BY DANIEL ALEMAYEHU
Recently, Washington organized the US- Africa Leaders’ Summit as part of its effort to strengthen ties with African countries. The summit was concluded outlining ways to bolster existing partnerships and future undertakings. The US administration as well expressed its commitment to further deepening the cooperation with the African continent and its people.
According to the White House, to achieve the pre-determined goals, the Biden- Harris Administration plans to invest at least 55 billion USD in the coming three years. The Administration has also appointed a coordinator for a new special Presidential Representative for the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit implementation. Under specific ties of the two parties, the summit has put explicit achievements and programs.
At the summit, it was announced that the US and African nations also remain committed to tighten the already existed partnerships coupled with creating more rooms for new ties. In People- to- People ties, they plan to establish a New Diaspora Council that works on African Diaspora engagement in the US and expand Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) providing over 100 million USD.
With regard to global governance and diplomatic engagement, the two parties agreed on supporting Africa to realize its long- waited opportunities to secure G20 membership and seats in the United Nations Security Council. Further, higher officials of the US including President Biden plan to travel to Africa in 2023 with the objective of squeezing the diplomatic partnership.
In the area of trade, investment, and inclusive economic growth, the US intends to support Africa in resilience and recovery by lending 21 million USD through IMF. It also inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat creating continent- wide market worth 3.4 trillion USD. The first regional Multi- sectorial Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compacts 504 million USD fund to support regional economic integration, trade and cross- broader collaboration.
The US administration has also announced its plans to work closely on technology and innovation vis-à-vis digital transformation of the continent. In addition, Washington aims to invest on building more resilient health system in Africa and strengthening global health security so as to support the health sector of African nations. The US also shows its eagerness to work on food security through fostering food security partnerships and responding to the need for emergency food security assistance.
Regarding climate change, the US plans to fund over 150 million USD to address climate adaption in Africa. The White House also mentioned that the US is committed to work on African Democratic and Political Transitions (ADAPT) and 21st century partnership for African security under peace and security.
The US Department of State has also released a special digital press briefing on the US- African Leaders’ Summit outcomes presented by US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and Environment, Jose Fernandez. The secretary provided his responses regarding questions raised from journalists. During his conversation, he said the summit was productive for both sides and had productive decisions on how the US and African nations can work together to tackle global challenges that affect all of us.
“Partnership is foundation of President Biden’s strategy for Africa because we know that we cannot address the challenges of our time without bringing everyone to the table. That means government at every level, institutions, the private sector, and the African diaspora,” the secretary added.
The secretary explained that the summit focused on major priorities of the two parties including conservation, climate change, clean energy transition, supply chain, investment, entrepreneurship, and innovation. In this regard, every party is responsible to take its part in order to tackle those challenges.
Jose Fernandez noted, “… New investment and policy initiatives at the summit included the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat in order to promote equitable, sustainable, and inclusive trade – trade that will be continent-wide and the trade that will open up a $3.4 trillion market of 1.3 billion people. That is a large market – it’s a huge market – and that’s what we intend to work on with this memorandum of understanding.”
The secretary also mentioned that the US government facilitates ecologically sound trade and investment between the two continents with advanced diplomacy and for creating growth, opportunity, and employment.
“We are not going to be able to move forward on them without the support of the African nations, without cooperating with the African nations. And I think during the summit, we delivered on that goal and we will continue working hard to make it a reality going forward,” Jose stressed.
The secretary also reaffirmed that the US Government plans to commit a minimum of 55 billion USD for Africa over the next three years to tackle the major challenges of the time. “They involve a wide range of sectors that reflect our shared interest and renewed partnerships – sectors such as food security, health, climate, trade and investment, economic growth, and also education, peace and security, and democracy,” elaborated the secretary.
Besides, Jose disclosed, “The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was of great interest to our African colleagues, and we spent a fair amount of time discussing it. As of today, we have 36 Sub-Saharan African countries that are eligible for the African Growth and Opportunity Act. AGOA is legislation passed by Congress in the year 2000, so 22 years ago, that offers almost 6,500 – 6,500 products duty-free access to U.S. markets. A lot of these are small and medium enterprises, enterprises that can grow by leveraging AGOA to their benefit.”
Taking part in the summit, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (Ph.D.) met with US secretary of State Antony John Blinken and discussed on the bilateral issues.
Abiy tweeted on his social media account, “I held a candid and productive meeting with @SecBlinken. I expressed my appreciation to the U.S. for their contribution in our efforts to achieve peace. For decades, Ethiopia has been a key ally of U.S. in Africa and we discussed ways of strengthening our partnership.”
Blinken, on his part, appreciates the effort exerted by the Ethiopian Government to improve humanitarian access and restorations of essential services in waraffected areas, and added, “The United States remains committed to support the African Union-led peace process, including the AU monitoring and verification mechanism.”
The US and the African leaders, agreed on securing interests and working for mutual benefits. Still, the summit is one of the many witnesses to uncover the reality that Africa has plenty to offer to the world, and even powerhouses of the world can make impacts without Africa’s involvement. The modern day seeks the involvement of every part of the whole, and it demands the right way to bring all stakeholders to the table and everybody plays its own part. That is what has been seen in the US- Africa summit where both parties reaffirm their readiness for mutual responsibility and benefits.
Likewise, Ethiopia has cemented the already existing partnership with the US and showed its commitment to work with international organizations. Particularly, following the peace accord signed between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in Pretoria, South Africa, the US along with international organizations have shown their readiness to boost their relations with Ethiopia.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 27 DECEMBER 2022
