With a wary eye on China, President Joe Biden, yesterday, announced an agreement aimed at bolstering trade ties between the United States and Africa after years wherein the continent took a back seat to other U.S. priorities.

“The United States is ‘all in’ on Africa’s future. When Africa succeeds, the United States succeeds. Quite frankly, the whole world succeeds as well,” Biden told African leaders attending a three-day Summit in Washington.

Biden’s remarks, and the summit, aim to show that the United States is a better partner for Africa than China, which has sought to expand its influence by funding infrastructure projects in Africa and elsewhere.

Chinese trade with Africa is about four times that of the United States, and Beijing has become an important creditor by offering loans with less stringent conditions than Western lenders.

Biden said a new U.S. agreement with the African Continental Free Trade Area will give American companies access to 1.3 billion people and a market valued at $3.4 trillion. He listed companies that had made deals at the Summit, including General Electric Co GE.N and Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O.

Delegations from 49 countries and the African Union, including 45 African national leaders, are attending the three-day Summit, which began on Tuesday, the first of its kind since 2014. It’s part of a renewed push to boost ties with a continent where U.S. interests have been challenged by China’s security ambitions and trade, investment and lending drives. By contrast, Beijing has held its own high-level meetings with Africa every three years for more than two decades.

Biden is expected to announce his support for the African Union joining the G20 group of the world’s largest economies as a permanent member during the Summit.
At several of the deals meeting held yesterday, as part of its long-term commitment to African leaders, U.S. companies announced more than $2 billion ($2.7 billion), led by technology deals.

Meanwhile, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and U.S. Eximbank on Wednesday solidified partnership by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost trade and investment in Africa.

The MoU was signed by representatives of the two Export-Import Banks at the ongoing U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington D.C.

Prof. Benedict O. Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Ms Reta Lewis, President, and Chair of the Board of Directors of U.S. Exim Bank signed the MoU on behalf of the two banks.

In his remarks at the event, Oramah said by signing the MoU, the two banks moved from intention to action and set the stage for the two institutions to serve as anchors for a renewed, vibrant U.S.-Africa trade and investment relations.

He said: “Specifically, our partnership will foster realisation of the aspirations of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, which among others, include forging new U.S.-Africa economic engagements.

“It will also focus on improving livelihoods through employment creation, strengthening health systems and infrastructure as well as assuring food security, promoting climate adaptation, and deepening support for the private sector, including the African diaspora in the U.S.,” he said.

He expressed optimism that through the renewed partnership, the two banks, together, would support trade and economic integration in Africa by helping to revive and strengthen African airlines.

“We will help revive and strengthen African airlines through re-fleeting and other technical supports and facilitate strategic investments in healthcare, power, and transportation infrastructure, including rail and road projects, as well as investments in renewable energy projects.

“Most of all, scaling support for industrial development across the continent, and we will also work together to support climate adaptation projects, including irrigation,” the president said.

In other deals sealed, Cisco and partner, Cybastion, said they would commit $858 million to bolster cybersecurity through 10 contracts across Africa, addressing a vulnerability that has held up online development.

The ABD Group said it would commit $500 million starting in Ivory Coast to adopt cloud technology through data centres that can work with major U.S. 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 opportunities,” he said.

Unlike China, which has had a hands-off policy towards countries where it invests, the U.S. has also emphasised democracy, with Biden planning to press leaders up for election next year to ensure free and fair polls.

Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, took part in the signing of a $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 U.S. 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.

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

He said: “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.”

Through Prosper Africa, the U.S. government plans to commit $170 million alongside five U.S. and African companies and investors to transform African supply chains and boost African exports to the U.S. by $1.4 billion

Gigaton also committed $100 million to support off-grid solar (OGS) energy in Africa to advance their transition to renewable energy resources.

The Clean Tech Energy Network announced it would invest $350 million in energy infrastructure deals in sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years.

Founder, Tony Elumelu Foundation and Group Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Dr. Tony Elumelu, speaking at the Summit yesterday said: “We need to look at our structure. We need to work together collectively to turn Africa into a manufacturing centre. Africa can do a lot more than it is doing today.

“I support young entrepreneurs across Africa, and through the work of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, I want to see these young entrepreneurs become multinationals.

“We need to change the stereotype. We need to change the mindset. We need to understand that Africa has opportunities… Let’s embrace Africa as we embrace other parts of the world.

“Africa can be the bread basket of the world. Africa can do a whole lot more for the world. What I see as opportunities in the continent in the area of trade and investment is huge. But for us to realise that, we need to do more in removing obstacles, as well as operating environmental issues. If we remove these two, we can make progress.”