Foreign Policy quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on the upcoming Africa Summit in Washington:
J. Peter Pham, the director of the Africa Center for the Atlantic Council in Washington, says the White House still sees Africa through a decades-old framework in which it is viewed as an impoverished continent with country leaders traveling to Washington hat in hand rather than as nations with robust and growing economies. He said the administration’s focus on democracy and human rights also risks pushing African leaders into the waiting arms of China, which doesn’t let those issues impact its dealings on the continent.
“The bigger picture of course is that Africa has seven of the 10 fastest-growing economies of the world, and numerous other countries are engaging with them on a bilateral basis,” Pham said. “China has surpassed us as Africa’s biggest trading partner.”