This article was published in the platform, Medium.com on Oct 3, 2022
Why President Biden’s White House Should Cancel The December 13–15, 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.
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 finance”.
Whoa !!! Just a few hours in a conference hall in Washington, DC to accomplish all of the above?
In the eight years since the summit was held, just look at the trajectory of all basic indices of development in African nations. The paucity of clean running water, reliable electricity supply, infrastructure, public safety, agriculture, viable healthcare systems, honest governance and conflict resolution etc. Progress in these critical areas is few and far between if at all.
In the past three years, there have been six coup d’etats in Africa. In Mali, Guinea, Chad, Sudan and twice so far this year in Burkino Fasso. And in March 2021, there was a failed coup attempt in Niger.
Should anything more be said about the unworthiness of these Summits?
CONTEMPORARY AFRICA’S DANCE WITH THE EAST
The India-Africa Forum Summit was started by former Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh in 2008. The third summit of the forum was held in New Delhi from October 29–30, 2015. Fifty-four sovereign African nations were represented, forty-one of them by their heads of State and their entourage.
The first Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) took place in Beijin, China in 2000. Since then, China’s footprint in Africa is gargantuan. “China’s Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa” is the title of Howard French’s 2014 book. It speaks volumes about the profundity of the negative consequences of leadership failure in Africa.
Despite the frequent flights unto the wings of “saviors” in search of the golden goose for development from outside her precious 1.3 billion African brains, Africa remains firmly planted at the basement of human development.
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN’S WHITE HOUSE
At some point, sooner or later, a new crop of African leaders will stop this demeaning and disgraceful packing of the bags of heads of States of an entire continent to meet with officials of a single country, no matter how powerful that country is.
Do the heads of States of other continents with multiple nations; South America, North America, Europe or Asia engage in this type of pathetic low expectation behavior?
Real friends of Africa who wish well the hundreds of millions in the continent trapped in grinding poverty should tell African leaders to get to work. They should be told to apply their bottoms to the chairs in their homeland and “Rescue Themselves” using that most precious gift of nature — their own brains.
The way to strengthen ties with Africa is not to encourage their leaders to spend tens, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars for a three day photo-up and shopping in Washington, DC. Money which they don’t really have and if at all they do, should be better spent on fixing the monumental deficits they face at home.
Also of note is the fact that these African heads of States and their entourage have just spent millions of dollars to attend the 77th session of United Nations General Assembly in New York City from September 13–27, 2022.
African leaders must be told emphatically to own the circumstances of their nations, own the solutions and commit their natural and human resources to change the miserable circumstances for the better FROM WITHIN.
Your feedback, positive or critical is welcome.
Sylvanus A. AYENI, M.D.
President & Founder, PACAW, Inc.
