- US President Joe Biden will host at least 50 African countries in Washington in December.
- The African leaders will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ethiopia a few months prior to that.
- US Vice-President Kamala Harris says the Africa-US Leaders Summit will be based on mutual respect and shared interests.
After the 27 February UN General Assembly vote on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which tested Africa's political and military alliances, US President Joe Biden will in December meet some of the African leaders, who chose to abstain from voting, in person.
Seventeen of the 54 African countries chose to sit on the fence, eight abstained and only Eritrea openly sided with Russia in what the US calls Putin's war on Ukraine.
With a clear indication the US is competing for Africa's attention while Russia and China are also pushing their separate interests, Biden will seek to mend fences, strengthen and hopefully make new friends when he hosts about 50 African leaders in Washington at the US-Africa Leaders Summit, which will be held from 13 to 15 December.
In a video message, US Vice-President Kamala Harris said the meeting with African leaders would seek to "demonstrate America's commitment to our African partners".
In 2020, according to US government data, America, through its aid arm USAID, provided $8.5 billion of assistance to 47 countries and eight regional programmes in sub-Saharan Africa.
This is about 32% of America's aid budget.
On the other hand, the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University said Africa had been lending an ear to China, from 2000 to 2020, and Chinese financiers had signed 1 188 loan commitments worth $160 billion with 49 African governments.
Then there is Russia, whose presence in Africa, according to a chapter in the book Russia and Africa: Expanding Influence and Instability by the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, is a low-cost but highly profitable operation.
"Africa - with its weak governments, abundant natural resources, colonial legacies, proximity to Europe and 54 votes at the United Nations General Assembly - provides Russia with an easy and attractive theatre where it can advance its interests with limited financial or political costs," the book said.
The US is fully aware of this predicament, and as such, Harris is sensitive to what lies ahead.
"… and it [the summit] will be based on principles of mutual respect and shared interests, values, and a critical part of this summit would be to bolster our economic relationship," she said.
The summit will be held a few months after Russia hosts its own version, the Russia-Africa Summit, which is scheduled for October and November 2022.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has held physical meetings with top African Union (AU) officials to discuss the food crisis caused by the war.
To extend a somewhat humble hand, the Russia-Africa Summit will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the AU is headquartered.
America's concerns in Africa, compared to those of Russia and China, differ in that China does not directly seek to influence government politics, while Russia preys on the interests of dictators and corrupt governments.
Without hiding his main agenda, Biden, in his statement about the upcoming summit, said he intended to "reinforce the US-Africa commitment to democracy and human rights", and "I look forward to working with African governments, civil society".
Countries such as Zimbabwe are calling for the removal of sanctions imposed on them for human rights violations and flouting democratic principles, while they might not be invited, will have some of their allies from southern Africa at the summit lobbying for them on the sidelines.
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.