Latest news with #Fitrell
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cybastion, U.S. Tech Leaders Unveil Digital Fast Track Program to Expand U.S. Tech Investment in Africa
New Initiative Advances U.S. Commercial Diplomacy Agenda in Africa WASHINGTON, June 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In a bold move to advance the new U.S. commercial diplomacy strategy in Africa, U.S. technology firm Cybastion and a consortium of American tech companies unveiled the Digital Fast Track program, a sweeping digital infrastructure initiative aimed at accelerating Africa's digital transformation and expanding U.S. business and investment across the continent. The Digital Fast Track program was announced in late-April at a launch event in Washington, D.C. with high-level representatives from the White House, U.S. and African governments, and tech and financial sectors. Powered by U.S. technology and financed by U.S. and African private capital, this ambitious private sector-led initiative aims to deliver robust digital infrastructure and support a suite of innovative digital and cybersecurity solutions in African markets. Led by Cybastion, a Virginia-based tech leader delivering digital and infrastructure solutions in Africa, the Digital Fast Track program is designed to help African nations achieve secure, resilient technological growth, while opening unparalleled new opportunities for American companies and investors. As the United States reshapes its Africa trade and investment strategy through the new U.S. commercial diplomacy plan, the Digital Fast Track program offers a blueprint for public-private partnerships that align with U.S. foreign policy objectives and advance the digital ambitions of African nations. Since January 2025, Cybastion has signed more than $500 million in new deals for digital transformation projects on the continent. The new U.S. commercial diplomacy plan was announced by Ambassador Troy Fitrell, Senior Bureau Official for the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs, at the AmCham Business Summit on May 14 in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. Ambassador Fitrell outlined the U.S. Department of State's six-point plan for boosting U.S. trade and investment in Africa, which includes engaging U.S. embassies in Africa in identifying opportunities for American investment and facilitates partnerships and financing to deliver a strategic and economic impact. With operations already underway in Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin, Gabon, and Guinea, Cybastion's digital transformation projects reflect a U.S.-Africa business model grounded in trust, partnership, and long-term growth. "The Digital Fast Track program is a catalyst for realizing Africa's digital ambitions by harnessing American technology and innovation," said Dr. Thierry Wandji, President and CEO of Cybastion. "Cybastion is proud to serve as a bridge—connecting U.S. and African partners, governments, and financial institutions—to build a secure digital future that drives growth, innovation, and shared prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic." Anchored by a continental network of sovereign data centers, the U.S.-driven initiative will establish a new transatlantic submarine cable from Virginia to landing points in West Africa. The installation of first-ever submarine cable is expected to start in 2026. The data centers – all supported by U.S. technology – will serve as launching points for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other tech capabilities. Internationally recognized training programs will equip African youth with the skills to deploy U.S. technology to advance Africa's digital innovation. Former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant attended the launch event and gave a rousing pitch for the United States to increase two-way business and investment between the U.S. and Africa. "Africa is our future and is open for business," said Governor Bryant. As governor, he led trade missions to Africa to explore investment opportunities, particularly in the sectors of aerospace, agricultural equipment, electrical power systems, and healthcare. A curated photo exhibition showcased the Digital Fast Track's four pillars: Digital Solutions, Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, and Workforce Training. The initiative's training component, Africa DigiEmpower, launched in partnership with Cisco, aims to train hundreds of thousands of young people and women across Africa in digital, cybersecurity, and AI skills. ABOUT CYBASTION: Cybastion is an American technology company that delivers world-class digital and cybersecurity solutions to accelerate Africa's digital transformation. Its mission is to empower Africa's digital future by creating secure, resilient, and reliable digital ecosystems that drive innovation, growth, and prosperity. Visit PRESS CONTACTS:U.S. media contact: Shanta Bryant Gyan – sbgyan@ Africa-based media contact: Marie Ango – mango@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Cybastion Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Analysis: The challenge with Trump's ‘trade, not aid' African strategy
Last week US Ambassador Troy Fitrell, the State Department's top Africa official, unveiled what appears to be the Trump administration's Africa policy — a 'Commercial Diplomacy' strategy that emphasizes 'trade, not aid.' The strategy posits that lagging trade stems from the US historically prioritizing aid over commerce. While some African leaders may welcome this pivot — seeing Africa as a commercial partner, not a recipient of handouts — the strategy faces serious challenges in both conception and execution. Fitrell proposed six key actions with 'commercial diplomacy' as its core focus. US ambassadors in Africa will now be evaluated on how effectively they advocate for American businesses and close deals. There is one drawback, however: This plan offers nothing for the development of deal flow. The Trump administration has suspended the US Trade and Development Agency, which once de-risked early stage investments. The new strategy purports to work with African governments to promote market reforms. Governments across the continent will embrace any partnerships to improve the investment climate. They will, however, do well to push for a partnership that is mutually beneficial. Fitrell's speech, as delivered, is skewed toward facilitating American business, not fostering mutual prosperity or supporting African enterprises. In a year where the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is due to expire, it is not mentioned once. By contrast, the term 'export' appears four times in the speech — always referring to US exports to Africa — suggesting a largely one-way trade vision. For a continent starved for infrastructure, governments will embrace the Trump administration's stated intent to focus on such projects. They'll also be keen on an increase in so-called commercial diplomacy trips. However, with US government agencies like the Millennium Challenge Corporation now effectively defunct and American construction firms largely absent from the continent, it's unclear who will deliver the proposed infrastructure and how the administration will ensure that these trips are not simply symbolic. The plan proposes linking US exporters and capital to Africa and reforms to US trade promotion and financing tools. If realized, these reforms could address the deal flow. Overall, the Trump administration's new plans for Africa face a dilemma, as they conflict with simultaneous efforts to shrink the federal government. In Washington, where 'personnel is policy,' this creates a challenge for execution. Many African leaders will recognize similarities between this proposed approach and China's model of economic engagement. The US is converging with China on how to engage Africa, but without the tools that underpin China's success, such as state-owned enterprises from construction and railway firms to banks and insurance companies. The new approach assumes that the US private sector can compete without equivalent support, which is highly optimistic. The US no longer offers unique capital access, and it has unilaterally diminished its soft power tools. The strategy currently makes no clear offer to African countries that are also being courted by Asia, Europe, and the Gulf. There's no mention of increased access to US markets, no new financing mechanisms, and no talk of value addition to the much desired 'critical minerals.' African governments must now offer a counterproposal that centers around a clear value proposition for this partnership.
IOL News
21-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
How the US is reshaping its investment strategy in Africa
The United States has launched a new commercial diplomacy strategy in Africa. Image: AFP The Trump administration has launched a new commercial diplomacy strategy through its Africa Bureau, marking a significant shift in its foreign policy approach. The strategy by the US-African Bureau is a shift in how the US engages with African countries - by putting trade outcomes, private-sector investment, and bankable partnership at the centre of its foreign policy agenda. The strategy was launched in Cote d'Ivoire last week. Addressing the media about this strategy on Tuesday, Ambassador Troy Fitrell, a senior official at the Bureau of African Affairs, said this is an investment strategy between the US and Africa. Asked about the ongoing situation between the US and South Africa and whether Fitrell believed there was a genocide against White Afrikaners, the organisers said the event was strictly about the launch of a new commercial diplomacy strategy and questions should be about that. Fitrell said investment would be focused on the relationship between the US and the African continent. He said the whole point of the strategy is to define how the US can stress what works in a strategy with Africa. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ He said the US has been assisting the continent for many decades and the country is now shifting towards an investment plan strategy. He added that the future of trade with the African continent will be a reciprocal relationship. Fitrell added that a number of deals have already been signed in Cote d'Ivoire. In his statement last week, he said the administration's goal was clear: to increase US exports and investment in Africa, eliminate trade deficits, and drive mutual prosperity. Fitrell added that Africa should be among the largest US trading partners and yet, it isn't. The US exports to Sub-Saharan Africa represent less than one percent of total trade in goods - a figure that has remained virtually unchanged for more than two decades. 'We've taken a hard look at why US trade with Africa has lagged. The findings were clear. "For too long, we've prioritised development assistance over promoting US commercial engagement in Africa. Going forward, we will continue to invest in development – but we will do so through expanded trade and private investment because it is the private sector – not assistance – that drives economic growth." Fitrell said historically, the US emphasised macroeconomic reforms, rather than breaking down barriers and opening doors for American companies on the ground. 'And we've heard American businesses loud and clear: U.S. government resources are often too slow, too fragmented, and too siloed to compete effectively with global competitors like China and Russia,' he said. Fitrell said this is an investment strategy that would focus on the middle class and economic growth. Cape Times
Boston Globe
20-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
US says it wants trade, not aid, in Africa. Cuts threaten both.
The United States is not so much in a financing mood. It wants deals. Advertisement 'Trade, not aid, is now the pillar of our policy in Africa,' Troy Fitrell, the State Department's top Africa official, said in a speech last week at a business summit in Abidjan. Minutes after he finished speaking, US and Ivorian companies signed more than half a dozen deals, including to supply drones for agriculture and mining, and scanning systems for border monitoring. Trump has broken with the terms that defined decades of US involvement in Africa: He has shrunk the US Agency for International Development, imposed tariffs that threaten a free-trade mechanism with dozens of African countries, and rolled back anticorruption standards for American companies doing business with foreign partners. Advertisement The Trump administration has also begun dismantling a little-known agency established by Congress in 2004 that finances the overpass in Ivory Coast and dozens of large infrastructure projects in a short list of countries. These include projects to expand electricity grids, build roads, or increase women's employment in places such as Indonesia, Nepal, and Senegal. The funds go to governments, selected for their growth potential and good governance, rather than nonprofit groups. As China brings stadiums and railroads to Africa and Turkey builds airports, these projects could also strengthen US influence, experts say. Even as they align with Trump's protrade policies, they now hang in the balance. Fitrell said last week that the United States would prioritize commercial diplomacy in Africa. The continent will be home to a quarter of the world's population by 2050, but countries south of the Sahara account for only 1 percent of US trade in goods. The Trump administration's strategy is meant to boost that, Fitrell said. Yet African leaders and American experts, diplomats, and entrepreneurs have said that the agency, known as Millennium Challenge Corp., has boosted commercial diplomacy and directly benefits US interests. Some have criticized the decision to shut it down. Erin Collinson, director of policy outreach at the Center for Global Development in Washington, called it 'incredibly shortsighted.' 'The MCC was funded as a unique aid agency that went around the USAID model and in a singular direction: promoting economic growth,' she said. This month, the US ambassador to Ivory Coast, Jessica Davis Ba, visited the construction site of the overpass, which was started under the first Trump administration, and said US companies would benefit from better roads in the country. They include Cargill, which exports cocoa beans from Ivory Coast, and Exxon Mobil, which has deals for the exploration of two offshore oil blocks. Advertisement Fitrell said the Millennium Challenge Corp.'s future has not yet been decided. The Trump administration has said it is willing to continue financing some infrastructure projects in Africa, like a $4 billion rail corridor in Angola meant to improve US access to cobalt and copper. The agency spent $1.7 billion last year — less than 2 percent of the $59 billion in US foreign assistance obligations. It received waivers for five of the 20 projects it was planning or implementing before the Trump administration instituted a 90-day funding freeze on foreign aid this year. The overpass in Abidjan got an extension of a few months. The deadline to complete the project before the funding runs out is early August, and it is unclear whether the Ivorian government will be able to pay for any final touches needed after that. On a recent morning, construction workers checked the waterproofing of the four-lane overpass towering over the jammed intersection while commuters baked in the sun. They had yet to lay out the asphalt. Hassan Koné, 39, said he and the passengers in his van had been stuck in traffic for two hours. American flags fluttered in the hot wind. Koné watched them, then sighed, 'The Americans need to hurry up and finish what they've started.' This article originally appeared in .
IOL News
20-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
US keen on transforming investment strategy with Africa
The United States has launched a new commercial diplomacy strategy in Africa. Image: AFP The Trump administration has launched a new commercial diplomacy strategy through its Africa Bureau, marking a significant shift in its foreign policy approach. The strategy by the US-African Bureau is a shift yet in how the US engages with African countries - by putting trade outcomes, private-sector investment, and bankable partnership at the centre of its foreign policy agenda. The strategy was launched in Cote d'Ivoire last week. Addressing the media about this strategy on Tuesday, Ambassador Troy Fitrell, a senior official at the Bureau of African Affairs, said this is an investment strategy between the US and Africa. Asked about the ongoing situation between the US and South Africa and whether Fitrell believed there was a genocide against White Afrikaners, the organisers said the event was strictly about the launch of a new commercial diplomacy strategy and questions should be about that. Fitrell said investment would be focused on the relationship between the US and the African continent. He said the whole point of the strategy is to define how the US can stress what works in a strategy with Africa. He said the US has been assisting the continent for many decades and the country is now shifting towards an investment plan strategy, He added that the future of trade with the African continent will be a reciprocal relationship. Fitrell added that a number of deals have already been signed in Cote d'Ivoire. In his statement last week, he said the administration's goal was clear: to increase US exports and investment in Africa, eliminate trade deficits, and drive mutual prosperity. Fitrell added that Africa should be among the US largest trading partners and yet, it isn't. The US exports to Sub-Saharan Africa represent less than one percent of our total trade in goods – a figure that has remained virtually unchanged for more than two decades. 'We've taken a hard look at why US trade with Africa has lagged. The findings were clear. "For too long, we've prioritised development assistance over promoting US commercial engagement in Africa. Going forward, we will continue to invest in development – but we will do so through expanded trade and private investment because it is the private sector – not assistance – that drives economic growth." Fitrell said historically, the US emphasised macroeconomic reforms, rather than breaking down barriers and opening doors for American companies on the ground. 'And we've heard American businesses loud and clear: U.S. government resources are often too slow, too fragmented, and too siloed to compete effectively with global competitors like China and Russia,' he said. Fitrell said this is an investment strategy that would focus on the middle class and economic growth. [email protected]
