Biden calls for principled African partnership with US

WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden called Wednesday for a long-term partnership with Africa rooted in good governance as US businesses unveiled billions of dollars led by tech investment for a continent where China has become a top player.

Addressing a summit that brought 49 African leaders to the Washington cold, Biden avoided uttering China’s name but made clear the United States would take a different approach.

At the first such gathering since Barack Obama invited African leaders in 2014, Biden said the United States sought “partnerships —not to create political obligation, to foster dependence, but to spur shared success and opportunity.”

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

The Biden administration is laying out more than $55 billion in support over the three-day summit and on Wednesday welcomed US and African businesses, which promised more than $15 billion in trade deals.

In an implicit contrast with China, which takes a hands-off approach in countries where it invests, Biden highlighted “the core values that unite our people -- all our people, especially young people: freedom, opportunity, transparency, good governance.”

Africa’s economic transition, he said, “depends on good government, healthy populations and reliable and affordable energy.”

Biden stayed uncharacteristically brief, saying leaders likely wanted to see the World Cup, and watched a semi-final with the prime minister of Morocco, the first African nation to advance so far in the football tournament.

Biden later invited the leaders to the White House to a dinner of sea bass and black-eyed peas and a performance by Gladys Knight.

In a toast, Biden spoke of the “unimaginable cruelty” of “my nation’s original sin” -- the enslavement of Africans -- and hailed the contributions of the diaspora.

“Our people lie at the heart of the deep and profound connection that forever binds Africa and the United States together,” Biden said. - Pushing tech investment China in the past decade has surpassed the United States on investing in Africa via highly visible infrastructure projects, often funded through loans that have totaled more than $120 billion since the start of the century.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday warned African leaders that both China and Russia were “destabilizing” the continent, saying Beijing’s mega-contracts lacked transparency.

Biden announced a $100 million aid package for clean energy and the White House unveiled another $800 million in public and private financing for digital development in Africa.