Biden Convenes Washington Summit With African Leaders |
At the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit that begins today in Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to unveil plans (AP) for his administration to spend $55 billion in Africa over the next three years and announce a multi-country trip to the continent (Axios). Representatives of forty-nine African nations and the African Union are taking part.
This summit, held for the first time since 2014, is meant to underscore the United States’ commitment to the continent as China deepens ties there. Washington has faced criticism for its relative lack of engagement with Africa in recent years. Trade between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa increased 22 percent last year, but U.S. foreign direct investment fell 5.3 percent. Ahead of the event, Biden announced his support for the African Union becoming a permanent member of the Group of Twenty (G20).
|
|
|
“African countries don’t want to be taken out for an ice cream,” CFR’s Michelle Gavin tells the New York Times. “They want debt relief. They want [compensation for climate] loss and damage. They want [an intellectual property waiver for medical technologies].”
“The Biden administration is thus approaching this second U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit with a trust deficit that it must overcome if it hopes to truly give life to a new era of ‘partnership,’” the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Mvemba Phezo Dizolele and Cameron Hudson write.
For the Africa in Transition blog, CFR’s Ebenezer Obadare writes that the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit should strive to deliver what ordinary Africans seek. |
|
|
Japan, Netherlands Reportedly Back U.S. Curbs on Chinese Chipmaking |
The countries agreed in principle to join Washington’s efforts to restrict exports of chipmaking equipment to China, unnamed sources told Bloomberg. Japan and the Netherlands are major suppliers of equipment used in Chinese chips.
On The President’s Inbox podcast, CFR’s Sebastian Mallaby discusses the likely consequences of the U.S. ban on chip exports to China.
New Zealand: The country established a minimum age for buying cigarettes that will rise annually and that effectively bans (The Guardian) anyone born after January 1, 2009, from ever buying them. |
|
|
Chinese, Indian Troops Clash at Border for First Time Since 2020 |
At least twenty soldiers from both sides suffered injuries (The Hindu) after fighting broke out along the countries’ disputed border.
Afghanistan/China: The self-declared Islamic State claimed responsibility (Al Jazeera) for an attack yesterday at a Kabul hotel popular with Chinese visitors. Taliban security forces killed three men who reportedly detonated bombs and opened fire at the hotel. Injuries were reported among hotel visitors, but none were killed.
|
|
|
Middle East and North Africa |
UNICEF: Nearly Four Thousand Children Killed in Yemen’s Civil War |
More than eleven thousand children have been killed or injured in the last eight years of the war, and at least sixty-two children have been killed (AFP) since a truce between the government and Houthi rebels collapsed on October 2, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said. This Backgrounder looks at the conflict in Yemen.
Iran: The country executed a second person (BBC) in relation to ongoing anti-government protests, the judiciary’s news agency said. The twenty-three-year-old man was publicly hanged after a court found him guilty of fatally stabbing two security force members. |
|
|
Ghana, IMF Reach Preliminary Bailout Deal |
The $3 billion agreement is part of Ghana’s plans to address ballooning debt (Africanews, AFP) and a collapse in the value of its currency. It still needs the approval of the executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
This Backgrounder looks at the IMF. |
|
|
Putin Cancels Annual News Conference for First Time in a Decade |
The conference is usually an opportunity (FT) for domestic and foreign journalists to question Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin did not provide a reason for the cancellation, which comes as it faces growing domestic criticism for the war in Ukraine. Brussels: Energy ministers from European Union countries are meeting in Brussels today (Reuters) to try to agree on a cap on natural gas prices. |
|
|
Chilean Politicians Seek to Revive Constitutional Rewrite Process |
|
|
Officials Prepare to Announce Breakthrough on Nuclear Research |
The Department of Energy is due to announce a breakthrough (NYT) today on using nuclear fusion in clean energy production and weapons maintenance. |
|
|
Council on Foreign Relations |
58 East 68th Street — New York, NY 10065 |
1777 F Street, NW — Washington, DC 20006 |
|
|
|
