Joe Biden called on Thursday for an increased role for Africa on the international scene, also committing to promote good governance and democracy there, on the last day of a summit in Washington supposed to mark the return of the United States to the world. continent.
The American president has also promised to visit sub-Saharan Africa, possibly as early as next year, which would be the first visit at this level since Barack Obama, who visited Kenya and Ethiopia in 2015.
“We are all going to see you and you are all going to see us a lot,” he told the heads of state or government of 49 African countries represented at the Africa summit in Washington.
He did not mention a date or the countries he intended to visit, pointing out that some countries “had invited him” and that he had replied: “Be careful what you ask. I might well come” .
Former President Donald Trump had not made any trips to sub-Saharan Africa.
Support for the maintenance of peace and security, good governance or human rights, on a continent where more than one country is criticized in this area, the President of the United States spoke on Wednesday and Thursday in front of his African peers of a series of American aid intended to reflect this renewed commitment of his country on the continent.
In particular, he announced $2.5 billion in aid to fight food insecurity in Africa and concluded a “strategic partnership” with the African Union in the short and long term to ensure agricultural sustainability on the continent.
“Food security is essential for peace and prosperity,” he said. “Put simply, if a parent can’t feed their child, nothing else really matters.”
The issue of soaring food prices, aggravated by the war in Ukraine following the Russian invasion of that country in February, dominated the work of the summit on Thursday followingnoon.
In the morning, Mr. Biden announced that he would release $75 million to strengthen democratic institutions in Africa, as well as $100 million in security assistance.
Before welcoming African leaders to dinner on Wednesday evening, he had just received at the White House the leaders of six African countries where elections will be held next year, which the United States intends to monitor closely.
– At the negotiating table –
“Africa must be at the table in every room – in every room where global challenges are discussed – and in all institutions”, he further stressed, expressly quoting the UN Security Council. and the G20, which brings together the main economic powers of the world.
An initiative immediately welcomed by Senegalese President Macky Sall, who holds the rotating presidency of the African Union.
But the latter also called, in a rare discordant note, for the lifting of international sanctions once morest Zimbabwe and warned once morest a bill considered by the American Congress which would impose sanctions on African countries dealing with Russia.
“It would be the first time in international relations that an entire continent would be targeted in this way,” he said.
African leaders were generally satisfied with the holding of the summit – the last in this format dates back to 2014 under Barack Obama – even if the chairman of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, deplored the “national selfishness ” that endure and “the barely audible voice of Africa”.
President Biden, a champion of multilateralism and who boasts of America’s return to the international scene following the Trump years, had already pleaded on Wednesday to create a broad partnership with Africa.
“We want to collaborate in all areas,” he said once more Thursday, insisting that “the United States was fully for Africa with Africa”.
The Biden administration intends to free up $55 billion for Africa over the next three years in areas as varied as digital, infrastructure, health and energy transition.
If the United States refuses to talk regarding competition with China on the African continent, they nevertheless strive to strengthen their presence there and insist on their vision of sustainable development and democracy.