(FreedomBeacon.com)- In mid-December, the Biden administration welcomed the leaders of nearly 50 African countries to a summit designed to “reset” Washington’s commitment to a region where China and Russia are also seeking to expand their influence.
In his opening remarks at the multi-day US-Africa Leaders Summit, President Biden declared, “When Africa succeeds, the United States succeeds” and “the whole world succeeds as well.”
The summit focused on issues the White House believes are critical to Africa’s future, including public health, food security, and (of course) climate change.
During his speech, Biden announced billions of dollars in new trade investments along with an initiative to help expand internet access in Africa. The president said that improving infrastructure in Africa “is essential to our vision of building a strong global economy.”
Biden also took a moment to apologize for the “unimaginable cruelty” caused by America’s “original sin” of slavery. He said the country remembers “the stolen men and women and children” brought here “in chains.”
“My national’s original sin was that period,” Biden said.
Later in the summit, Biden unveiled plans to travel to the continent and appoint a new special representative for implementing the summit’s commitments.
During the summit, a reporter asked Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame about the last US-Africa summit held in 2014 during the Obama presidency.
Kagame joked that at least it was a “good meeting” but suggested that the United States didn’t live up to his expectations after the 2014 summit.
Many of the African leaders in attendance declined to choose between the United States and China.
President Kagame said African nations shouldn’t be “bullied” into “choosing between the US or China.”
Taye Atske Selassie Amde, Ethiopia’s ambassador to the United Nations told reporters that both China and the US “have different levels of relations with African countries” making them “equally important” to African development.
