Latest news with #US-AfricaLeadersSummit
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Washington prepares for US-African Leaders Summit
The Trump administration is working out the final details for a US-Africa Leaders Summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September that will be 'almost entirely focused on economic growth,' according to its top Africa official. Troy Fitrell, head of the US State Department's Africa bureau, said he had submitted his recommendations for an event he sees as an opportunity for commercial and market advocacy. His team has been encouraging African governments to come prepared with 'a couple of major deals' and use the summit as an 'action-forcing event,' he said during a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event in Washington last week. The last US-Africa Leaders Summit was hosted by President Joe Biden in December 2022, drawing more than 40 African leaders. Just before US President Donald Trump took office, lawmakers added a provision in an annual defense bill mandating that the president host an event for African leaders this year, with another one in two years' time. Congress' concerns are that limited senior US engagement with African leaders is leading Washington to cede ground to China and other powers.
IOL News
18-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
US shifting Africa strategy to 'trade, not aid', envoy says
A general view of the Container Terminal at the port in Durban, South Africa, April 10, 2025. Image: REUTERS/Rogan Ward/File Photo US envoys in Africa will be rated on commercial deals struck, not aid spent, a senior State Department official said, touting it as the new strategy for US support on the continent. President Donald Trump's administration wants to eliminate trade deficits, and drive mutual prosperity, African Affairs senior bureau official Troy Fitrell said, according to remarks shared on Thursday. "Assistance involves a donor and a recipient, but commerce is an exchange between equals," he added at the launch of the policy in Ivory Coast on Wednesday. US ambassadors in Africa had already shepherded 33 agreements worth $6 billion in Trump's first 100 days, Fitrell said. "Trade, not aid, a slogan we've seen thrown around for years, is now truly our policy for Africa." US goods exports to sub-Saharan Africa amount to less than 1% of total US trade, according to US think-tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Despite Trump's aggressive spending cuts, Washington has pledged a $550 million loan for the Lobito rail corridor, a shortcut for copper and cobalt from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to Angola's Atlantic port, bypassing China-controlled routes. 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 Next Stay Close ✕ The US is keen to counter both Chinese and Russian influence on the continent, particularly over minerals and trade. In one of China's latest deals on the continent, a $652m loan agreement was agreed with Nigeria through the Exim bank for a highway feeding the new Lekki port and Dangote refinery. The US has set six targets to be met before the next US-Africa Leaders Summit later this year, the envoy said. They include to make commercial diplomacy a core mission, push priority countries to enact business-friendly reforms and back "bankable" infrastructure not "vanity projects". It also wants to embark on more business-only diplomatic trips, match export-ready US firms with African ventures and overhaul financing tools to offer faster and more risk-tolerant blended funding. Global aid groups have widely criticised the US for slashing aid funds to Africa, which they say is costing lives of the most needy. REUTERS
