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PRESIDENT Hage Geingob says African nations are independent states, not colonial territories.
This comes as there are talks that the United States (US)-Africa Leaders’ Summit, which was held in Washington DC this week, is a way for the US to emphasise its influence in Africa, following China and Russia over the last years.
“They must recognise us as sovereign states, not colonial territories any more, where someone can decide for us,” the president told the press on Wednesday.
Geingob made it clear that African countries have fought for their independence to be able to choose their partners.
“Therefore . . . we are meeting as sovereigns. We are meeting as friends. We are talking about what the US can do in Africa, and what Africa can offer the United States,” the president said.
According to Bloomberg, bilateral trade between China and Africa stands at U$254 billion, with African exports hitting a record U$106 billion.
The Africa Centre for Strategic Studies says Russia and Africa’s trade relationship was valued at U$20 billion in 2021, with exports mainly involving arms and grain to Africa.
Meanwhile, African trade with the US has been valued at U$18 billion since 2021.
At the summit the US announced deals including commitments through their International Development Finance Corporation totalling more than US$11 billion, as well as United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding of US$75 million for the Africa Conservation and Communities Tourism Fund.
Speaking at the summit on Wednesday, US president Joe Biden said America needs Africa to address the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, war and instability, economic challenges with a global impact, rising food prices, and the impacts of climate change.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that the US economy faces significant challenges due to surging inflation and slowing economic activity.
“Each of these crises has heightened the vital role African nations and people play to address global challenges,” Biden said.
He announced that the US is signing an agreement with the new African Continental Free Trade Area secretariat, one of the largest free trade areas in the world, with 1,3 billion people, and a continent-wide market totalling US$3,4 trillion.
Over the last few months, the European Union (EU) also pushed for deals in Africa to deal with its energy crisis and reduce demand for Russian gas by two thirds.
During the EU-African Union summit earlier this year, Tanzania’s president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, said tensions in Ukraine were generating growing interest in her country’s gas reserves.
‘LACK OF IDENTITY’
Political commentator Ndumba Kamwanyah believes African leaders lack identity and are defined by geopolitics.
“Various countries in Africa do not have strong, foundational values and beliefs to guide us in our interaction with the world,” he says.
This was demonstrated when 17 African countries abstained from voting at the United Nations (UN) to condemn Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, he says.
“They did not want to anger Russia . . .
Commentator Rui Tyitende says both China and the US have clear ideas and policies on how to deal with Africa.
“Africa has no ideas or programmes on how to deal with such powerful actors in the international system,” he says.
GEINGOB ON CONNECTIVITY
Geingob at the summit said government agencies are currently busy implementing the recommendations of the fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) task force he appointed “as far as feasible”.
“ . . . among others, the digital and energy infrastructure, skills, future of work, policy frameworks, a national 4IR and digital strategy, reducing digital trade barriers, cybersecurity, green data centres and open data, and a national Artificial Intelligence (AI) institute,” he said.
Geingob said the Covid-19 pandemic exposed Africa’s digital divide.
“[This] necessitated African governments to take a more targeted response to leveraging and intensifying public investments into soft and hard infrastructure to enable digital services, especially in the education sector,” he said.
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