Africa

The size of a loan to Ghana that was agreed with International Monetary Fund staff. The preliminary package, which would provide funding for three years, requires approval from the IMF’s executive board. It is a key step in dealing with the country’s worst economic crisis in a generation as Ghana struggles to repay its heavy debt burden. The board will only approve the loan package if Ghana undergoes a comprehensive debt restructuring, the IMF’s Mission Chief for Ghana Stephane Roudet told journalists.

➚  Buy: South Africa’s president. Lawmakers this week voted to reject a move to begin impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa over accusations that he violated the constitution by allegedly covering up a theft at his farm.

➘ Sell: South Africa’s energy boss. Andre de Ruyter, chief executive of South Africa’s struggling state power utility Eskom, resigned on Wednesday. Africa’s most industrialized economy has been blighted by record power cuts this year that have stoked public anger and damaged businesses.

African countries are trying to avoid the China-US crossfire

THE NEWS

African nations must resist being drawn into the rivalry between China and the United States, political leaders warned while in Washington for a summit aimed at resetting Washington’s relationship with the continent.

Heads of state, ministers and diplomats are in Washington for the US-Africa Leaders summit which was convened by Joe Biden to strengthen ties with the continent. The role of China, the largest source of foreign investment into Africa, was raised during the inaugural Semafor Africa Week, held in the US capital.

“I don’t think we need to be bullied into taking or making choices, choosing between the US or China,” Rwandan President Paul Kagame told Semafor on Wednesday. “I think we need to have both and others as partners, in as far as they also respect us and understand that we have something to contribute.”

Patrick Katembwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s communications minister, told Semafor his government rejected the notion of making a choice between Washington and Beijing. “What we need is partnership,” he said. “You can be Chinese, you can be American,” as long as laws are respected and Congolese people benefit in some way, he said.

YINKA’S VIEW

The whole point of the US-Africa Leaders Summit was to refocus the conversation about the relationship between the United States and Africa’s 54 countries. It is effectively a manifestation of the US-Africa Policy unveiled back in August. But, somehow, a quick scan of the headlines about the summit have still featured China prominently.

It’s easy to blame the media for asking questions which frame the conversation around the battle between the two superpowers. But African leaders themselves, like Kagame and others, are keen to push back loudly at the suggestion they have to make a choice.

The truth is that, outside of key strategic security issues, there are few times either the United States or China asks an African country to pick sides. The bigger challenge, as several analysts have suggested, is to figure out ways to leverage their geopolitical rivalry for positive economic outcomes.

ROOM FOR DISAGREEMENT

“The level of priority assigned to Africa as a region for both of these super powers is low — neither one is on the top shelf of overseas diplomatic interests or overseas diplomatic trade,” said Yunnan Chen, senior researcher at UK-headquartered think tank ODI. “It’s an unfortunate reality that the Africa region is becoming this strategic playground for a great game in development.”

THE VIEW FROM WASHINGTON

Delegations from 49 countries, and the African Union, attended the US-’Africa Leaders Summit, which is the first since the Obama administration held a similar gathering in 2014. “Altogether the forum has spurred more than $15 billion in new deals all across the continent. These are long term investments that are going to deliver real benefits to people,” Biden said on Wednesday.

Africa’s long struggling airline industry is set to continue losing millions of dollars for the next couple of years, even as more mature markets in Europe and North America recover from pandemic disruption. African countries were hit harder by that economic fallout and inflation in the last few years has made it difficult for the continent’s airlines to recover, according to a report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). African airlines are expected to post a $638 million loss this year, which is projected to narrow to $213 million in 2023.

One Good Text With ... Judd Devermont

Don Graves, U.S. deputy commerce secretary said the United States is more ready for business with Africa than in recent years. “We missed an opportunity for a number of years… and US investors and companies are having to play catch up,” he said. But, he added, conversations with African delegations had been positive. “African countries and companies want to partner with the US, they want US investment.”

Rwandan President Paul Kagame said the M23 rebel group in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo was not his country’s responsibility, despite reports suggesting Rwanda has backed the movement. “This problem was not created by Rwanda, and is not Rwanda’s problem, it is Congo’s problem,” Kagame said.

Patrick Muyaya, the DR Congo’s information minister, rejected the Rwandan president’s position during an interview with Semafor Africa. “What they are doing is not different to what Russia is doing with Ukraine. Different continents, different contexts… but the same thing because President Kagame wants to get more space in DRC,” said Muyaya. He said DRC’s delegation in Washington, led by President Felix Tshisekedi, had urged US officials to put pressure on Rwanda to respect a de-escalation deal agreed between the neighboring countries in July.

Cina Lawson, Togo’s digital transformation minister, thinks policymakers must “put money on the table to de-risk investment” from the private sector in infrastructure needed for faster internet connectivity. “One thing that is very important for Africa in the years to come is to deploy fiber optic networks… to connect households,” she said.

Lydiah Kemunto Bosire, Founder/CEO of 8B Education Investments, was passionate about the potential of young Africans and their impact beyond their borders. “We should open Africa to the world,” she said. “We have a comparative advantage in training very smart young people in a whole range of disciplines. Let’s be intentional about connecting them to all the places where opportunities are — where the median age is like 20, 30 years higher than the African median age.”

The US breathes new life into AfCFTA

The United States’ Biden administration gave a big fillip to the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) this week.

The US Trade Representative Katherine Tai revealed in an interview with me on Monday at the Semafor Africa Summit that her agency was working on signing a memorandum of understanding with the AfCFTA countries to expand the U.S.-Africa trade relationship.

Then, on Tuesday, the US Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Africa Business Center said it signed an MoU to launch a trade and investment working group between the U.S. and Africa to help boost the private sector’s impact on the free trade area.

The AfCFTA, which was ratified on Jan.1, 2021, is the world’s largest free trade agreement. It  covers some 1.4 billion people and aims to boost intra-African trade.

But its launch has been hampered by the economic fallout from the pandemic and several key countries have only partly ratified the agreement due to concerns around technical issues.

The US clearly sees the AfCTA as a way to re-energize its own business and trade relationships with Africa.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a Clinton-era piece of legislation aimed at strengthening trade ties between Washington and the continent, is set to expire in 2025. Tai said she wants to better align AGOA with ACFTA’s ambitions. She said she sees AGOA as “foundational” but added that there were real opportunities for innovation and expansion in U.S.-Africa trade.

— Yinka

• South African lawmakers this week voted to reject a move to begin impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa. That vote and the controversy that prompted it, involving accusations that Ramaphosa covered up the theft of a large sum of foreign currency from his farm, have “made Ramaphosa beholden to vested interests,” according to South Africa’s Daily Maverick.
• A $6.8 billion grant from Bridgin Foundation to finance developmental projects in Malawi has received a mixed response. President Lazarous Chakwera praised the contribution from the Belgium-based philanthropic organization. But, coming after the country lost $1m in a  fertilizer procurement scandal, Malawians have accused the government of engaging in multibillion dollar projects without thorough research, reports the Africa Report.

Thank you!

This is a note of gratitude to all the amazing readers and friends of Semafor who turned up to our packed (!) Semafor Africa Week events this week. We had the best of Africa and the best of Washington DC-Africa in the house. Alexis and I also want to say a very special thank you to our incredible event director Niharika Acharya and her team who worked tirelessly on making these the best events in a week of many important events. And of course a big thank you to our irrepressible Editor at Large Steve Clemons and CEO Justin Smith for always pushing for an outstanding experience. We have many more to come in an African city near you. Watch out and spread the word.

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— Yinka