US says 'significant success' achieved at Africa leaders summit

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US demonstrated "significant success" in achieving its goals during a three-day summit with African leaders, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday.

"We made significant, tangible progress across every one of our priorities this week, building on the momentum that we've generated over the past two years," Blinken told reporters as the summit closed out in the nation's capital.

"America will not dictate Africa's choices. Neither should anyone else. The right to make these choices belongs to Africans, and Africans alone. But we will work relentlessly to expand their choices," he added.

Still, the top diplomat maintained that while he believes Washington achieved "significant success" in realizing its goals, "the ultimate judgment has to be in the days to come, the weeks to come, the months to come. Are we making good on what we said we would do?"

The comments come at the conclusion of a summit marked by the signing of a number of multilateral agreements on a range of areas, from space to food security, and the announcement that the Biden administration will invest, in partnership with Congress, at least $55 billion in Africa over the next three years.

President Joe Biden also announced that he would be making the first visit to sub-Saharan Africa by a sitting US president in nearly a decade. He did not, however, specify a date or the countries he will visit.

In all, 49 African leaders attended the summit, as well as the head of the African Union (AU). Biden on Thursday threw his support behind adding the AU to the G-20, the multilateral group of global powers that is focused on issues pertaining to the global economy.

The president also reiterated his announcement in September during the UN General Assembly in which he expressed “full support” for reforming the UN Security Council to include permanent representation for Africa.

“Africa belongs at the table in every room where global challenges are being discussed, and in every institution where discussions are taking place,” he said.