Daily Times

When Barack Obama welcomed African leaders to Washington in 2014, many viewed the summit as historic, not just due to the US president’s background but for the pledges to make the partnership deeper and such events routine. The sequel took eight years — the equivalent of two presidential terms — but on Tuesday, Joe Biden will host a second US-Africa summit. Since 2014, China — viewed by Washington as its main long-term challenger — has consistently outpaced the United States as the largest investor in Africa and Russia has increasingly flexed its muscle, sending mercenaries to hotspots and trying to rally opinion to blunt Western pressure over Ukraine. Biden’s three-day summit will feature announcements of new US investment and highlight food security — worsened by the invasion of Ukraine — but, unlike China, also focus on values such as democracy and good governance, as well as fighting climate change.