US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen on Friday touted the fruits of a new “mutually beneficial” economic strategy toward Africa, contrasting the damage caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s practices.
“The United States is all in on Africa, and all in with Africa,” she said during a visit to Senegal, part of a push by US President Joe Biden’s administration to boost relations with a continent where Washington faces increased competition from other major powers. “Our engagement is not transactional, it’s not for show, and it’s not for the short-term.”
Yellen, who had attended a US-Africa summit hosted by Biden in Washington last month, said the president, vice president and other Cabinet secretaries would travel to African countries this year.
Photo: Reuters
“The world is finally catching up to recognizing Africa’s contributions — past and future,” she said on a visit to a business incubator in Dakar, her first stop on a three-country tour of the continent.
She said the US was seeking “to modernize our relationship by focusing on what we can do together, rather than what we can do for each other.”
The relationship would be “based on mutual cooperation and greater ambition,” she said.
Yellen cited the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as major economic headwinds for Africa.
“Let me be clear: the single best thing we can do to help the global economy is to end Russia’s illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine,” Yellen said.
“Russia’s war and weaponization of food has exacerbated food insecurity and caused untold suffering, and the global economic headwinds caused by the actions of a single man — [Russian] President [Vldamir] Putin — is creating an unnecessary drag on” economies, she said.
In her speech, which followed a meeting with Senegalese Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation Oulimata Sarr, Yellen highlighted the continent’s promising demographics.
However, she said that economic growth would only come with adequate job opportunities and investments.
US investments on the continent are “motivated by our mutually beneficial, long-term partnership — the goal is to generate positive economic returns while fostering sustainable debt,” she said.
African governments need the “fiscal space” to make “important” public investments, she added.
“We believe that the international community, including China, needs to provide meaningful debt relief to help countries regain their footing,” she said.
Yellen’s speech came a day after she announced the Treasury had begun taking measures at home to prevent a default on US government debt.
In Dakar, she described US plans to partner with African states on climate change, health and security issues.
She reiterated US support for the African Union to join the G20.
She said international institutions needed to be reformed, but also that African governments needed greater accountability and transparency.
“Countries need to be wary of shiny deals that may be opaque and ultimately fail to actually benefit the people they were purportedly designed to help in the first place,” Yellen said.
“This can leave countries with a legacy of debt, diverted resources, and environmental destruction,” she said.
In an implicit contrast with China, which takes a hands-off approach in countries where it invests, Yellen said the US has taken a “different” tack, prioritizing “transparency, good governance, accountability and environmental sustainability.”
“While our approach may be exacting, we believe it delivers lasting results,” she said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of