Leaders meet for U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Botswana

Over 1,000 participants from the U.S. and across the African continent, including government officials, private sector executives, investors, and multilateral stakeholders, are meeting in Gaborone, capital city of Botswana at the United States-Africa Business Summit.

It kicked off yesterday to explore investment opportunities and strengthen business relationships between Africa and the U.S. The 15th U.S.-Africa Business Summit, hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) and the Government of Botswana, is themed ‘Enhancing Africa’s Value Chains.’

African Heads of Government at the summit are Mokgweetsi Masisi, President of Botswana; Filipe Nyusi, President of Mozambique; Hage Geingob, President of Namibia; Haikande Hichilema, President of Zambia; Samuel Matekane, Prime Minister of Lesotho; and Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Those on the U.S. delegation include: Scott Nathan, CEO, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC); Enoh Ebong, Director, U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA); Judd Devermont, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs; Travis Adkins, President and CEO, U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF); Johnnie Carson, Special Presidential Representative for U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit (USALS) Implementation; and Peter Hendrick Vrooman, U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique.

“Through this annual summit, CCA seeks to strengthen connections between U.S. and Africa and to mobilise action as we have done for 30 years. These collaborations are crucial to fostering a deeper understanding in government of private sector interests and needs and equally important to helping the private sector gain a deeper understanding of policies and expectations,” said Jeffrey Sturchio, Chairman of CCA.

In the past three years, the U.S. government has closed more than 900 deals valued at $22 billion across 47 African countries in trade and investment.

Nathan said: “At DFC, we are committed to using our tools including loans, political risk insurance, and importantly equity investments to partner with African companies to unleash the power of the private sector and promote African-driven prosperity. Access to capital is the lifeblood of business and economic growth. We are focused on mobilising capital for the private sector. Already DFC has the largest share of our portfolio more than U.S.$11 billion dedicated to investment on the continent.”

This summit comes six months after the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit by U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington D.C. where leaders committed to advancing trade, creating jobs, and fostering beneficial and sustainable relations.

“Since December we have committed another U.S.$110 million in financing to new projects in Africa. In recent weeks, DFC and our board of directors have approved more than U.S.$750 million in additional deals, in critical sectors such as infrastructure, energy, and support for small businesses.

“Already in countries ranging from Malawi to Nigeria to Senegal, DFC is investing to provide reliable access to power for communities that have never had it. From Ghana to South Africa to Kenya DFC is helping to expand data centers and critical 21st-century infrastructure and through DFC’s support for innovative partnerships thousands of smallholder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa are increasing their harvest and connecting to larger global markets,” Nathan added.

He further said since the USALS in December, the Biden-Harris administration has helped close 75 new deals between the United States and African countries for a total estimated value of $5.7 billion in two-way trade and investment.