Why President Biden’s White House Should Cancel The December 13–15, 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.
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One of the most impactful African policy decisions President Biden’s administration can and should make is to cancel the December 13–15, 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.
Moving ahead with the Summit will:
a. Reveal a lack of understanding of the fundamental issues regarding failure of poverty alleviation by foreign benefactors in several failed States in Africa.
b. Clearly demonstrate failure of the Biden Administration to learn from the failure of the efforts of former Administrations who used a similar playbook.
c. Demonstrate indifference to the unrelenting pain, suffering and injustice imposed on the majority — the forlorn figures — in the continent by the oligarchs, dictators and kleptocrats.
d. Unwittingly preserve the participation of the United States in this carousel of fruitless “triangular” Africa head of States regular or periodic summits in Washington DC, Beijing and New Delhi.
Deja Vu
From August 4–6, 2014, during President Obama’s Administration, the US — Africa Summit took place in Washington, DC. Forty-five heads of African nations accompanied by scores of entourage participated in the Summit.
The August 4 “Signature events” included Investing in Women, Peace and Prosperity, Investing in Health, Investing in Africa’s Future, Resilience and Food Security in a Changing Climate and Combatting Wildlife Trafficking.
My goodness; what a mouthfull to chew on in one day, let alone digest, comprehend, conceptualize and then activate — a tall order indeed even for the truly committed.
Apart from improvement in women participation in politics and public service in several nations in Africa, (And it would be awfully hard for the Summit to claim credit for this trend) no fruits have sprouted from the other items in the “Signature Events”.
The August 6 sessions included one that was “focussed on how to enhance governance in order to deliver services to citizens, attract and prepare for increased domestic and foreign direct investment, manage transnational threats and stem the flow of illicit…
