US- African leaders summit :What is on Biden’s Agenda?

Published: December 05,2022

By Gerald Mbanda

On December 13, several African leaders are expected to be in Washington on the invitation of the US President Joe Biden for a three day U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. According to a statement from State Department, the Summit will demonstrate, “the United States’ enduring commitment to Africa, and will underscore the importance of U.S.-Africa relations and increased cooperation on shared global priorities.”

The State department statement further says that, “Africa will shape the future — not just the future of the African people, but of the world. Africa will make the difference in tackling the most urgent challenges and seizing the opportunities we all face.” From the statement above, it is apparent that the US acknowledges the role of Africa in shaping the future and tackling global challenges and therefore, Biden’s summit is intended to woe the future global winners to his side. However, political analysts wonder if that kind of relationship that the US wants to forge with African leaders is genuine or simply the, “cooperation on shared priorities” is just a slogan that does not match actions?

Let me begin with the discomfort already within African leaders before the summit begins. Through the normal protocol channels, some African leaders had requested for a one-on –one meeting with President Biden during the three days duration of the meeting. The response from Washington is that President Biden declined to meet the African leaders on a bilateral basis and this has angered a number of them. The general feeling is that the US administration takes Africa as one block, and therefore, there is no need for bilateral discussions. 

It is believed that the US-African leaders Summit is intended to woe African countries to Washington’s geopolitical calculations of countering China influence on the continent. Western media outlets have in recent years ran campaigns against China’s programs in Africa as well as the Belt and Road Initiative. For example, a headline by Reuters on September 29, 2021said, “China’s vast Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is in danger of losing momentum as opposition in targeted countries rises and debts mount, paving the way for rival schemes to squeeze Beijing out.” 

The fact is that BRI projects are doing great in Africa actually complimenting Africa’s development agenda 2063 as well as supporting the African Continental Free Trade area (AfCFTA). Instead, the “rival schemes” refer to US attempt to counter BRI with Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) plan which in reality has been a nonstarter and cannot be compared to the success of BRI globally. So, at the US-African Summit, Biden will try to sell his BBB plan. This would be good for the cooperation of US and Africa if it was not done at the expense of criticizing China’s cooperation with Africa.  

Let me get back a bit to the statement by the State Department that The US- Africa Leaders’ Summit is intended to, “underscore the importance of U.S.-Africa relations and increased cooperation on shared global priorities.” When the African continent was badly hit with the COVID-19 pandemic and in critical need of basic necessities like face masks as well as the lifesaving vaccine, the US and other developed nations did not share with Africa the vaccines but instead stocked more than they needed. They question now would be, what other shared global priorities would the US share with Africa, when the continent was abandoned at a time of life and death? It is clear in whose interest the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit lies. 

The fact that China is the biggest trading partner with the African continent a fact that the Biden administration would not like to hear.  Last year, trade between China and Africa recorded a record high of $254billion, while the US being sub-Saharan Africa’s fourth largest trading partner recorded a mere $64 billion in bilateral trade in the same period. Biden desperately wants to reverse this trend, which analysts believe is too late.  

So far, Beijing’s cooperation framework with Africa under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, has delivered on a number of developmental and investment plans that genuinely benefit the African continent. Beijing’s recent decision to   lift tariffs on 98 percent of imports from Africa’s 10 least developed economies was good news and a sign of China’s deliberate efforts to pull poor countries out of poverty. Although Biden administration criticizes China’sengagement in Africa, facts speak for themselves and African leaders cannot be sold another alternative that does not work for the interest of the African people. 

Gerald Mbanda is a researcher and publisher on China- Africa Cooperation