The US-Africa Leaders Summit opened on Tuesday with the kind of fanfare that had onlookers wondering whether the conference would be a triumph of showmanship over substance. But the delegates were pleasantly surprised as the U.S. has lagged behind China in terms of economic engagement on the continent through its regular Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), reports African Business Magazine.
In a headline speech, President Joe Biden said that “the United States is all in on Africa’s future”. Promising this support for the much skepticized African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), the U.S. President announced US$55 billion of funding for Africa up to 2025, in addition to private sector deals in clean energy support and mining, it is said.
According to African Business Magazine, a number of concrete achievements emerged from the bilateral meetings between African heads of state, development finance institutions, and the US Departments of State and Commerce. US government and private sector investment deals to a festive sleigh of new funding initiatives are expected to flow to eligible African countries.
