What Will African Leaders Discuss at First-Ever White House Summit?

President Barack Obama will welcome more than 50 African leaders to Washington this week in an unprecedented effort to bring countries together and discuss the continent’s most critical issues.

“There has never been an event like this in the United States,” said David Shinn, former?U.S.?ambassador?to Ethiopia and to Burkina Faso and professorial lecturer at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs.

The four-day U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit is a chance to foster stronger ties among countries and ponder ways to improve Africa’s economic stability and governance systems. Amb. Shinn, an author and diplomat who has researched the region extensively, explained what will happen at the summit, how it could improve U.S. foreign relationships and why now is the time to talk about Africa.

Q: Can you tell us about the African countries that will be represented at the summit and describe some topics leaders plan to address?
A: Approximately 50 of Africa’s 54 countries have been invited to the summit, and nearly all the delegations will be led by a president or prime minister. The diversity is enormous: Some countries have a population of well under 1 million, such as the island states in the Indian and Atlantic oceans. Others—such as Nigeria, with about 170 million people, and South Africa, with 52 million people—have economies that are important on the global level.

Different countries bring different interests. The relationship between the leaders of these countries and the United States also varies significantly. Countries like Ghana, Tanzania and Liberia have close ties to the United States. Others, especially some of the small francophone countries, have ties with the United States that are, relatively speaking, less developed. Because of poor relations with the United States, several countries did not receive an invitation.?

The full program has been posted on the White House website. There is something for everyone, although the focus will be on trade, investment and an effort to move beyond aid. There are sessions dealing with the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, the role of women, health, food security, climate change, power production, peace and regional stability, and governance. In addition, there are many side meetings with members of the president’s cabinet and others organized by the private sector, non-governmental organizations and think tanks. One of the most important side events is the Young African Leaders Initiative that brought more than 500 young leaders to Washington just before the summit. They will remain for leadership training, academic coursework and mentoring.? ?

Q: A major goal of the summit is to foster stronger ties between the United States and Africa. What does the U.S.-Africa relationship look like currently??
A: Generally speaking, U.S. relations with Africa are good, but relations vary from one country to another. In the case of Sudan and Zimbabwe—two countries that were not invited—relations are poor. I doubt that the summit will have any impact on relations with those countries that were not invited.

The summit offers an opportunity for the president and senior American officials in Washington to listen to the views of African leaders, especially those who rarely visit Washington and/or do not often have access at a senior level. This may be where there can be the most progress in improving the relationship. The Obama administration was pretty much consumed in its first term with the domestic economic crisis, and the second term has so far witnessed more than the usual number of foreign policy crises in other parts of the world. This is the week to focus on Africa. Progress will depend on the role of the U.S. private sector and especially its willingness to increase investments in Africa. Washington also needs to hear frank comments from African leaders on key U.S. policies dealing with counterterrorism, security sector reform, democratization and human rights.

Q: What factors propelled the Obama administration to organize the summit?
A: Six years into his term in office, I think the president felt he had not done as much as he had hoped in Africa. The summit is an effort to change that situation—although one summit will not in itself be sufficient. Much will depend on the tangible results and future opportunities created by the summit and the perception of these results by the African leaders who attended. The summit opens the door for an important legacy by the Obama administration vis-à-vis Africa. But if the door does not remain wide open after the summit, it will just be a missed opportunity.?

Q: An important area that will be examined is economic opportunities and growth potential. What does Africa’s economy look like?
A: One of the reasons behind the summit is that the African market now represents more than 1 billion people of whom increasing numbers are moving into an African middle class. While it is difficult to generalize about 54 different countries, collectively they have had a recent GDP growth rate of about 5 percent. The World Bank projects African growth in 2014 at an impressive 4.7 percent. Only about 1 percent of American global trade is with Africa, and it is declining as the United States buys less oil as a result of increased domestic production. The percentage of U.S. trade with Africa is pathetic, and the percentage of U.S. investment is not much better.? ?

Part of the problem is that much of the U.S. private sector does not distinguish between those areas of Africa that are doing well and those that are highly troubled. There is the upsurge of fighting in Libya, religious conflict in the Central African Republic, Islamic extremist activity in northern Nigeria and Somalia and the outbreak of Ebola in three West African countries. These stories overwhelm the good news from countries such as Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mauritius, Cape Verde, Tanzania, Benin and more. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??