After a flurry of promises during a summit that sought to renew America’s standing in Africa, President Biden sent the continent’s leaders home on Thursday with a promise to return the visit — the first by a U.S. president to Africa since 2015 — although he declined to say when the trip would happen, or to which countries. Publicly, many of the nearly 50 leaders who made the trip to Washington praised Mr. Biden for the three-day event that included a commitment of $55 billion in American spending in Africa over three years, as well as dozens of business deals and initiatives in areas like technology, space, cybersecurity, food security, and the environment. As the summit closed on Thursday, Mr. Biden also underscored America’s more traditional priorities in Africa when he announced another $2 billion for emergency humanitarian aid on top of $11 billion in recent food security announcements. But behind the scenes, officials from several African countries, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid disparaging their American hosts, were less complimentary about the summit. Some said they had heard big American promises before, notably during the inaugural 2014 U.S.-Africa summit hosted by President Obama, that did not come to pass.

Source: Ethiopian News December 16, 2022 04:37 UTC