The Foreign Service Journal, September 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2022 33 FOCUS ON ENGAGEMENT WITH AFRICA GREAT EXPECTATIONS Kendra L. Gaither is vice president for the U.S.-Africa Business Center and executive director for the Coali- tion for the Rule of Law in Global Markets at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which she joined in 2015 as senior director for policy in the Americas. An alumna of the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship, Ms. Gaither spent three years as a civil servant and seven years as a Foreign Ser- vice officer specialized in international economic and trade issues in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. O n Feb. 5, 2021, a mere two weeks after taking office, President Joseph R. Biden delivered a video message to the African Union Summit, a convening of heads of state from the 55 mem- ber countries held virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. President Biden said his administra- tion would work to improve the relationship with the African continent based on mutual respect and solidarity “to advance our shared vision of a better future.” And the message was well received by African governments and institutions. In Novem- ber, during his first trip to Africa as Secretary of State, Antony Blinken announced that President Biden would host the second U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit to deepen cooperation. The administration’s vow to host the second U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit this year has sparked hope that Washington will treat Africa as a strategic priority. Here’s what’s at stake. BY KENDRA L . GA I THER We at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Africa Busi- ness Center, the member companies we represent, and our network of affiliated American Chambers of Commerce across Africa enthusiastically welcomed Biden’s early signal and the Blinken announcement. The U.S. private sector, like others, had taken stock of U.S. foreign policy engagement with Africa and compiled a series of recommendations on engaging the African continent as a U.S. foreign policy priority. Topping that list was a call to reinstitute the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit and its accom- panying business forum, and to demonstrate commitment to mutually beneficial trade and investment as part of an ongoing strategic partnership with the African continent. The promised U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, scheduled for Dec. 13-15 this year, will be the first head of state gathering of African leaders and a U.S. president since 2014, and marks only the second time Washington has accorded this level of attention to a partnership dialogue with the region. Though the United States has an annual trade forum through the African Growth and Opportunity Act, convening trade ministers and a number of bilateral strategic dialogues with key country partners at the foreign minister level, these gatherings don’t confer presidential- level priority. The hope now is that the summit will usher in more consis-