The Foreign Service Journal, September 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2022 37 1989 that aligns the 21 countries of the Asia-Pacific with a goal of creat- ing a more prosperous relation- ship through regional integration. (APEC’s Business Advisory Council, ABAC, is the model for SOTA’s CEO summit configuration.) Under the Transatlantic Declara- tion forged in 1990, the U.S. and the European Community have held regular dialogues and summits, and there is regularized coordination with Europe through the G7, OECD, NATO and various other multilateral fora that set the tone for the nations’ collaboration with the world. The Biden administration appears to grasp that the United States would be wise not to miss a strategic opportunity that allies and adversaries alike have assessed and seized. In short, if we’re not present, we are not partners. As Secretary of State Antony Blinken explained in a May 19 interview with Stephen Colbert: “What we know is this: If the United States is not engaged, if we are not trying to lead … either someone else is—and that might not go forward in a way that reflects our interests and our values—or no one is, and that usually leaves a vacuum.” Back to the Future The Biden administration’s foreign policy focus on Africa has personal meaning for me as a former economic officer in the U.S. Foreign Service. Two tours in the Bureau of African Affairs launched a careerlong focus on Africa that I have car- ried beyond my tenure at State to my work at Carnegie Mellon University and now at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Though the Africa reset is certainly most welcome, for me, the calls for a more strategic policy focus on Africa engagement have felt a bit like Groundhog Day. In 2005 I had the privilege of working on the annual African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum dedicated to pro- moting trade and investment in Africa. Then 5 years old, AGOA was hailed as a success, with U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman touting an increase in U.S. imports from sub-Saharan Africa of more than 50 percent and an increase in U.S. exports of 44 percent. The atmosphere was filled with optimism: The forum featured a special screening of the film “Africa: Open for Business” featuring success stories that showcased a vision of a modern continent filled with entrepreneurial drive, untapped opportunity and business success. The ministerial-level event gathered officials, executives and civil society leaders under the theme of “Expanding and Diversifying Trade to Promote Growth and Competitiveness” one year after President George W. Bush had signed an exten- sion of AGOA that included trade capacity provisions to support market utilization of tariff-free access to the United States. AGOA has been described as the centerpiece of U.S. eco- nomic and commercial policy with Africa, and for two decades the forum has been the signature gathering between the U.S. and Africa. In recent years, the U.S.-African Union High-Level Dialogue, which extends beyond economic partnership to include other areas of cooperation, was added. While laud- able and important, these gatherings are held at the ministerial level. But AGOA legislation was specifically designed to create an annual head-of-state engagement; the law requires the U.S. president to convene a forum annually on trade and investment relations and AGOA implementation between the United States and its African partners. Which brings us back to the second U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, expected to take place in late 2022. The reality is that the United States has not accorded the continent the kind of sustained and ongoing high-level partnership dialogue and attention that it grants to other regions, even with legislative efforts designed to boost the same. But as the saying goes, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the second-best time is now. This year, the United States can demonstrate a commitment to meaningful partnership with the nations of Africa through a summit that sets the tone and cadence for regular heads-of- state dialogue with our African partners on our shared priorities and opportunities. The president can make good on the com- mitment to reset relations and build back better by engaging the business community to play a significant role as part of a more holistic engagement of the continent, akin to other global sum- mit dialogues. Doing so can ensure that the United States is a partner today in the continent’s structural transformation under the A.U.’s Agenda 2063, and is positioned to be a partner in Africa’s emer- gence tomorrow. n S ignificant attention is given to China’s relationship with Africa, and this well- documented relationship has played a role in fueling China’s economic growth.