ON, Reuters
Posted Monday, August 4 2014 at 10:39
Posted Monday, August 4 2014 at 10:39
In Summary
- The United States will announce nearly $1 billion (about KShs88 billion) in business deals for Africa.
- An announcement by a large US beverage company is expected to boost purchases from farmers.
- US officials said the August 4-6 summit in Washington hopes to showcase their interest in the region.
The United States will announce nearly $1 billion
(about KShs88 billion) in business deals for Africa during a summit this
week, US and development officials say.
It will also increase funding for
peacekeeping and commit billions of dollars to expanding food and power
programmes in the continent.
US officials said the August 4-6
summit in Washington of nearly 50 African leaders hopes to showcase the
country’s interest in the fast-growing region through a series of
government-private partnership deals to boost trade and investment.
The spread of the deadly Ebola
virus in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone is also a reminder of the vast
development needs that persist in some of the region's poorest
countries, despite rapid their rapid economic growth and investment.
Administration officials have
played down questions over whether the summit is in response to China's
growing presence in the region. Instead, they have emphasized that
American interests go beyond Africa's oil and minerals, where China is
focused.
"You will see a series of
announcements on agriculture and food, and power and energy," Rajiv
Shah, the administrator of the US Agency for International Development
(USAID), told Reuters. "We will make big announcements that demonstrate
these are big ambitions we can take on with our African partners and the
private sector."
Shah said there will be new
support for Power Africa, a privately funded programme launched by
President Barack Obama last year to install 10,000 megawatts of new
generation capacity and connect 20 million new customers across Africa
by 2018.
The programme had already met
that goal after just one year, Shah said. "Next week we will announce a
more than doubling of our aspirations," he added.
Shah said while companies pledged
$7 billion (KShs612bn) to the programme last year, next week "there
will be several billions of dollars" in new investments. The World Bank
is also expected to make a major contribution toward the programme,
according to Bank officials.
The programme is also likely to
be expanded from the six nations —Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Liberia,
Nigeria and Tanzania — that currently benefit from Power Africa.
There will also be significant
increases in private sector support for US-backed food and agricultural
programmes in Africa, including the New Alliance for Food Security and
Nutrition, development officials said.
The programme was launched in
2012 to bring together African governments, the private sector and
donors to boost investment in agricultural production after a massive
2008/09 food price crisis, which sparked unrest in developing nations.
An announcement worth billions of
dollars by a large US beverage company is expected to boost purchases
from African farmers, according to a company official, who declined to
elaborate because details are still being worked on.
Several
African officials said General Electric would finalize investments in
some African countries during the summit in rail, health and power.
Donald Kaberuka, president of the African
Development Bank, said the summit represented a shift in the US-Africa
relationship from a focus on aid to investment and trade.
"There are still bits of aid
needed here or there but fundamentally the relationship is now defined
as one of trade, investment, growth and opportunities," Kaberuka told
Reuters in an interview.
"It responds to what Africans are looking for and responds to expectations of American business," he added.
The summit will include a
business conference on Tuesday bringing together African leaders and
American CEOs. US commerce officials said close to $1 billion in various
business deals will be announced, covering different sectors and
involving several African countries.
Trade ministers will spend a day
discussing ways to improve the US trade programme with Africa, known as
the African Growth Opportunity Act, or AGOA, which gives African
countries duty-free access to US markets. AGOA expires in September next
year and will need congressional approval for renewal.
In other funding increases, the
State Department is expected to announce a further $60 million
(KShs5.3bn) a year for peacekeeping training in six African countries.
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