Event Recap

On February 16, the Africa Center hosted Special Assistant to the US President and National Security Council Senior Director for African Affairs, Judd Devermont, for a conversation on the next steps in US-Africa relations. After years of stagnation, the Biden administration made significant promises to the continent at the US-Africa Leaders Summit in December. It seems to be making a concerted effort to engage the continent with a new strategy towards Sub-Saharan Africa, which includes new commitments for engagement in the coming year, support for the African Union to join the Group of 20 (G20), and backing for reforming the Bretton Woods Institutions.

Recent trips to Africa by US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and the US Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and promised upcoming trips by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Vice President Kamala Harris, and President Biden, help demonstrate that the US is serious about its commitments. The political context within the African Union is also changing since December with the election of the Chair, President Assoumani of Comoros, at the 36th AU summit in February.

At the event – his first public appearance following his new appointment and the summit in December – Devermont took the opportunity to point to signs of progress on the Biden administration’s commitments from the summit; he also laid out broader US objectives for engagement with the continent. The discussion was moderated by Africa Center Senior Director Amb. Rama Yade, and included Africa Center Senior fellows Dr. Michael Shurkin, Abdoul Salam Bello, Jacqueline Muna Musiitwa, in addition to Eurasia Center Assistant Director Andrew D’Anieri.

Poverty and food insecurity

  • The United States pushed several key investment opportunities at the summit to help reduce poverty, explained Devermont, including “the health sector, particularly around health workers,” entrepreneurship, “economies and people,” and food security.
  • Devermont laid out dual challenges that the United States is addressing with the African Union. “The price of food right now is very high and it makes it very difficult for African to buy on the market as individual countries,” Devermont said. The second task concerns “long term sustainability,” including “general agricultural productivity” and “strengthening African supply chains and African transportation between countries” so “they will not be so vulnerable to external shocks,” he explained.

Climate

  • Devermont argued that when it comes to supporting a just energy transition, the United States needs to “look at climate technology, commercial relations, and urbanization and think of them as something that runs through everything” that the United States does, “just like development and defense and diplomacy.”
  • He explained how the challenges that Africa faces are crosscutting, pointing to the “fifth failing of the rains in the Horn of Africa” as an example of the ties between climate change, agriculture and food security. But there is a potential opportunity for the continent, he argued, when it comes to the “interesting experimentation by African countries around carbon climates. Gabon comes to mind.”

Geopolitical challenges: Russia and China

  • Devermont noted the concerning presence of the Wagner group in Africa, warning that members of the group “manipulate elites or [attempt] to sort of embed themselves in these countries and then expand their influence and control.” He added that “countries that do not have Wagner partnerships think that this is a terrible trend for the region. There’s no great evidence that they’re making impacts in terms of rolling back insecurity.”
  • “The vulnerability for Russia is that they have looked towards the [African] continent as a place…where they could get some votes or some support. And the reality is that [Russia is] unpopular in most of the places of the continent. They’re not seen as the kind of holistic partner that we are.”
  • In discussing the the rise of China as the continent’s leading trading partner, Devermont said that the US has not been outpaced. “I don’t think we’re too late. I don’t think we’ve left. I think we have an amazing, proud legacy of engagement on the continent,” he said. “We can point to advances in development, advances in nutrition, health outcomes, democracy, governance, [and] trade, that are the products of long, multi-decade investments on the continent across administrations.”
  • When the United States does have certain concerns about aspects of China’s activity, Devermont said that “we do what we should do with partners. We consult.” In these discussions, “we talk about our concerns about Chinese investment in certain sectors, particularly technology or in military installations.”

Rethinking partnerships

  • Devermont said that in the coming years, partnership will be the underlying tenet of the Biden administration’s new strategy with Africa. “If we are going to solve problems in the world, if we are going to come up with creative solutions, it is going to be with our African partners,” he said. “The Summit was just a kick off.”
  • On initiatives that affect the whole-of-continent vs. Sub-Saharan Africa, he stated that “all of Africa was at the summit,” in large part out of respect for the African Union’s preferences. “All of the [government departments] strive to make sure that for issues that cross the seams, that [they] address them fairly and equally,” he said, in reference to the future of the programs in discussion.

Alexandra Gorman is a young global professional at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center.

Event Preview

The Africa Center is honored to host Judd Devermont, special assistant to the president of the United States and senior director for African Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC), for a timely discussion on the Biden administration’s objectives and strategy for engagement with the African continent in 2023.

After years of stagnation in US-Africa relations, the Biden administration seems to be making a real concerted effort to engage the continent with a new strategy towards Sub-Saharan Africa, new commitments for engagement with the continent this year, support for the African Union to join the Group of 20 (G20), and backing for reforming Bretton Woods Institutions. What’s more, the administration made significant promises to the continent at last year’s US-Africa Leaders Summit. But has the country stepped up?

Recent trips to Africa by Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and the US Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and promised upcoming trips by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Vice President Kamala Harris, and President Biden, show that the US is striving to demonstrate that it has.

This push comes on the heels of several years of stagnation in US-Africa relations, which has allowed other geopolitical actors to make significant inroads on the continent. Several major African nations have remained silent on condemning or sanctioning the Kremlin and many are set to attend an upcoming Russia-Africa summit. Furthermore, with South Africa set to take on the Chairmanship of BRICS in 2023, the world is looking closely at its decision to host China and Russia for joint military exercises this month.

Join us on Thursday, February 16 at 2:30p.m. EST | 7:30p.m. GMT to hear how the US plans to follow up on the promises made during last year’s summit and how it will work in partnership with African nations to jointly tackle global issues.

Featuring

Judd Devermont
Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs
The White House and National Security Council (NSC)

Panelists

Abdoul Salam Bello
Senior Fellow
Africa Center, Atlantic Council

Andrew D’Anieri
Assistant Director
Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council

Jacqueline Muna Musiitwa
Fellow
Africa Center, Atlantic Council

Michael Shurkin
Senior Fellow
Africa Center, Atlantic Council

Moderator

Amb. Rama Yade
Senior Director
Africa Center, Atlantic Council

*Please stay tuned for the keynote speaker.

The Africa Center works to promote dynamic geopolitical partnerships with African states and to redirect US and European policy priorities toward strengthening security and bolstering economic growth and prosperity on the continent.

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