Africa: U.S. President Joe Biden Pledges Visit to Sub-Saharan Africa

@LiserFlorie / Twitter
Florie Liser, President and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa, delivering opening remarks at the 2022 U.S-Africa Business Forum in Washington D.C.
15 December 2022
Deutsche Welle (Bonn)

The US president is working to cement ties with the continent during the Washington-hosted US-Africa summit. He's also backing a permanent role for the African Union within the G20.

US President Joe Biden announced plans to visit sub-Saharan Africa soon. The US is working to expand its presence in the region and counter the influence of Russia and China.

"We're all going to be seeing you and you're going to see a lot of us," Biden told the nearly 50 African leaders as he attended the third day of a US-Africa summit in the US capital.

The visit would be Biden's first to sub-Saharan Africa since he became president. It would even be almost his first formal visit to the continent, barring a quick stop in November in Egypt.

Biden has focused his foreign visits in the two years he's been president on Asia and Europe, as he sought to bolster Indo-Pacific ties and coordinate western unification against Russia, and less urgently also China.

However, US officials have stressed ahead of the summit that the US must strengthen ties with the African continent, where both China and Russia enjoy a heavy presence.

In the summer, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken embarked on a three-nation African tour to promote his country's new strategy for sub-Saharan Africa, which seeks to counter the influence of China and Russia in the region.

Support for AU getting permanent G20 role

Biden also supported a permanent role for the African Union within the Group of 20 economies.

"Africa belongs to the table in every room -- every room for global challenges that are being discussed -- and in every institution," he said.

Earlier in September, the US president had called for an African permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

The ongoing summit is the first since former US President Barack Obama hosted African leaders in Washington in 2014.

The Biden administration has pledged $55 billion (€52 billion) worth of public investment, private investment, aid, and trade deals across Africa. Biden said this was "just the beginning."

rmt/sms (AFP, AP)

Tagged:
Copyright © 2022 Deutsche Welle. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.