New U. S. Foreign Economic Policy towards African countries

New U. S. Foreign Economic Policy towards African countries

By Tiffany Smith

Budrigannews.com – In an effort to strengthen ties with a continent that has long been the focus of Chinese trade and investment, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Senegal, Zambia, and South Africa over the next two weeks.

Yellen, 76, is the first cabinet member to take a long trip to Africa. In December, President Joe Biden said the United States was “all in” on Africa’s future and announced more than $15 billion in bilateral trade and investment deals.

This is the 33rd consecutive year that Africa has been the destination of the Chinese foreign minister’s first overseas tour of the calendar year. Her trip comes as China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, continues a five-country tour of Africa.

This year, Yellen’s deputy Wally Adeyemo, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will also travel to Africa.

According to senior Treasury officials, Yellen will meet with officials from the public and private sectors in the three nations to talk about energy, food security, debt, and infrastructure investments. She will meet President Macky Sall, the head of the African Union, in Senegal.

According to administration officials, the new US strategy includes promising and delivering significant investment and trade partnerships in addition to humanitarian aid and security assistance.

A senior Treasury official told reporters, “We believe that Africa’s growth will be a key driver of global growth over the coming decades.” Jobs and opportunities for a growing middle class are created when American businesses invest in Africa, as are new markets and customers for American businesses.

The IMF predicts that sub-Saharan African economies will expand by 3.7% in 2023, exceeding global estimates of 2.7%. Between the years 2022 and 2050, it was estimated by the United Nations that many countries in sub-Saharan Africa would have doubled their population.

China’s trade with Africa is about four times that of the United States. Beijing has become an important creditor by providing loans at lower rates than Western lenders, often with vague terms and requirements for collateral. However, experts claim that Zambia and other African nations have become dissatisfied with Chinese lending and are seeking alternatives.

The Treasury official said, without giving any specifics, that the purpose of Yellen’s visit is to offer sustainable, high-quality investments that “don’t weigh down recipient countries with unsustainable debt burdens” and to strengthen the U.S. relationship with African nations.

Beijing, which is now the largest creditor in the world, has been criticized by Yellen for not acting quickly to restructure the debt of poor African nations. The Treasury official stated that the subject will be a significant issue when she visits Zambia.

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva of the International Monetary Fund will visit Zambia at the same time as Yellen, although IMF sources stated that the two trips were not scheduled to take place simultaneously.

A senior U.S. official told Reuters that Washington wants to give African leaders more sustainable options than China does, especially in areas like infrastructure, digital transformation, and climate change.

In order to give African nations a bigger seat at the table, Biden suggested in December that the African Union be included in the Group of 20 major economies. South Africa was the only African nation previously included.

During her time in Senegal, Yellen will meet with female business owners, give a speech at a business incubator, and go to Goree Island, which was a West African slave trading post. She will also be a part of the groundbreaking for a project to electrify rural areas, which will be led by Weldy Lamont, an American engineering firm, and will receive $100 million in financing from the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

She will pay a visit to a Mylan (NASDAQ:) distribution center in Zambia’s Lusaka. Labs, a company based in the United States that is assisting in the distribution of malaria treatments, and meeting with business leaders from the American Chamber of Commerce in Zambia.

She will highlight Treasury’s efforts to combat illegal wildlife trafficking in South Africa and pay a visit to a Ford Motor (NYSE:) More than 4,000 people are employed at the Co assembly plant outside of Pretoria, which is expected to achieve carbon neutrality by 2024.

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