The US-Africa Leaders Summit; the good, the bad and the ugly

 The US-Africa Leaders Summit and the Importance of the Present

                                                                                       US President Joe Biden

More than 40 African heads of state, US and African corporate leaders, civil society leaders, journalists, and African Diaspora members will gather in Washington, D.C. in two weeks for the US Africa Leaders Summit (ALS). This is only the second time an American president has devoted political capital to hosting such a summit, with President Barack Obama hosting the first in 2014. Meanwhile, the rest of the world has been engaging Africa on a regular basis, from China to the European Union, France, India, the Gulf States, and Russia.

The Summit is supposed to give the United States meat on the bones. Last August, the Sub-Saharan Africa Strategy was unveiled, calling for reciprocity and engagement. Several significant initiatives are likely to be announced during the United States Africa Business Summit. The Biden administration should be commended.

The ALS occurs at a time of global fragility that is having a significant impact on Africa, including COVID-19's health and economic shocks, Russia's war in Ukraine, and some of the worst weather events in a decade. However, business is being conducted, and Africa is hoping for a more active United States.

Earlier this month, I traveled to Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, to participate in the Africa Investment Forum (AIF), which was formed by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) in 2018 to close the $170 billion infrastructure financing gap. Africa50, the Africa Finance Corporation, the Africa Export-Import Bank, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Trade and Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the Islamic Development Bank are among the other founding partners.

The "boardrooms," where heads of state serve as CEOs to finalize complex agreements, were the focal point of the three-day program. It is an African idea that brings together governments, banks, and the private sector to tear down investment hurdles that have plagued the continent, particularly risk perceptions.

This was the first in-person AIF since the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, so I thought it would be a good place to get a pulse ahead of the Biden Africa Summit from nearly 2,000 participants engaged in the high-stakes race to transform the continent's economic landscape ahead of a demographic explosion in which one in every four people will be African by 2050.

Here's what I learned.

First, Africans increasingly understand where they stand, believing that they have suffered as a result of placing too much trust in the West and Western institutions, from poor vaccine access and the devastating economic consequences of Russia's war in Ukraine to a global climate agreement that denies them access to vital energy agencies. Africans also believe they are bearing the cost of Europe's rebalancing of political power, with inflationary pressures causing unrest, while being forced to operate within the constraints of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative and the Common Framework for Debt Treatment. They are dismayed by the European Union's and the United States' failure to reallocate their International Monetary Fund Standard Drawing Rights.

In sum, Africans are demanding a seat at the table in institutions that were established when the majority of these fledgling states were colonial subjects. They believe that a new global framework with financial and debt restructuring mechanisms is required.

Second, there is a notable gap between African governments and their business sectors. You get the impression that African business leaders can see the future, which many are driving — from climate innovation to creative industries, healthcare, digitization, entrepreneurship, and trade — an almost infectious energy that is reflected in private discussions, board rooms, and captured in public programming.

This private sector energy contrasts sharply with the lethargy and inertia of many African governments and political leaders, both present and absent. The post-COVID19 surge in military coups, the presidential field of octogenarians in Nigeria, one of Africa's largest and most dynamic economies, and the crowning of a Central African ruler who is poised to extend his 43-year tenure are all signs of government malaise.

Third, all bets are on the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA) and the importance of the present. The AfCTA loomed large from the opening plenary, when Ghana's president, Nana Akufo-Addo, insisted that Africa must replicate the European Union's (EU) economic development and wealth creation model, where 75 percent of trade is within the EU, to the closing session, when deal commitments were announced.

AfCTA, which goes into effect on January 1, 2021, will be the world's largest single market, with a population of 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion. It spans more than 30 million square kilometers and connects 55 nations. It has the potential to alleviate extreme poverty for 30 million people.

Participants at the conference addressed openly how the lack of transparency, as well as the high cost of foreign exchange and bad impressions of doing business in Africa, are impeding the objectives of this free trade vision. There was a keen understanding that every early investment dollar counts, and that the goal is to de-risk the financing of Africa's infrastructure. Finally, there is optimism that cross-border standardization will become an irresistible force in modernizing African public institutions and freeing the continent's destiny.

Meanwhile, significant progress was being made in the "boardrooms," as the final obstacles to the Abidjan-Lagos Highway were overcome. This massive project will link 75 percent of West Africa's commercial operations across 15 countries. With a population of half a billion people, the Lagos-Abidjan corridor is expected to be the world's most densely populated zone.

So, two weeks before the Biden Africa Summit, where does this leave us?

In conclusion, with an African business community that is revolutionizing public-private partnerships while Western financial institutions largely remain on the sidelines; with African governments that are failing to keep pace with their people's changing expectations; and, finally, with a continent whose free trade agenda will increasingly shape its future, global economic prosperity, and prospects for limiting the climate crisis.