US announces $14 bn in new investments at Africa summit

Yahoo – AFP, Paul Handley, 5 Aug 2014

A sign is seen promoting the US-Africa Leaders Summit is seen July 31, 2014

 outside the US Department of State (L) where President Obama will host African

Leaders August 4-6,2014 in Washington, DC (AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards)

Washington (AFP) - The United States heralded $14 billion worth of new investments in Africa Tuesday as Washington seeks to demonstrate it is ready to take a strong role in the continent's economic takeoff.

President Barack Obama is to announce the projects later in the day to some 45 African heads of state and government gathered in the US capital for a historic, three-day summit.

The first day of the meeting Monday saw US officials chiding their guests over democratic reform and civil rights.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks

 at the Resilience and Food Security in

Changing Climate Forum at the National

 Academy of Sciences as part of the first 

U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit on August 4,

2014 in Washington, DC (AFP Photo/

Pete Marovich)

But now Obama and titans of commerce and industry will try to convince their counterparts that America is as determined to take part in Africa's growth story as China or Europe.

"With a young, dynamic population and a burgeoning private sector, Africa is already a vital market for foreign investors. And that is why we are here today," US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told political and business leaders.

"We want to drive more US investment in Africa, increase trade between Africa and the United States, and spur job creation both here and in Africa."

Hundreds of US and African business chiefs are joining political leaders in forums Tuesday, including the top executives of General Electric, Coca-Cola and Walmart, as well as African billionaires such as Nigerian commodities king Aliko Dangote, telecoms tycoon Mo Ibrahim, and Ashish Thakkar, the young founder of the tech-focused Mara Group.

But outside of a few top companies, US businesses faced criticism that they are less knowledgeable and more afraid of risks on the continent than their European and Asian rivals.

The United States remains the largest source of investment but most of that has been in the oil and gas sector.

Meanwhile, China and Europe have built stronger positions in infrastructure, manufacturing and trade, with China's trade with Africa more than double that of the United States.

American companies "are still thinking about Africa as a decade ago... whereas things have really changed dramatically. Africa now has been growing at about 5.5 percent on average in the last decade," said Dangote, Africa's richest man whose fortune is estimated at more than $20 billion.

"There is a lot of perceived risk. People only talk about risk. But the majority of those who perceive risk don't know the story. They have not really been there."

'Time to do business is now'

US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said Washington would boost efforts to build commercial ties, with more government help on financing and more trade missions going both ways.

"The time to do business in Africa is no longer five years away. The time to do business is now."

Pritzker stressed that building trade and investments with Africa would be good for both sides, helping African countries develop and creating jobs in the United States.

"As Africa's middle class continues to expand, we hope to see our export numbers grow," she said.

The summit was partly overshadowed by the rapid spread of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa, with two infected Americans evacuated to the United States for treatment, and a first case appearing in Saudi Arabia.

As the World Health Organization said the toll had neared 900, the World Bank announced up to $200 million in emergency aid to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to help contain the outbreak.

Obama said it was time to transform the US relationship with Africa

to a more equal footing

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"The End of History"- Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

".. Africa

Let me tell you where else it's happening that you are unaware - that which is the beginning of the unity of the African states. Soon the continent will have what they never had before, and when that continent is healed and there is no AIDS and no major disease, they're going to want what you have. They're going to want houses and schools and an economy that works without corruption. They will be done with small-minded leaders who kill their populations for power in what has been called for generations "The History of Africa." Soon it will be the end of history in Africa, and a new continent will emerge.

Be aware that the strength may not come from the expected areas, for new leadership is brewing. There is so much land there and the population is so ready there, it will be one of the strongest economies on the planet within two generations plus 20 years. And it's going to happen because of a unifying idea put together by a few. These are the potentials of the planet, and the end of history as you know it.

In approximately 70 years, there will be a black man who leads this African continent into affluence and peace. He won't be a president, but rather a planner and a revolutionary economic thinker. He, and a strong woman with him, will implement the plan continent-wide. They will unite. This is the potential and this is the plan. Africa will arise out the ashes of centuries of disease and despair and create a viable economic force with workers who can create good products for the day. You think China is economically strong? China must do what it does, hobbled by the secrecy and bias of the old ways of its own history. As large as it is, it will have to eventually compete with Africa, a land of free thinkers and fast change. China will have a major competitor, one that doesn't have any cultural barriers to the advancement of the free Human spirit. …."

"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ … The next one: You're going to heal a continent. Watch for it. It begins. Watch for major shift in Africa. We have said this before, even within the meetings I spoke in what you call the United Nations. Africa has never even been a potential player in the economic field, because it has been sick. What happens when you heal a continent? I'm going to tell you. Suddenly, the people on that continent also want what you have - government that works, peace, their own homes, schools, hospitals, and even banks where they can borrow from. They don't have any of those now, not really. Everything with substance is from somewhere else. That means you're going to have a continent that's going to arise that will become a major player on the stage of Earth's finances and political influence - an entire continent with all the resources on it, with even the potential for unification of common purpose, much like what you have now in your EU. I'm giving you information, and when it happens, again, I say you'll remember where you heard it.

Many years ago, the prevailing thought was that nobody should consider China as a viable player on the economic stage. They were backward, filled with a system that would never be westernized, and had no wish to become joined with the rest of the world's economic systems. Look what has happened in only 30 years. Now, look at Africa differently.. ...”