Washington – The US-Africa Leaders Summit ended Thursday night in Washington with a renewed commitment to an increasingly strategic and mutually advantageous partnership.
The event allowed to achieve significant progress in cooperation between Americans and Africans, which resulted in 2021 in a "balance" of USD
18 billion, the result of 800 bilateral trade and investment agreement.
According to the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, the amount is the result of strategic partnerships between American and African companies in the private sector, from 47 African countries.
"If you go back to 2021, our government helped close more than 800 bilateral trade and investment agreements in 47 African countries, worth USD 18 billion. During the summit, President Biden announced more than USD 15 billion in new business," he said.
Speaking at a press conference on the balance of the 2022 Summit, the official announced that the amount of USD 15 billion will be invested in the next three years, as part of this partnership, underlining that they are investing a lot of resources in shared priorities.
He explained that the Economic Forum, one of the most important events of the summit, brought together representatives from over three hundred African and American companies, heads of fifty-two delegations, which allowed new connections and investment opportunities.
The official announced the US intention to work with Congress to invest more than USD 350 million in a new digital transformation initiative with Africa.
He said his country offers its African partners transparent, high-quality and sustainable investments for the planet that help empower local communities.
He stated that the US does not intend to dictate Africa's choices, it is up to the continent's states to define in which sectors they intend to create partnerships and obtain investments.
“We will work tirelessly to expand your choices, and the deals and investments we made this week show that when African governments, businesses and communities are given the option to partner, they will embrace it,” he said.
He also spoke of the US commitment to helping its partners recover from the devastation caused by Covid-19 and the unprecedented global food security crisis.
As for the health security, he noted that his country provided, free of charge, 231 million doses of safe and effective vaccines against Covid-19 in Africa.
Even so, he said, President Biden has committed to investing at least USD 4 billion by 2025 to help African countries train and equip health professionals to meet the needs of citizens in their respective countries.
On the issue of food insecurity, he said that they provided more than USD 11 billion, in 2021, to fight global hunger and improve nutrition, much of that assistance destined for African countries, which were disproportionately affected by hunger.
He stated that the US is committed to fostering the energy transition to meet countries' needs with affordable energy sources.
He stated that this year's Summit allowed building new bridges and advancing in different priority areas, underlining everything they will do for African countries to be able to participate in all tables where there are debates on relevant issues.
He said the US is committed to expanding economic opportunities in Africa, standing ready to work with African partners to realize the promise of democracy. “We are largely committed to the future of Africa, a future shared with the United States, which is why this partnership is more important than ever”, he said.
