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THE inaugural United States-Africa summit which opened in Washington yesterday is yet another opportunity for the US to flex its muscles and counter China’s growing influence on the continent. Given President Barack Obama’s dismal record on the continent and Africa’s exasperation with his presidency despite his African roots — the summit, being attended by 50 African leaders, offers him an opportunity to redeem himself but he will come unstuck.
Six years into his presidency, President Obama has only visited Africa twice and has done precious little to endear himself to the majority of African countries. Under his administration, the US has pushed Africa to the fringes of its foreign policy and has seen China’s influence grow in leaps and bounds.
China’s trade with Africa rose to $200bn last year – largely made up of Beijing’s imports of oil and minerals, and export of electronics and textiles – more than double the US and far ahead of the European Union. Twenty years ago trade between China and Africa was just $6bn.
Trade between China and Zimbabwe grew to over $1,1 billion last year. Statistics indicate that business traffic between the two countries ballooned from $310 million in 2003 to $1,1 billion last year. Beijing’s influence has been greatly enhanced by the large numbers of Chinese now living and working in Africa, from factory managers to traders, and by big construction projects that have rapidly transformed parts of the continent.
The Forum on China-Africa Co-operation has seen China forge win-win partnerships with the majority of African countries. China’s foothold on Africa has been successful largely because Beijing’s relationship with the continent is based on mutual respect and a commitment to non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. While the US and its EU allies have sought to lecture Africa on such issues as human rights, good governance and democracy,
China has carved long-lasting friendships and has treated its trade partners as equals, earning the trust and confidence of African nations Zimbabwe included. Reports from the US say Washington is likely to announce nearly $1bn in business deals, increase funding for peacekeeping and commit billions of dollars to expanding food and power programmes in Africa during this week’s summit.
US officials said the summit, running under the theme “Investing in the Next Generation” hopes to showcase US interest in the continent through a series of government-private-partnership deals to boost trade and investment.
Administration officials have played down questions over whether the summit is in response to China’s growing presence in the continent. Instead, they say American interests go beyond Africa’s oil and minerals, areas on which some say China is focused. “You will see a series of announcements on agriculture and food, and power and energy,” Rajiv Shah, the administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), told the Reuters news agency.
“We will make big announcements that demonstrate these are big ambitions we can take on with our African partners and the private sector.”
But this might be a little too late. President Obama’s legacy in Africa is that of a black American leader with Kenyan roots but who did next to nothing to uplift the lives of people on the continent where his father was born.
He has paid scant interest to the needs of African countries despite the enormous clout he wields. He is largely viewed with a mixture of frustration and pride but his critics have pointed to his propensity to pander to the whims of white capital and pushing the interests of the US at all costs.
Some African delegations attending this week’s summit are reportedly disgruntled before the meetings have even started because Obama has ruled out one-on-one talks with heads of state who wish to press interests not necessarily of concern to the wider continent. This might be viewed as rank arrogance and a sign that they are not worthy of such audience but are only good enough to be lectured to as a group.
The summit might be sullied by the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the US has clearly come out in support of Israel at the expense of close to 2,000 Palestinian deaths including women and children. President Mugabe — the incoming Sadc chairman — has condemned US and Western silence over the killings and African leaders attending the US-Africa summit could do well by condemning this hypocrisy on the part of their host.
Online Reporter