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WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden announced an agreement aimed at strengthening trade ties between the United States and Africa on Wednesday, after years in which the continent took a backseat to other priorities. of the US, as China advanced in investment and trade.
“The United States is ‘fully interested’ in the future of Africa,” Biden told African leaders attending a three-day summit in Washington.
Biden’s comments and the summit are aimed at positioning the United States as a partner for African countries as it competes with China, which seeks to expand its influence by funding infrastructure projects on the continent and elsewhere. Chinese trade with Africa is about four times that of the United States, and Beijing has become a major lender by offering loans with less stringent terms than Western lenders.
Biden said a new US agreement with the African Continental Free Trade Area will give US companies access to 1.3 billion people and a market valued at $3.4 trillion. He listed companies that did business at the summit, including General Electric Co (GE.N) and Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O).
“When Africa succeeds, America succeeds. Frankly, the whole world succeeds too,” said the president.
Delegations from 49 countries and the African Union, including 45 African national leaders, are attending the three-day summit, which kicked off on Tuesday, the first and first of its kind since 2014. Washington has pledged $55 billion in support to Africa under the Biden administration on food security, climate change, trade partnerships, and other issues.
Following his remarks, Biden watched the Morocco-France portion of the World Cup semifinal with Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch and other leaders present at the summit, the White House said.
This afternoon, Biden will host leaders facing the 2023 elections, including from Gabon and Liberia, for a discussion on elections and democratic principles. Then Biden and his wife, Jill, will host African leaders and their wives at a White House dinner with Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff.
The summit is part of a renewed effort to strengthen ties with a continent as China gains clout with trade, investment and lending boosts. Beijing has held its own high-level meetings with African leaders every three years for more than two decades.
Some US officials are reluctant to frame the meeting as a battle for influence. Biden did not mention China in his comments, and Washington has tempered its criticism of Beijing’s lending practices and infrastructure projects.
Biden is expected to announce his support for the African Union joining the G20 group of the world’s largest economies as a permanent member during Thursday’s summit events.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai told African colleagues on Tuesday that she wants to improve the US trade preference program on the continent to increase investment.
“We are not looking for a relationship that is transactional, that is extractive, that is onerous, or that leaves multiple countries in a weaker, poorer state after a deal is reached,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price. told reporters on Monday.
[1/7] US President Joe Biden delivers key remarks at a US-Africa business forum at the 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, US, Dec. 14, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
On Wednesday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby highlighted the importance of US investment in Africa and helping countries play a more active role in the global economy.
“It’s a two-way discussion we want to have with Africa on trade, investment and economic growth opportunities,” he told reporters.
At an opening trade forum on Wednesday, African leaders called for more investment.
“Instead of exporting commodities, the US should find an opportunity to invest,” said Kenyan President William Ruto. “They have the machinery, they have the know-how, to be able to produce for the African continent in Africa.”
Ruto cited projections that Africa’s agribusiness sector will more than triple to $1 trillion by 2030 and said US capital can help address the continent’s physical infrastructure deficit to unlock that growth.
CHINA-AFRICA TRADE
According to an analysis by the Eurasia Group, in 2021 China-Africa trade of $254 billion far surpassed US-Africa trade of $64.3 billion. These numbers are higher than the US$ 12 billion and US$ 21 billion, respectively, in 2002.
Beijing’s loans to Africa have led to Western accusations that China has mired African countries in debt.
Beijing’s ambassador to Washington dismissed the idea ahead of the summit, citing a report that African countries owe Western institutions three times as much debt, noting that China-built hospitals, highways, airports and stadiums are “everywhere” in Africa. .
China remains the region’s biggest bilateral investor, but its new loan commitments to Africa have declined in recent years.
It’s not just about economic influence – Washington is alarmed by China’s efforts to establish a military base in Africa, including on the Atlantic coast of Equatorial Guinea.
For their part, many African leaders reject the idea that they have to choose between the United States and China.
“The fact that both countries have different levels of relations with African countries makes them equally important for Africa’s development,” Ethiopia’s ambassador to the UN, Taye Atske Selassie Amde, told Reuters. “However, it should be known that each African country has the agency to determine its respective relationship and best interest.”
Additional reporting by David Lawder, Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal in Washington and Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Don Durfee, Leslie Adler, Heather Timmons and Jonathan Oatis
Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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