President Biden is hosting 50 leaders from Africa in Washington this week for a high-profile summit seeking to bolster future relations with the continent and counter Chinese and Russian influence.
It is the first time since 2014 the White House will host a summit with African leaders as the Biden administration seeks greater collaboration on trade, investments, elections and climate change.
The U.S.-Africa Summit comes while some African nations refuse to take a stance against Russia, amid concerns over global food security during the war in Ukraine and as part of Biden’s ongoing efforts to strengthen democracies abroad.
Experts believe Biden’s greatest challenge will be proving to African leaders that the U.S. can be a reliable, long-term partner for a fast-growing continent that has significant sway in the global economy and diplomatic community.
“They don’t see us as a long-term partner. They don’t see us as trusted. They see us as kind of unreliable. And this summit is the start of the effort to try to rewrite that narrative,” said Cameron Hudson, a senior associate in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Hudson noted Biden has not held many White House visits or meetings on the sidelines of the United Nations with African leaders compared to his predecessors. But the continent is home to key minerals for global supply chains, and its growing population means it will also provide an increasing percentage of the global workforce.
African nations make up roughly a quarter of the United Nations General Assembly, and many of those nations either abstained or broke from the U.S. earlier this year on a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The African leaders’ reaction to the war in Ukraine played a large role in the decision for the Biden administration to hold the summit, experts said.
“There’s a part of me that sort of feels that the American policy establishment is shaken by the African reaction to the Ukraine conflict. And this seems to be an overture. This seems to be born out of a realization that things aren’t what they used to be,” said Ebenezer Obadare, the Douglas Dillon senior fellow for Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.