Latest news with #US-AfricaBusinessSummit
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump to host DRC-Rwanda peace deal — adviser
US President Donald Trump expects to host the heads of state of DR Congo and Rwanda in the 'coming weeks' to sign a peace agreement to end a decades-long conflict in eastern Congo, his senior Africa adviser said on Tuesday. The foreign ministers of both countries will also be in Washington on June 27 for a signing ceremony after the text of the agreement was agreed last week, said Massad Boulos. Boulos, who was speaking at the US-Africa Business Summit in Luanda, Angola, championed the prospect of lasting peace creating an environment where US businesses would be more willing to invest. He said conflict had hindered the Great Lakes region from unlocking the 'full potential of its people and natural resources.' The eastern Congo region in particular has many valuable resources, including rare minerals such as tantalum and tungsten. Access to those minerals has driven some of the conflict, which has displaced millions of people and killed thousands of others. The Trump administration has dangled the prospect of a minerals deal with Kinshasa as part of its push for peace in the region.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The contradictions of Trump's 'commercial diplomacy' in Africa
When I told the head of an Africa-focused startup that I was going to be in Luanda, Angola for the US-Africa Business Summit earlier this week, their quip was revealing: 'So the US still does business with Africa?' That tongue-in-cheek skepticism was absent from the nearly 3,000 people in attendance as a flurry of deals across the continent were announced. President Donald Trump's administration has been keen to champion commercial diplomacy and 'trade not aid' so his top Africa lieutenants Massad Boulos and outgoing Africa bureau chief, Troy Fitrell flitted around for deal photo ops and to champion the US private sector. Witney Schneidman, a board member of the Washington-based organizer, Corporate Council on Africa, said the high attendance suggested 'the new approach is well-timed.' But concerns remain. The chaotic shuttering of USAID by Trump and Elon Musk and the still unfolding humanitarian fallout in several African countries has unsettled many. There's also the likely end of the AGOA preferential trade policy, then there's the overwhelming focus on African citizens facing US visa restrictions. On the opening day, the new African Union Commission chair Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, slammed the Trump administration's visa and trade approach. Jackie Chimhamnzi, regional director for southern Africa at the Tony Blair Institute said: ' It remains to be seen if the US is incentivized to respond to this unified moment of candor by African leaders' A decades-long American investor in Africa, who spoke with me on condition of anonymity so he could be frank, said he largely believes the commercial approach is working so far, but he still sees Trump's attitude toward Africa as 'atrocious' and called the visa constraints 'absurd.' He added: 'Somebody, maybe Boulos, needs to tell him that this directly hurts US business.' When Beijing announced earlier this month in the central Chinese city of Changsha that it would remove all tariffs on exports from 53 of Africa's 54 countries, it handily won a global news cycle. Much of mainstream US media — and even longtime US-Africa watchers — were handwringing over China's growing influence in Africa, even as the US put up more trade barriers that essentially ended the 25-year old AGOA preferential trade pact. But a closer look at China's plan shows it wasn't actually as dramatic a policy change as the headlines suggested. China already allowed 33 low-income African counties to export tariff free. This announcement just meant all countries except eSwatini (because it recognizes Taiwan). It's not even a guarantee to happen, writes China Global South Project's Christian Geraurd Neema: 'The reality is more nuanced,' he says. 'China says it is 'ready' to act,' not that it has agreed to act, he argued. It's all subject to negotiations and a new economic partnership, he explained.
Eyewitness News
12 hours ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
US companies sign Africa deals in 'trade over aid'
LUANDA - US companies pledged investments in Africa ranging from power lines to digital infrastructure at a business summit that underscored Washington's push for growth through trade, not aid, US authorities said Thursday. The deals were agreed at the US-Africa Business Summit of African leaders and representatives of the US government and private sector that wrapped up in Luanda Wednesday, the US embassy in Angola said in a statement. Angola is the key US partner in one of its most ambitious projects on the continent focused on a railway line transporting critical minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to Angola's Atlantic Ocean port of Lobito from where they can be exported. It is seen as a US counterpoint to China's expanding economic influence in Africa. The Lobito Corridor -- also funded by the European Union and African multilateral institutions -- aims to set up logistics and agricultural production zones along the railway line through private investment. One of the deals from the meeting was for a US consortium to work with an Angolan group to construct and operate 22 grain silo terminals along the Lobito Corridor, the statement said. Another was a memorandum of understanding on the construction of a 1,150-kilometre (720-mile) electricity transmission line between Angola and the DRC, it said. Other planned collaborations included for boosting digital infrastructure and cybersecurity in Angola, to develop West Africa's first terminal for US-sourced LNG in Sierra Leone, and for a US stake in a hydropower project spanning Rwanda and the DRC. "The Trump administration views this moment as an opportunity to deepen our engagement across Africa's economic landscape," the president's senior advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, was quoted as telling the meeting. "We believe that business and trade, not aid, are the engines of long-term, sustainable growth," he said. Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has announced major cuts in US foreign aid including for projects in Africa.
TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
US envoy plays down Africa tariff, visa concerns, affirms Lobito commitment
The top US diplomat for Africa on Tuesday dismissed allegations of unfair US trade practices and said funding delays would not derail a key railway project connecting Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). AU officials on Monday questioned how Africa could deepen trade ties with the US under what they called 'abusive' tariff proposals and tightening visa conditions largely targeting travellers from Africa. 'There is no visitation ban,' ambassador Troy Fitrell said during a press conference at the US-Africa Business Summit in Luanda. He said US consulates continue issuing visas regularly, though some now come with shorter validity periods due to concerns over overstays. Several African business and political leaders have raised concerns about a sharp drop in visa approvals, particularly for travellers from West Africa, since late 2023. Washington's tariff plans have also added to cooling diplomatic ties with African countries, as some economies — including Lesotho and Madagascar — warned that even a baseline 10% levy could threaten critical exports such as apparel and minerals. But Fitrell said the proposed US import tariffs were not yet implemented and negotiations were ongoing to create a more reciprocal trading environment, including through the renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
