U.S. pledges more support and investment at summit of African nations

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• Judy Woodruff:

  A three day summit that included the leaders of 49 nations on the African continent concluded today in Washington. It was the first such gathering in eight years and included pledges of significant new involvement by the United States. Here to update us is our White House correspondent, Laura Barrón-López. Hello. Laura, so this is being described as a major effort by the administration to reset, to improve relations with all of these countries. What can you tell us about the summit, about what the administration is trying to accomplish here?

• Laura Barrón-López:

  As you noted, Judy, this is the first summit in the last eight years, and President Biden in the past three days has really been focused on saying that the US is very committed to Africa, that it's a lasting relationship, and that they aren't going to just, you know, not be around in a number of years, that it isn't going to be sporadic. And he he and the White House have talked a lot about this, an aggressive, relentless diplomacy. And here's what he had to say to African leaders in Washington, D.C. today.

  JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: The United States is all in on Africa and all in with Africa. African voices, African leadership, African innovation all are critical to addressing the most pressing global challenges.

• Laura Barrón-López:

  What does all in on Africa mean duty all in on Africa for White House means a number of new priorities that they've laid out. And so out of this summit and the priorities out of this summit include a $55 billion investments over three years. Increased U.S.. Africa trade. And they also supported U.N. African Union reform to increase African representation. And what that last one means is essentially backing African membership to the G20, as well as giving Africa a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council. And I talked to a number of former state and NSC officials today, and they said that they all agreed that it was good for the administration and for the US to hold this summit, that that was that it was worthwhile in and of itself, but they felt as though it could just be a feel good moment for the United States. And they weren't very impressed with a number of the investments made. A senior NSC official, National Security Council official that I spoke to today disagreed with that, said that they feel as though the summit has been a really big success. And they argue that a number of the investments made are new investments, as well as stuff that they're going to be working with Congress to get approval on. And they also pointed to this new special representative, former ambassador Johnny Carson, who is going to be focused specifically on trying to carry out everything that comes out of this summit, implementing it then with Africa.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Trying to sound as if this is a serious thing for them. So we know, Laura, that this president, President Biden, often speaks about the global battle between democracies and autocracies. And yet the White House invited to this summit, a number of leaders who, you know, have to be considered autocrats accused of war crimes.

• Laura Barrón-López:

  That's right, Judy. The president, as you know, has consistently, essentially, since he ran for office, has talked about threats to democracy at home and abroad. And he talked about that again today as well, when he was addressing those African leaders. Here's what he said to them.

  JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: The work of democracy is never finished or never guaranteed. It's about consistent and constant self improvement. But that's why democracy is the best tool we have to address the wide range of challenges we all face. And that belief is shared by Africans and Americans alike.

• Laura Barrón-López:

  President Biden also said that that doesn't mean that the United States always gets it right. And a former Obama administration official today who focused on Africa policy when they were in the administration told me that they did feel as though democracy got a short shrift because of the fact that the US invited a number of countries that are known that have been accused of human rights violations. One of those is Ethiopia. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was here this week and in Ethiopia right now is seeing one of the most brutal conflicts across the world. Some 500,000 people have been killed and Ahmed has been accused by human rights advocates of widespread atrocities. There's also Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is an authoritarian leader and has led a massive crackdown on a lot of his critics. And I asked the administration about this today. I asked that senior NSC official that I spoke to why they decided to invite leaders from these countries. And they said, why not have conversations with people whose human rights records we are concerned about and talk to them about changes that they could potentially make? They also argued that these countries are currently in good standing with the African Union, and they said that if there were any of the meetings that were held with these countries across this three day summit, they said that they could guarantee that they raised issues about democracy and they talked to them about human rights violations and democracy.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Interesting. Because when they had the Latin America summit not long ago, they did not invite leaders who were considered autocrats. So we know, Laura, there's a country shadow looming over the summit. That would be China. They have invested a lot of money, just a lot on the African continent. What is the administration saying about how they hope to catch up?

• Laura Barrón-López:

  So on paper, I mean, it really is. Some of the administration officials have admitted that there is some catch up to play. China regularly holds summits with Africa about every three years. They invest in African trade about four times more than the United States, and they've distributed billions in infrastructure lending to Africa. And even though some administration officials admitted this week that it might look like the US is playing catch up, the senior NSC official I spoke to today really did say that there still is a record for the US to build on in their relationships with Africa and that they aren't that the US isn't necessarily trying to compete with other countries. They also stress that the President is really showing that he is going to follow up with everything that has come out of this three day summit, the investments that they've laid out, because he he said today the president did, that he is going to go to Africa next year, along with the first lady, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as a number of cabinet officials.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Well, we know we will be watching, as you said, eight years since they've had there's been a summit like this one in Washington. Laura Barron-Lopez, thank you. Thank you