US-Africa Business Summit: African leaders call for renewal of trade deal with US
Over 1,000 participants from the United States and across the African continent, including government officials, private sector executives, investors, and multilateral stakeholders, have gathered for the 15th US-Africa Business Summit held in Botswana’s capital city of Gaborone to explore investment opportunities and strengthen business relationships between both sides.
The summit, held under the theme ‘Enhancing Africa’s Value Chains’ comes six months after the US- Africa Leaders Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden in Washington, DC, where leaders committed to advancing trade, creating jobs, and fostering beneficial and sustainable relations. “Through this annual summit, the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) seeks to strengthen connections between the US and Africa and to mobilize action as we have done for 30 years,” said Jeffrey L. Sturchio, Chairman of Corporate Council on Africa (CCA).
Sturchio also said constructive collaborations benefit both the Americans and Africans. As a result, in the past three years, the US Government has closed more than 900 deals valued at $22 billion across 47 African countries in trade and investment.
According to Scott Nathan, CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), “access to capital is the lifeblood of business and economic growth. We are focused on mobilizing capital for the private sector.” Nathan also noted that “DFC has the largest share of our portfolio, more than U.S.$11 billion dedicated to investment on the continent [and] since December we have committed another U.S.$110 million in financing to new projects in Africa.”
President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, on his part, has expressed his desire for the Biden administration to keep its promise to renew the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), due to expire in 2025, because this would send a strong signal and confidence to the markets and serve as the catalyst for Africa’s industrialization and inclusion to the global value chains.
