![]() Bush, whose PEPFAR program has saved millions of lives by distributing affordable drugs to treat HIV-AIDS. president who delivered for Africa was George. Still, there are a number of relationships to repair.įor many African leaders, the last U.S. Beijing moved to silence such accusations by forgiving loans of 17 African country borrowers in August. That model’s strength is its contrast with “China’s coercive brand of debt trap diplomacy,” he said. “offers a better, more sustainable economic model that treats our partners more fairly than Beijing treats theirs,” Van Hollen said. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who serves on the Africa subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The meeting is “not about other countries and their engagement” with Africa, a senior administration official said on the condition of anonymity in a press briefing on Thursday. Perhaps to that end, summit organizers insist the event has nothing to do with Beijing. over China … without mentioning China.Īfrican leaders don’t want their countries to become “a playground for world powers using the continent for their Cold War initiatives against each other,” said Zeenat Adam, former director of the Horn of Africa section of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation. One difficulty for Biden: He’ll have to convince African leaders to choose the U.S. In September, African countries constituted almost half of the 28 states that supported a Chinese resolution to reject allegations of crimes against humanity in Xinjiang as “disinformation.”Ĭhina-Africa relations are “the bedrock of China’s foreign policy,” the Chinese ambassador to the U.S., Qin Gang, s aid at the Semafor Africa Summit on Monday. At a time when America is seeking to counter growing Chinese influence in multilateral organizations, the administration has noted that Africa boasts “one of the largest regional voting groups in the United Nations.”īut Beijing may be ahead in the soft power arena, too. That kind of recognition could also help the U.S. ![]() ![]() National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the move reflects the administration’s recognition of the need for “more African voices international conversations” about the world’s most pressing issues. also sees Africa as essential to its national security due to Islamic terrorist groups in the region, including Boko Haram in West Africa and Al-Shabaab in Horn of Africa.Īhead of the summit, the Biden administration announced that the president will throw his support behind getting the African Union a permanent G-20 seat. as a growing market for American products as well as a source of commodities including cobalt and lithium essential to the U.S.’ rapidly expanding electric vehicle industry. will “pound on the table and say ‘You’ve got to clean up your act and engage in free and fair elections,’ while the Chinese just hold their nose and basically deal with the government in charge. foreign policy priority list … this is equally true for the Biden administration,” said David Shinn, former ambassador to Ethiopia with extensive diplomatic experience across Africa. “Africa has always been at the bottom of the U.S. because its diplomatic outreach has embraced countries regardless of their respect for democracy or human rights. On top of that, China has more potential friends in Africa than the U.S. And Beijing has built roads and ports across Africa over the past two decades, while regularly increasing its foreign aid to the continent.Īnd Chinese foreign ministers have made Africa their first foreign destination of each new calendar year since 1991. 1 trading partner through imports of everything from textiles to smartphones while purchasing massive volumes of African agricultural products and commodities including copper and oil. Instead, Obama cut funding to combat AIDs in Africa and reduced foreign aid to the region.Ĭhina, meanwhile, has become sub-Saharan Africa’s No. Many African leaders feel like they’ve already been fooled once - when President Barack Obama used the first such summit in 2014 to signal growing commitment to the continent.
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