12 African Leaders Shortlisted To Attend US-AFRICA Summit

Organizers hope to bring more than 1,000 American and African private sector executives, international investors, senior government officials, and multilateral stakeholders. The aim will be to open up the African market to US Investors in the wake of recent Chinese resolute incursions.

Corporate Council on Africa, in conjunction with the government of Mozambique, will host the 12th US-Africa Business Summit this year in Maputo with at least 12 African presidents expected to grace the event. The event will take place from June 18 to 21.

Twelve African heads of state will be addressing the summit taking place at the Joaquim Chissano International Conference Centre.

Among them are Filipe Nyusi, President, Republic of Mozambique; King Mswati III, Kingdom of Eswatini; Paul Kagame, President, Republic of Rwanda; Hage Geingob, President, Republic of Namibia; Uhuru Kenyatta, President, Republic of Kenya; and José Mário Vaz, President, Republic of Guinea-Bissau.

Others are Peter Mutharika, President, Republic of Malawi; Peter Mutharika, President, Republic of Malawi; Edgar Lungu, President, Republic of Zambia; Mokgweetsi Masisi, President, Republic of Botswana; Emmerson Mnangagwa, President, Republic of Zimbabwe; Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President, Republic of Equatorial Guinea; and Ruhakana Rugunda, Prime Minister, Republic of Uganda.

Senior US government officials from key American agencies including the Department of Commerce, OPIC, Department of State, MCC, USAID, USTDA, EX-IM, and others will also be at the summit and will announce the latest developments in US-Africa.

Themed, “Advancing a Resilient and Sustainable Partnership”, the Corporate Council on Africa’s 2019 summit will engage key US and African government officials and decision makers to discuss their strategies, vision, and initiatives to facilitate increased business and investment.

In 2016, the African Business Forum, organized raised $ 9.1 billion in trade and investment transactions between the United States and African countries. By 2025, there will be about 1.52 billion people in Africa (2.4 billion by 2050) and a market of $ 5.6 trillion.

US President Donald Trump had signalled his intention to compete with China in terms of investment in infrastructure earmarking over $60b last year.

United States businesses and investors made more foreign direct investments (FDI) in Africa than counterparts any other country last year. These US entities increased the number of American FDI projects in Africa by 43% to 130 in 2017 nearly twice the next country, according to EY Global’s 2018 Africa Attractiveness report .

Many have however questioned why regional economic powerhouses on the continent such as Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt etc were exempted.

Header Image Credit: African Arguments