Biden announces US support for African Union joining G-20, $3.4b in food assistance

WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden has announced he would support the African Union joining the Group of 20 (G-20) major economies as a permanent member, part of Washington’s efforts to reinvigorate ties with a region that has taken a back seat to other priorities in recent years.

Mr Biden told a US-Africa leaders summit event on Thursday that Washington is looking to increase collaboration in all areas, including billions of dollars in additional food assistance.

“Africa belongs to the table in every room – in every room where global challenges are being discussed and in every institution where discussions are taking place,” he said.

“It’s been a long time in coming, but it’s gonna come.”

South Africa is now the only G-20 member from Africa. The African Union is made up of 55 member states.

African leaders from 49 countries and the union have gathered this week in Washington

for a three-day summit that began on Tuesday, with the focus on climate change, food security, trade partnerships and other issues.

Mr Biden’s remarks, and the summit, aim to position the United States as

a partner to African countries amid competition with China,

which has sought to expand its influence there by funding infrastructure projects on the continent and elsewhere.

Chinese trade with Africa is about four times that of the US, and Beijing has become an important creditor by offering cheaper loans – often with opaque terms and collateral requirements – than Western lenders.

Mr Biden also announced billions of dollars in additional humanitarian assistance to address acute food insecurity in Africa, which is facing a bigger and more complex food crisis than before.

Food aid

The US pledged an additional US$2.5 billion (S$3.4 billion) in emergency assistance and medium- to long-term food security assistance for resilient African food systems and supply markets, the White House said.

“We’re facing a global food crisis, and nowhere is it felt more keenly than on the African continent,” Mr Biden said on the last day of the three-day summit in Washington with African leaders from 49 countries and the African Union.

“Today, famine once more stalks the Horn of Africa. High food prices and high trade barriers are taking a toll on the lives and livelihoods of millions of people across the continent.”

Food insecurity has worsened in much of Africa in recent years, driven by protracted armed conflicts and the impacts of climate change, which has led to prolonged droughts in some areas and crop-destroying floods in others.

The short-term goals for the partnership included identifying means for Africa to secure more diverse and resilient sources of grain and fertiliser supply to meet its immediate needs, and providing humanitarian assistance.

Seat at the table

Adding the African Union to the G-20 will give one of the fastest-growing regions of the world a bigger voice in the body.

The G-20 has set up a common framework for helping heavily indebted poor countries restructure their debt – much of which is held by China – but that process has moved at a glacial pace.

Having a seat at the table could help advance the interests of some African nations, many of which are not now eligible for debt treatments under the G-20 plan.

It will also give them a bigger say in key issues such as the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change, amid mounting frustration that rich countries are not taking enough responsibility for years of rampant fossil fuel usage that contributed to global warming.

Mr Mark Sobel, a former US Treasury and International Monetary Fund official now affiliated with the OMFIF financial policy think-tank, welcomed Mr Biden’s move.

“This will further heighten the world’s focus and attention on Africa and the need to recognise the opportunities that the continent provides as well as the challenges, including promoting growth and tackling poverty and debt,” he said.

Mr Biden said on Thursday he was eager to visit the African continent.

The Biden administration has been criticised as being inattentive to Africa, echoing a common complaint about US foreign policy but one that has rung louder since China deepened its political and economic roots there.

But Mr Biden has struck a different tone from former president Donald Trump, who disparaged some African nations and barred travel from six of them.

The summit is the first of its kind since one in 2014 under former president Barack Obama. To kick it off, the Biden administration pledged US$55 billion for food security, climate change, trade partnerships and other issues.

Elections

The US also said it would provide more than US$165 million to support elections and good governance in Africa in 2023, after Mr Biden met African leaders facing elections soon.

Mr Biden met on Wednesday with leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria and Sierra Leone to discuss upcoming elections in the countries next year, the White House said in a statement.

The leaders, who met on the sidelines of the summit, discussed the challenges of holding elections, including foreign interference and political violence, the White House said, and reaffirmed their commitment to hold “free, fair and transparent elections”.

“The elections in Africa in 2023 will be consequential. While the United States does not support any specific candidate or party, the United States is committed to supporting electoral processes to deepen democracy in Africa,” the White House said.

Mr Biden’s meeting comes as the US has grown increasingly concerned about the state of democracy in nations in Africa, following a series of coups and concerns over some elections.

Military juntas have snatched power in Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso since 2020, raising concerns about a return to West Africa’s post-colonial reputation as a “coup belt”.

In November, the US said it had “serious doubts about the credibility of the announced results” in elections in Equatorial Guinea last month and called on authorities to work with all stakeholders to address allegations of voter fraud. REUTERS