Trump hosts African leaders to debate commerce, financial relations – SABC Information

United States President Donald Trump has hosted leaders of five west African nations at the White House that includes the presidents of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal.

The mini summit is expected to focus on deepening economic partnerships, including private sector investment and possibly enhanced security cooperation.

The meeting is also seen as part of efforts to counter Chinese and Russian influence in the region.

Trump told his five guests that while his administration was focused on peace in Africa, including a newly penned peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, his administration was also focused on economic development that would benefit both the US and their African partners.

DRC, Rwanda sign US-brokered peace deal: 

Trump indicated that issues of immigration would also be on the agenda as he lauded the “great economic potential in Africa”.

“This will be far more effective and sustainable and beneficial than anything else that we can be doing together. I’m eager to work with each of you on your vital issues and also to discuss security. We’ve encouraged our staff at the White House to work with these nations – there is tremendous wealth and potential there. We encourage the countries here today to make greater investments in defence. Hopefully, of course, buying our equipment because we have the best defence equipment – I guess we proved that two weeks ago in Iran – but we make the best equipment, best military equipment anywhere in the world by far. There’s nobody close and keep pursuing the fight against terrorism, which is a big problem in Africa.”

Future economic relations

African leaders were then given the floor and touted the future economic relationship with the US.

“Mauritania is a great country in the sense of its strategic position. It is on the Atlantic Coast, which makes it a neighbour to the US. It is what North America and Sub-Saharan Africa or what links the two. That is its strategic position, but also in terms of resources.”

Gabon’s President Brice Oligui Nguema said; “The other heads of state who are here with me, represent countries that are at peace. And that has been the case for some time when we also have raw material, materials, minerals, rare earths. We are not poor countries. We are rich countries when it comes to raw materials. But we need partners to support us and help us develop those resources with win-win partnerships.”

Senegal on peace efforts

Senegal’s President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, expressed his country’s support for efforts to bring peace to the continent including in Sudan, Libya and the Sahel region, arguing that doing business in the continent depended on it.

“I want to reassure all American investors about out country’s political stability and our favourable regulatory environment, which we are continuously improving upon in order to attract more investment. I wanted to speak about two projects that I think are an exceptional opportunity. I will speak about the US Ecological Survey, which can help assess the potential of the minerals in our country. And thanks to American companies, we’ve been able to discover oil and gas.”

A journalist later asked Trump if he planned to visit Africa, to which he agreed.

“We’re going to see what the schedule is but at some point, I’d like to do that very much.”

Questions on G20 Summit attendance, expanding AGOA 

Missing was an opportunity to confirm his attendance of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in South Africa in November.

Trump also asked if he was hoping to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) beyond September’s expiration, saying: “We’ll take a look at that”, but his unilateral tariffs on countries, including a 30% duty on all South African goods exported to the United States, seems to undercut that undertaking.

His trade representative Jamieson Greer then said it was up to Congress to take a first crack at AGOA including addressing a lot of tariff and non-tariff barriers in Africa.

Concerns over future of AGOA in South Africa: