NEW YORK, August 4 (RIA Novosti) – Washington is gradually realizing the growing importance of Africa as US trade partner, the head of Chatham House Africa program Alex Vines told RIA Novosti.
“Washington is gradually waking up to the reality that Africa is not just about humanitarianism and counter terrorism but an increasingly exciting trade and investment opportunity for corporate America,” Vines said.
A British think tank expert added that this week’s US-Africa Leaders Summit will help Washington “catch up” on trade with a continent that has some of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
“This US-Africa Leaders summit is primarily aimed to highlight the business opportunities for US business and help the US catch up as market share is comparatively low,” Vines noted.
The summit will see nearly 50 African heads of state and government converge in Washington for talks on development and trade on a resource-rich continent that has become a destination for much European and Chinese investment.
European Union trade volumes with Africa reached $200 billion in 2013. China’s rocketed from $10 billion in 2000 to more than $170 billion in 2013. In recent years, US-Africa trade has dropped to about $60 billion.
The US-based pressure group Human Rights Watch warned against red-carpet welcomes for the repressive leaders of Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, Swaziland and other abusive African countries.
According to the group’s Africa director Daniel Bekele,“the Leaders Summit seems to have dispatched Africa’s serious human rights problems to a sideshow, but the summit’s development and security goals hinge on addressing repression, corruption, and the rule of law.”
