-28, said a Dec. 16 statement, following the conclusion of the US-Africa Summit held in Washington Dec. 13-15.
The US-Africa Leaders Summit was attended by as many as 49 African heads of state and government, to whom US President Joe Biden promised that the African Union will soon have its own representation at G20 summits because – he said – Africa “it must be able to make its voice heard in all the environments that count”. Previously Biden had not ruled out a possible African seat on the UN Security Council.
The last Summit between the USA and African countries dates back to 2014 at the time of the Obama Administration which had launched some initiatives such as Power Africa, to enhance the electricity production and distribution networks in various African countries, or the Young African Leaders Initiative , aimed at encouraging the formation of a new generation of African leaders, linked to "Western values" (an initiative now taken up by the Obama Foundation Leaders Africa).
Forging personal ties between young potential leaders of foreign countries and the United States is one of the longest-lasting "soft power" strategies adopted by Washington since the dawn of the Cold War. Subsequently integrated by actions aimed at supporting civil society actors also with training sessions on forms of non-violent struggle.
In reconfirming these projects and also extending the African Growth Opportunities Act (launched in 2000 which aims to facilitate African exports to the United States) to 2025, the summit saw the conclusion of public cooperation agreements for 55 billion dollars, over three years , and 15 billion in private investments in various sectors ranging from space to health, from agriculture to transport, from new technologies to food safety. On the sidelines of the Summit, among other things, two African countries, Rwanda and Nigeria, joined the Artemis Accords, aimed at the exploration and exploitation of lunar resources and other celestial bodies.
Washington's renewed attention to Africa goes hand in hand with that of the other powers towards the continent in full demographic growth and rich in mineral resources, such as cobalt for example, which are essential for the energy transition. The vote of the more than 50 African states is also important within the UN bodies. Similar summits are organized with some frequency by China (the main trading partner of the continent), Russia, France, the European Union, Japan, Turkey and South Korea.
(Excerpt from the article published on Agenzia Fides, here the complete version)
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/cosa-ce-dietro-la-rinnovata-attenzione-di-washington-verso-lafrica/ on Sun, 18 Dec 2022 09:57:44 +0000.