President Joe Biden will urge the leaders of six African nations facing elections in 2023 to ensure that balloting is free and fair.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden will urge the leaders of six African nations facing elections in 2023 to ensure that balloting is free and fair.
Biden will hold a private meeting at the White House on Wednesday with leaders from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Madagascar, and Sierra Leone to discuss elections and democracy in Africa, a National Security Council spokesperson said.
“I want to be clear that having a meeting about elections in 2023 is not about us raising the alarm bell or claiming we’ve got concerns and then solutions,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at a Monday press briefing. “It’s rather to say: There are important elections coming up, we would like to do everything we can to support those elections being free, fair and credible.”
Nigeria’s elections are threatened by a long-running Islamic insurgency in the northeast, bandit attacks in the northwest and growing separatist agitations in the southern part of the country. Liberia and Sierra Leone are still contending with fallout from past civil wars.
The meeting is being held during the three-day US-Africa Leaders Summit which has brought together delegations from nearly 50 African countries as well as the African Union. The Biden administration aiming to reassure African leaders the US is committed to working with them on trade and other issues, even as China and Russia deepen their economic and diplomatic ties to the continent.
Biden on Wednesday spoke at the US-Africa Business Forum, where he touted US efforts to strengthen democracy on the continent and vowed to work closely with African nations on a range of issues from climate, food security, and public health.
“Africa’s economic transition depends on good government, healthy populations and reliable and affordable energy,” Biden said. “The United States is committed to supporting every aspect, every aspect of Africa’s inclusive growth and creating the best possible environment for sustained commercial engagement between African companies and American companies. The United States is all in on Africa’s future.”
The US president stayed after his remarks to watch part of the World Cup Semi-Final match between Morocco and France before returning to the White House.
Earlier: Biden Welcomes Africa Leaders in Bid to Undo Image of US Neglect
As part of its commitment to the continent, the US over the next three year plans to invest $55 billion in Africa, targeted at the economic, security and health sectors, according Sullivan. White House officials declined to detail specifics of the investments ahead of the summit, but maintain it points to “real, genuine” long-term commitments.
Biden said the US is signing a memorandum of understanding with the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area. The Africa-wide trade pact would be the world’s biggest free-trade zone by area when it becomes fully operational by 2030.
Read more: Africa Heralds Onset of Free-Trade Pact After Years of Talks
The president also said the US would invest in infrastructure on the continent, citing what he called the first-ever regional transport compact from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which would invest $500 million to build and maintain roads and implement policies to reduce transportation costs. Biden said he expected the MCC to commit an additional $2.5 billion in Africa over the next three years.
And Biden hailed projects from US companies, including a collaboration between Microsoft Corp. and Viasat Inc. to bring internet access to 5 million Africans. Microsoft aims to bring access to 100 million people across the continent by the end of 2025. Cisco is working with the Biden administration to train 3 million more technology workers in Africa over the next 10 years.
Biden is also throwing his weight behind an effort by the African Union to join the Group of 20 as a permanent member, and for the continent to hold a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. The White House is tapping Johnnie Carson, an experienced diplomat focused on African relations, to implement actions emanating from the summit.
A centerpiece of the summit will be discussions on “Agenda 2063,” a blueprint designed to advance social and economic development independently written by the African Union that is a priority for those leaders. Talks over renewing and expanding the US African Growth and Opportunity Act, a law known as AGOA that allows expanded access to the US market, are also expected to take center stage.
Implementing the measures agreed to at the summit will be critical as the Biden administration seeks to combat perceptions the US has neglected the continent.
–With assistance from Justin Sink and Anthony Osae-Brown.
(Adds new details from Biden remarks in paragraphs 9-11)
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