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Trump to host five African leaders next week to discuss 'commercial opportunities'
US President Donald Trump will host leaders from five African nations in Washington next week to discuss 'commercial opportunities,' a White House official said on Wednesday.
Trump will host leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal for a discussion and lunch at the White House on July 9, the official said.
'President Trump believes that African countries offer incredible commercial opportunities which benefit both the American people and our African partners,' the official said, referring to the reasons why the meeting was arranged.
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Africa Intelligence and Semafor reported earlier that the Trump administration would hold a summit for the five countries in Washington from July 9-11.
The Trump administration has axed swaths of US foreign aid for Africa as part of a plan to curb spending it considers wasteful and not aligned with Trump's 'America First' policies. It says it wants to focus on trade and investment and to drive mutual prosperity.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was abandoning what he called a charity-based foreign aid model and will favor those nations that demonstrate 'both the ability and willingness to help themselves.'
US envoys in Africa will be rated on commercial deals struck, African Affairs senior bureau official Troy Fitrel said in May, describing it as the new strategy for support on the continent.
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Business Standard
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Mines, magnets and Mao: How China built its global rare earth dominance
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First Post
36 minutes ago
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Erdogan eyes Turkey's return to F-35 program under Trump deal
Washington removed Turkey out of the F-35 program in 2019 and placed penalties on Ankara a year later for purchasing a Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system, but with Trump's return to power, the two Nato allies look eager to resolve the conflict read more President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has voiced optimism that Turkey will be readmitted to the US F-35 project and obtain the stealth fighter fighters in accordance with 'an agreement' with US President Donald Trump. Washington removed Turkey out of the F-35 program in 2019 and placed penalties on Ankara a year later for purchasing a Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defence system, but with Trump's return to power, the two Nato allies look eager to resolve the conflict. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'I believe that Mr. Trump will remain loyal to the agreement we made. I think the F-35s will be delivered to Turkey step-by-step during his term,' Erdogan said while returning from Azerbaijan, the Anadolu state news agency reported Saturday. He gave no further details about the agreement but said the move was 'part of a geo-economic revolution.' 'The F-35 issue is not only a military technology issue for us, but also a strong partnership issue in international platforms such as Nato,' he added. The sanctions on Turkey's defence sector have soured ties between the two allies but last weekend, Washington's envoy to Ankara Tom Barrack said they were likely to be over 'by the year's end'. Trump and Erdogan would instruct their top diplomats to 'figure out the way and end it and Congress will support an intelligent solution', he told Anadolu on Sunday. In March, Erdogan spoke to Trump about the need to finalise a deal to let Turkey buy US F-16 fighter planes and be readmitted to the development programme for F-35 warplanes. And last month, he said he saw an end in sight to the sanctions, saying Turkey had seen them eased under Trump. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
