Washington – The US-Africa Leaders’ Summit began on Tuesday in Washington, DC, with the holding of several forums, which analyzed new prospects for economic partnerships, at the multilateral level.
On the first day of this summit, which will run until Thursday, the more than 49 heads of state invited by the U.S. President, Joe Biden, participated in various meetings with senior officials from American politics and diplomacy.
Besides the forums, the agenda included other parallel events, such as the annual meeting of the Eximbank, attended by the Presidents of Angola, João Lourenço, and Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, who interacted on current topics.
Speaking at the meeting, the Angolan Head of State defended the implementation of reforms in the United Nations Security Council, with the inclusion of representatives from Africa in the organization and the entry of African countries into the G20 group.
In his speech, João Lourenço talked about business opportunities in Africa, in general, and in Angola, in particular, with emphasis on the solar energy and agriculture sectors, for which he invited American businesspeople to invest without fear.
The Angolan President also spoke about the advances achieved by the country in the fight against corruption, a phenomenon that he considered harmful to the image of the states, having appealed for the commitment of all to discourage impunity.
João Lourenço also spoke of the fight against the economic recession in Angola, which is being done through the production of goods and services to increase supply and lower price of the products.
The Angolan statesman welcomed the initiative of the US President Joe Biden to hold the Summit, which he believes will help to change the way the United States of America looks at African countries.
Mozambique’s Head of State, Filipe Nyusi, on his turn, said African states came to the US to discuss the economic relationship between Africans and Americans, an opportunity to bring mutually advantageous positions closer.
To the Mozambican leader, the meeting will help to build trust between the African continent and the U.S., since the distance currently seen, in the diplomatic, political and economic area, has been helping little in the progress of both parties.
“We come as multilaterals, as a continent, and we are here before a country that is going to mature bilateral relations in different sectors, such as economic diplomacy”, Nyusi said.
Mr Nyusi added that the U.S. needs to discover Africa, in particular Mozambique and its potential, while underlining the efforts and investments made by Eximbank in his country.
“There are already concrete signs of investments from companies of this country, and this invitation comes at a good time for us to encourage, urge, appeal more to investors in this country, through this bank, to be present in Mozambique”, He said.
Filipe Nyusi stressed that Africa is, so far, “a deposit of resources”, which should not be discussed in the absence of the people who own it.
The Mozambican president said that African states hope that the summit in Washington will allow, in the future, the transformation of local resources within the continent itself, since this facilitates labour, increases employment and profits for the countries.
In addition to the Eximbank meeting, the participants of the forum attended a Forum of Young African Leaders and the Diaspora, which discussed issues related to Film, Television and Music, Culture, Economy and Growth, Environmental Equity, and Higher Education.
A Civil Society Forum was held, attended by several civil society representatives, heads of African delegations, and other African officials, as well as US senior officials.
The event, held under the theme, “Inclusive Partnerships to Advance Agenda 2063”, served to exchange ideas on promoting anti-corruption reforms and protecting workers’ rights, as well as on including marginalized voices in public life.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, USAID Administrator Samantha Power emphasized the importance of partnerships between civil society and government, having encouraged the audience to be open to the views of those outside of government.
New Era in Space
Also on Tuesday, the U.S. Africa Space Forum discussed how to promote shared goals through the peaceful exploration and use of outer space.
As part of the meeting, Nigeria and Rwanda became the first African nations to sign the Artemis Accords.
The Accords were signed by the minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Ali Ibrahim on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Rwanda’s Space Agency CEO Francis Ngabo on behalf of the Republic of Rwanda.
The Artemis Accords, which represent a bold, multilateral vision for the future of space exploration, were launched by the State Department and NASA, along with eight nations, in 2020 to promote bilateral and multilateral space cooperation among signatories, expanding knowledge of the universe.
The signatories commit to guiding their civilian space activities, including public dissemination of scientific data, responsible debris mitigation, registry of space objects, and the establishment and implementation of interoperability standards.
With this step, the agreements now have 23 signatories, spanning all corners of the globe and representing a diverse set of space interests and capabilities.
Thus, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States have demonstrated their commitment to the peaceful, responsible, and sustainable use of outer space.
Another event that marked the first day of the U.S.-Africa Summit was the African and Diaspora Youth Forum, which discussed opportunities for private sector partnerships.
At the meeting, the US State Department’s Office of Global Partnerships announced three partnerships with private sector partners to collaborate on the Young African and Diaspora Leaders Forum, part of the larger US Africa Leaders Summit.
These are African Diaspora Network, Atlantic Council’s Africa Center and Netflix, which are leveraging their expertise to support the forum’s theme of “Amplifying Voices: Building Lasting Partnerships.”
In that regard, the State Department is partnering with the African Diaspora Network, with support from the Gates Foundation, to co-host a high-level working lunch focused on channeling diaspora remittances into productive investments in Africa.
Similarly, it is partnering with the Atlantic Council, with support of the Open Society Foundation to co-host a networking breakfast to highlight and showcase artists and creatives from across the continent.
US companies Meta and Google will use their innovative technologies to showcase these creative industries.
The State Department is partnering with Netflix in collaboration with UNESCO to host a screening and panel discussion of one of the winners of the “African folktales, re-imagined” short film competition.
It also held the Forums on Peace, Security and Governance, and Partnership for Sustainable Health Cooperation, as well as on Conservation, Climate Adaptation and a Just Energy Transition.
Speaking at the last forum, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said all states are affected by the climate crisis and must be committed to working together to address it.
Blinken recalled that 17 out of the 20 most climate-vulnerable countries in the world are on the African continent, stressing that four consecutive years of drought in the Horn of Africa have left more than 18 million people vulnerable to severe hunger.
According to the US Secretary, communities across the continent are feeling the impact of a changing climate, and that it is certain that “African nations have contributed relatively little to this crisis, but are disproportionately harmed by it.”
Blinken said he believes that the best way – indeed, the fair way – to tackle the climate crisis in Africa is to work together with Africa.
The US official announced that they are partnering to conserve ecosystems. Africa is home to some of the world’s most precious ecosystems, essential for fighting climate change.
For Wednesday, the second day of the Summit, a U.S.-Africa Business Forum is set to take place, among other activities, under the theme “Charting the Course: the Future of U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment Relations” and several other topics.
Also on Wednesday, the US First Lady Jill Biden will present a programme to promote shared priorities with the spouses of leaders.
In support of the Biden administration’s Cancer Moonshot, the first lady will lead a conversation, facilitated by Ambassador John Nkengasong, with more than 20 spouses and representatives from the private sector and non-governmental organizations, on breaking down barriers to cancer prevention, early detection, and caring for women and girls around the world.
The first lady will provide remarks and expand on new commitments from the federal government and the private sector in support of Cancer Moonshot.
Source: Angola Press News Agency