President Joe Biden said his nation is “all in on Africa’s future” during the US-Africa Leaders conference that is now taking place in Washington.
When speaking to a gathering of 49 African leaders on Wednesday, the US president said, “When Africa succeeds, the United States succeeds. Quite frankly, the whole world succeeds as well.”
In addition to his remarks, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser at the White House, emphasised that the United States wants to assist African nations in achieving their own objectives.
Sullivan claims that over the next three years, the White House would provide $55 billion in aid to Africa in the areas of economic development, public health, and security.
Sullivan declined to provide further information, stating that the White House will do so over the upcoming three days of bilateral and multilateral negotiations as well as a dinner that Biden would be hosting for his African counterparts at the White House.
According to the German news outlet DW, the announcement also includes an additional $800 million in public and private funding for digital growth in addition to a $100 million aid package for sustainable energy.
In the meanwhile, Cisco and its partner Cybastion announced ten cybersecurity contracts for a combined $858 million, and credit card major Visa stated it will invest $1 billion in Africa to promote digital payments.
According to DW, Microsoft also said that it will start deploying satellites in Egypt, Senegal, and Angola to provide millions of people access to the internet.
Sullivan stressed that the conference was not about other nations while making comments about the rivalry with China and Russia for influence and opportunity in Africa.
“It’s not going to be attempting to compare and contrast,” he said.
“This is going to be about what we can offer. It’s going to be a positive proposition about the United States and its partnership with Africa.
“We are bringing the resources to the table in significant numbers,” he added, according to RFI.
Sullivan also mentioned that the United States will inform the visiting leaders that it favours asking the African Union to join the exclusive G-20 nations and adding an African nation to the list of permanent members of the UN Security Council.
