December 15, 2022, 08:54 – Public News Service – OSN
AT America the second American-African summit is coming to an end, with the help of which Washington hoped to increase its influence on the Black Continent. However, Russia and China have already managed to do this before the Americans. About whether the United States has at least some chance of cooperation with Africa, they argued in RIA Novosti.
The agency’s columnist Renat Abdullin noted that the summit was the second such meeting between the American and African sides. US President Joe Biden wanted to resume the activities that Barack Obama had previously started. However, between the two presidents there were years of Donald Trump, during which all the progress was lost. At the same time, in 2019, Sochi hosted an unprecedented Russia-Africa summit. This laid a solid foundation between the heads of state.
The summer tour of the Russian Foreign Minister really worried Washington Sergei Lavrov for African countries. How warmly he was received there, once again showed America that Russia’s influence in Africa is still very strong. At the same time, the head of France and the face of the European Union, Emmanuel Macron, suddenly gathered on a visit to the same countries. He was received not at all as cordially as Lavrov, which again became a cause for concern in the West.
Washington decided to take control of the situation. Biden hosted 50 African heads of state, promising them huge privileges in exchange for cooperation. First of all, it was about membership in the G20, the inclusion of the African Union in the permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as assistance in securing a foothold in the Indo-Pacific region. So far, however, these are just empty promises.
Before, under Barack Obama, Africa-America relations flourished. For example, the ex-president offered to invest $20 billion in the electricity of the continent, and then added another $7 billion as an incentive. As a result, his promises really came true.
At the same time, we must remember the importance of Africa for the whole world. USA, China and Russia equally want to work closely with the Black Continent, but each superpower has its own methods of achieving goals. So Africa is likely to selectively use everything that the three most powerful states in the world offer.
It is not yet clear how they intend to “take” African countries in the United States, but Russia and China has enough advantages in this regard. Since the time of the USSR, the interaction of countries has been firmly tied to supplies, personnel level (significant positions in Africa are still occupied by Soviet graduates) and scientific and technological progress. China, in turn, is ready to cooperate closely in the field of mining and manufacturing, and also intends to create jobs for African citizens.
So far, nothing good is on the US side. The recent grain deal only confirms this. Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed that it is necessary to deliver grain to the countries in need, and not to Europe, but this never happened.
As a result, we can say that the US-Africa summit was doomed to fail in advance. Washington is not yet able to compete with Moscow and Beijing, because, unlike its opponents, its promises are not being implemented.
As the Public News Service previously reported, the United States does not intend to force countries Africa to support its course in Ukraine. This was stated by Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
