US-Africa Leaders Summit

Ahead of the 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit held on December 13-15, experts from across the Center for Global Development will offer recommendations to deliver on a more resilient, deeper, and mutually beneficial partnership between the United States and the nations of Africa. This blog series aims to re-examine US-Africa policy in service of two major aims:

  • Make good on past promises by scaling up investment and tackling persistent financing gaps. While the US has remained a strong ally of many African countries, resources have regularly fallen short of soaring rhetoric. As African policymakers face growing fiscal pressures, the United States must explore creative solutions to deliver much-needed financing through multilateral institutions and consider expanding its own bilateral toolkit.

  • Invest in a resilient, innovative future. Connections between Africa and the rest of the world have never been more salient. As African cities grow alongside the population of young people on the continent, the US must support African governments’ long-term investment goals to deploy innovative technologies and buttress human capital—particularly in areas where the US leads the world, from space technology to higher education, while avoiding restrictive policies that could hamper Africa’s economic growth.

The second Africa Leaders’ Summit presents an opportunity to consolidate existing US commitments and serve as a launchpad for the vision of a more equal partnership beyond aid, let us not miss the moment.

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More from the Series

Blog Post
How Does MCC Fit Into the New US Commitment to Africa? Interview with Alice Albright
December 14, 2022
As African and US Leaders meet in the Washington Summit this week, we decided to ask the leader of a key agency, with a long track record on the continent, how it is contributing to more effective and expanded US engagement. We asked Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) CEO Alice Albright a series...
Blog Post
Biden’s Visa Breakdown
December 12, 2022
America’s dysfunctional visa system threatens a White House Summit—and US national security.
Blog Post
Scaling DFC’s Debt-for-Climate Program in Africa
December 12, 2022
Debt and climate change are defining challenges for many countries in Africa. Governments across the continent are seeing their debt burdens mount—some to unsustainable levels—as they race to mobilize resources to adapt and respond to the increasingly severe climate crisis.
Blog Post
Health Should Remain a Priority in the US-Africa Relationship
December 12, 2022
In the past two decades, health has been the darling of the relationship between the United States and Africa. But there’s a risk now that impact is mistaken for success, with other priorities competing for resources and attention in US-Africa policy. The US-Africa Leaders Summit provides an excelle...
Blog Post
School Meals: A US-Africa Partnership to be Proud Of
December 09, 2022
With food prices escalating globally, there is an urgent need for renewed partnerships between the US and African governments to sustain school meal programs around the continent.
Blog Post
US-Africa Policy: Here’s Hoping for a Summit with Substance
December 08, 2022
It's important that the upcoming US-Africa Leaders Summit focuses on much more than aid and security. The Biden administration should say a lot about US financial flows to the region and how they will be improved, but summit commitments must go far beyond that.
Blog Post
Elevating the Childcare Agenda: What Could an Africa-US Partnership Look Like?
December 07, 2022
As leaders gather for the upcoming US-Africa Leaders Summit, fostering economic cooperation and development is at the top of the agenda. To achieve transformational advances towards this goal, tackling childcare must be a core issue of discussion