WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced an agreement aimed at bolstering trade ties between the United States and Africa after years in which the continent took a back seat to other US priorities as China made inroads with investments and trade.

“The United States is ‘all in’ on Africa’s future,” Mr Biden told African leaders from 49 countries and the African Union at a three-day summit in Washington that began on Tuesday.

Mr Biden’s remarks, and the summit, aim to position the US as a partner to African countries amid competition with China, which has sought to expand its influence by funding infrastructure projects on the continent and elsewhere.

Some US officials have been reluctant to frame the gathering as a battle for influence. Mr Biden did not mention China in his remarks.

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 said a new agreement with the African Continental Free Trade Area will give American companies access to 1.3 billion people and a market valued at US$3.4 trillion (S$4.6 trillion). He listed companies that had made deals at the summit, including General Electric and Cisco Systems.

“When Africa succeeds, the United States succeeds. Quite frankly, the whole world succeeds as well,” the President said.

US and African firms reached more than US$15 billion in new commitments and deals at the summit.

The commitments cover sustainable energy, health systems, agribusiness, digital connectivity, infrastructure and finance, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday.

The US government has helped close more than 800 two-way trade and investment deals across 47 African countries for a total estimated value of over US$18 billion, and the US private sector has closed investment deals in the continent valued at US$8.6 billion since 2021, the White House said. 

Some of the initiatives emerging from the summit’s business forum include: At least US$170 million by Prosper Africa – the US government initiative to increase trade with the continent – to boost exports to the US by US$1 billion over the next five years, and mobilise another US$1 billion in US investment in Africa.

Cisco and partner Cybastion said they would commit US$858 million to bolster cyber security through 10 contracts across Africa, addressing a vulnerability that has held up online development.

During a White House dinner honouring African leaders and their spouses, Mr Biden addressed what he called America’s “original sin” – the enslavement of millions of people – and honoured their descendants and the broader African diaspora in the US.

“Our people lie at the heart of the deep and profound connection that forever binds Africa and the United States together,” he said. “We remember the stolen men and women and children who were brought to our shores in chains, subjected to unimaginable cruelty.”

Singer Gladys Knight later serenaded Mr Biden and the visiting leaders with a performance in the White House State Dining Room.

After his remarks at the summit, Mr Biden viewed part of the World Cup semi-final match between Morocco – the first African nation to reach the semi-finals – and France with Morocco’s Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, and other leaders attending the summit, the White House said. France won the match.

The summit is the first of its kind since one in 2014 under president Barack Obama, himself the son of an African father.

Mr Biden is also expected to offer US support for a greater role for the African Union, including a permanent berth in the Group of 20 club of major economies.

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday warned African leaders that both China and Russia were “destabilising” the continent; Beijing through mega-contracts that he said lack transparency.

The ABD Group said it would commit US$500 million starting in Ivory Coast to adopt cloud technology through data centres that can work with major US technology firms.

Technology leader Microsoft said it would employ satellites to bring Internet access to some 10 million people, half of them in Africa, hoping to bridge a digital divide that has held back the continent.

The project will prioritise Internet access in areas of Egypt, Senegal and Angola that have not had access to the Internet, often due to unreliable electricity.

Microsoft president Brad Smith said that the company has been impressed by its engineers in Nairobi and Lagos.

In Africa, “there is no shortage of talent, but there is a huge shortage of opportunity,” Mr Smith told AFP.

Mr Smith said he saw wide support in Africa for bringing Internet access, saying many governments have leapfrogged over their Western counterparts in ease of regulation as the continent did not have the same “extraordinary web of licensing regimes” in place from the past.

Unlike China, which has had a hands-off policy towards countries where it invests, the US has also emphasised democracy. Mr Biden met leaders from Gabon, Liberia and others facing 2023 elections, for a discussion on elections and democratic principles.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken took part in the signing of a US$504 million compact with Benin and Niger under the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which funds projects in countries that meet key standards on good governance.

The deal aims to connect Benin’s port of Cotonou with landlocked Niger’s capital Niamey, with the US estimating benefits to 1.6 million people.

“For a long time we’ve considered this to be our natural port,” Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum said.

He hailed the partnership with the US and promised “institutional reforms” to support trade.

In a veiled allusion to China, Mr Blinken said that the deal will not “saddle governments with debt”.

“Projects will bear the hallmarks of America’s partnership. They’ll be transparent. There’ll be high quality. They’ll be accountable to the people that they mean to serve,” Mr Blinken said. AFP, BLOOMBERG, REUTERS