Washington – The United States (US) President, Joe Biden, announced Thursday that his government will work with the Congress (parliament) in the next three years to get USD 55 billion to promote the Agenda 2063 priorities.
The Agenda 2063 is the Africa master plan to transform the continent into a global power of the future and to promote its involvement in an inclusive and sustainable way.
It is about a set of proposed initiatives and currently under implementation by the African Union (AU) adopted on 31 January of the year 2015, which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the 24th Ordinary Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the continental organisation.
According to the US Statesman, who was speaking at the US-Africa Heads of State Summit, this package represents his country´s comprehensive commitment to the African people, their infrastructure, agriculture, security and health systems.
Joe Biden expressed the interest of the United States in enhancing a strategic partnership with Africans in all fields, underlining that the US is committed to helping African states assess the financing they need for the sustainability of their economies.
In Joe Biden´s view, African people are indispensable to the promotion of a freer, more prosperous and secure world, that is the reason why decisive and joint action is urgently needed and due to that he announced that they are leading a global effort to bring about equitable agreements and offer debt relief for global credits.
Joe Biden informed that his government is requesting the Congress to provide a credit of USD 21 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with the objective to give necessary access to finance for low and middle income countries.
According to him, the US is willing to support development projects, in a resilient manner, to counter, above all, possible future global crises.
In another field, he reiterated that the United States fully supports the United Nations (UN) reforms, especially the intention to include African States in the organisation as permanent observers.
He declared that Africa must have a voice in all meetings where global challenges are discussed and in all the institutions where decisions are taken and also called on the African Union (AU) to join the G20 group as a permanent member.
In the North American statesman´s view, democracy is the best instrument available to states to face the enormous challenges, and the US will continue to work to combat democratic backsliding through its initiative in Africa.
In this regard, he announced that his government will work with Congress to invest USD 75 million to strengthen transparent and accountable governance, as well as facilitate voter registration and support constitutional reforms.
He also said that through a three-year pilot programme worth USD 100 million, the US Department of Defence will work with African partners to drive reforms and build or develop their security capabilities.
However, Joe Biden warned African leaders that the success of the entire strategy assessed under Agenda 2063 and the Washington Summit will not be achieved by communiqués alone, but by real action of the states.
Eager and willing to visit Africa, Joe Biden defended that they need to move their commitments from paper to practice so that they are reflected in people's lives and added that he expects to meet African leaders and also visit the countries.
In addition to the Heads of State Summit, which discussed strategic partnerships for Agenda 2063, the final day of the US-Africa Summit was marked by addressing two panels, "Multilateral Partnerships with Africa for Global Gathering" and "Promoting Food Security and Resilience of Food Systems."
In addition to the Heads of State Summit, which discussed strategic partnerships for Agenda 2063, the final day of the US-Africa Summit was marked by panel discussions, namely “Multilateral Partnerships with Africa for Global Gathering” and “Promoting Food Security and Food System Resilience.
The Washington Summit, an initiative of President Joe Biden, supported by the African Union, took place from 13 to 15 December, with the participation of more than 49 African leaders, including the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, and several businesspeople.
During the first two days, several events were held, most notably the Youth Forum and the Eximbank Annual Congress, which had more than 100 participants.
On Wednesday, the Business Forum took place, a meeting in which the President of Angola intervened in the panel related to the theme “Building a Sustainable Future: Partnerships to Finance African Infrastructure and Energy Transition”.
