Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham writes for Yale Global on the recent US-Africa Summit and the need for concrete policy measures to maintain momentum:
WASHINGTON: A new, confident Africa was on display at the first US-Africa Leaders Summit, the largest gathering of African heads of state and government convened ever by an American president. President Barack Obama, embattled on a plethora of foreign-policy fronts from Ukraine to Gaza to Iraq, can justifiably take pride in the positive outcomes, and he described the summit as “extraordinary” and a “success.” The new Africa was on display not only in formal diplomatic functions, but at nearly a hundred business, think tank, civil society, and cultural events held in conjunction with the historic rendezvous. Whether the newfound awareness of the fast-growing continent, of course, translates into lasting impact depends on concrete policy measures.