Happening now ! Biden excludes Mali, Burkina Faso, and others from the US-Africa meeting.

 Biden excludes Mali, Burkina Faso, and others from the US-Africa meeting.

                                                                             Joe Biden US President

Mali, Burkina Faso, Sudan, and Guinea have been excluded from attending the US-Africa Leaders Summit, which is scheduled for December 13-15, 2022.

The White House National Security Council announced this, adding that the African Union (AU) has suspended the four African countries due to coups d'etat perpetrated.

"Currently four nations - Burkina Faso, Guinea, Sudan, and Mali - are suspended by the AU and were not invited," a US official stated.

"President Biden invited all Sub-Saharan and North African States that have not been suspended by the African Union states that the US Government recognizes, and those with which we exchange ambassadors," he added.

According to Today News Africa, while Zimbabwe has been invited for the first time, its president would be unable to attend due to travel constraints.

The United States will host 49 African heads of state and the African Union envoy for a three-day conference in Washington.

This is the second such meeting organized by Biden's administration, with the first taking place around the same time last year.

The meeting will benefit from the fact that the Russia-Africa version will not be held because Russia is at war with Ukraine.

In their approach to Africa, the United States and Russia see each other as competitors, and the conflict in Ukraine has given the former the upper hand.

The deputy assistant secretary of the US Department of State's Bureau of African Affairs, Robert Scott, and Dana Banks, special assistant to the president and National Security Council senior advisor for the US-Africa Leaders Meeting, spoke to a group of African journalists about the impending summit.

"The conference exemplifies the US approach for Sub-Saharan Africa, which really emphasizes the region's crucial relevance in solving this era's defining issues," Banks added.

"Africa's voting patterns on the situation in Ukraine at the UN General Assembly were an indicator of the continent's interests," she added.

"Africa is a crucial geopolitical player, shaping our present and shaping our future."

"We do have intentions to include members of their civil societies and communities in the discourse and conversation in the civil society forum, as well as possibly in some other engagements," Banks added.

On the first day, there will be a series of forums, including an African and Diaspora Young Leaders forum, a civil society forum, and a peace, security, and governance conference, according to Scott.

"There will be conversations on both climate and health," Scott said.