The U.S.-Africa trade summit in December hosted by Vice President Joe Biden offers Black political and business leaders the chance to seize the occasion and forge new alliances between the United States and the continent.
In the midterm elections, black voters exercised their political influence in coalitions in states including Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, and New York, among others. Wes Moore and Antonio Brown were elected governor and attorney general of Maryland, a state with a 30 percent Black population. For Black Americans, this is undoubtedly a period of extraordinary political power.
The declaration of 2015–2024 as “The International Decade for the People of African Descent” by the United Nations General Assembly has added to the current situation. It is an effort to support post-slavery diasporic development, particularly the creation of fair trade patterns between Africa and Black America.
How can leaders leverage the momentum to transform their states into places where the Black community can thrive? One way is to strengthen ties with the 49 African nations that the Biden administration invited to the summit.
In order to improve access to electrical power, the administration pledged to spend at least $55 billion on the continent over the following three years. There are chances to collaborate on commercial and industrial endeavors that will benefit both parties.
Are Maryland’s political leaders—and those from other states—prepared to plan trade missions like the one Minnesota sponsored to Ghana and Cameroon last year?
Companies from 36 sub-Saharan nations have been given duty-free access to the American market for about 6,800 products under The African Growth and Opportunity Act of 2000 and other trade agreements. Cocoa, coffee, tea, fruit, nuts, shea butter, cotton, metals, machinery, spices, clothing, music and television discs, and other things are some of the top African exports.
Leaders should develop strategies to persuade state agency buying managers to purchase goods from favoured African enterprises and support importers’ cooperation with regulatory bodies. Additionally, if possible, they ought to persuade federal representatives to mandate that container ships from Africa discharge their cargo in the ports of Baltimore and Savannah, where workers are employed.
Participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area, which was established by the African Union and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is equally significant. The zone, if put into place during the summit in December, has the potential to increase growth, decrease poverty, and increase economic inclusion throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
The Biden administration should anticipate Black political and corporate leaders to seek inclusion; a seat at the table is a legitimate expectation from a president who vowed to have their backs.
The State Department’s gateway trade programs should be utilized by leaders right away. For instance, the Department will support a business trip to Ghana in west Africa in February. In order to develop projects in the renewable energy sector, the Partnership Opportunity Delegation intends to bring together corporate, financial, and technical professionals.
A different initiative called Power Africa helps the commercial sector, international aid agencies, and public funds produce more electricity. Nearly 165 million people in sub-Saharan Africa now have access to power because to Power Africa’s assistance since 2013. The Biden administration invested $193 million in the project and has plans to spend another $100 million by 2023.
Black state officials ought to encourage collaboration between for-profit, nonprofit, and investment firms and the Clean Technology Energy Network. The State Department wants to direct up to $350 million in projects that increase access to dependable power over the next five years. The creation of an electric vehicle battery chain in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in central Africa is yet another intriguing project.
Recognize that the U.S., China, the European Union, and other powers are vying for control of the mineral-rich region. According to the State Department, the DRC supplies 70% of the world’s cobalt, and Zambia is Africa’s second-largest cobalt producer and the world’s sixth-largest copper producer. A memorandum of intent for the electric battery project was signed at the December Africa meeting.
Black politicians need to push for the participation of their business and financial organizations in this lucrative enterprise.
Finally, Black state leaders ought to use President Biden’s meeting on Africa as a springboard for the reestablishment of trade links with the continent.
Insofar as they can continue the summit’s momentum, they will foster an environment where Black-owned businesses, investors, and consumers can thrive—and forge enduring business relationships with their counterparts in Africa.
Source: Daily Beast
