The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has left the country to lead Ghana’s delegation to the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit, at the invitation of US President, Joe Biden.
The Summit is expected to “demonstrate the United States’ enduring commitment to Africa and will underscore the importance of U.S.-Africa relations and increase cooperation on shared global priorities”.
The President was accompanied by the First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo; the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchey; the Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen; the Minister for Works and Housing, Hon. Francis Asenso Boakye, MP; the Environment, Science Technology and Innovation, Hon. Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, MP; and officials of the Presidency and Foreign Ministry.
President Akufo-Addo will return to Ghana on Saturday, 17th December 2022, and in his absence, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, shall, in accordance with Article 60(8) of the Constitution, act in his stead.
President Joe Biden at the summit, seeks to narrow the wide trust gap with Africa as he readies to host scores of African leaders in Washington this week. The summit will also include at least 60 leaders from African nations.
US-Africa Leaders’ Summit to complement COP27 outcomes
Egypt’s Ambassador to the United States, Motaz Zahran, has revealed that the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit is expected to complement the outcomes of the 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) Egypt hosted in November by strengthening international commitments towards developing countries on climate change.
Mr Zahran stated that the summit will strive to achieve a common vision for the future of relations between the United States and Africa. He noted that it will be held at a critical time when international developments are imposing remarkable challenges on the countries of the world.
The summit will demonstrate the enduring commitment of the United States to Africa and the willingness to advance cooperation on shared international priorities, build on shared values to promote better economic engagement and regional and global health, enhance food security, promote peace and security and respond to the climate crisis.
On Egypt’s role in Africa, he indicated that since 2014, Egypt has placed the African continent at the top of its priorities based on a firm conviction in its African identity and a belief in its long-standing ties with the continent.
Over the past years, Egypt has adopted a well-studied strategic framework to revitalise relations with African countries and the institutional frameworks of the African Union. This started with Egypt’s term as a member of the African Union Peace and Security Council between 2017 and 2019, which coincided with Egypt’s membership in the UN Security Council 2016-2017 and Egypt’s presidency of the African Union in 2019, he added.
Moreover, he noted that the past years have also witnessed an unprecedented escalation in the pace of bilateral visits by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to African countries in addition to receiving African leaders in Cairo.
Egypt has also sought to strengthen communication with strategic development partners in order to implement the development agenda of African countries through presidential participation in the G20 summit in Japan in 2019 and the G7 summit in France the same year, as well as through other international events.
Egypt hosted COP27 on behalf of the African countries to advocate for the interests of African and other developing countries.
The US-Africa Leaders’ Summit comes at a time when bilateral relations are witnessing momentum at the leadership level of the two countries, including intensified bilateral meetings between El-Sisi and US president Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, major road closures, checkpoints and fencing will be going up around the Washington Convention Center as security for the US-Africa summit that takes place today, December 12 through 15. D.C. Mayor, Muriel Bowser, requested the Secret Service designate the summit as a national special security event because of the large number of world leaders gathering in one place.
As part of the security, 8-foot, non-scalable fencing will go up around the convention center. The fencing is similar to what went up around the Supreme Court after the Roe v. Wade decision.
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