Why is Africa turning away from the United States? | The Bottom Line

hi I'm Steve Clemons and I have a question can President Biden convince African leaders that America is a better partner than China let's get to the bottom line [Music] this week the White House hosts leaders from 49 African countries to try and convince them that their continent is a real priority for America it's going to be a hard sell since many Africans feel that Washington has treated them with a lot of benign neglect more of a problem than an opportunity a place that's full of Precious Minerals that we want like lithium and Cobalt which America needs for its electric cars but also a place loaded with security concerns and humanitarian crises and Corruption meanwhile Russia's kind of zoomed to the top as Africa's number one weapons dealer and China's trade with African countries has reached a record 261 billion dollars last year that's about five times more than the U.S an African youth survey by ichikovitz Family Foundation found that 77 percent of Youth across the continent identified China as the most important Nation for Africa's future not the United States plus China deals with whatever government is in place no questions asked while the U.S Cherry picks its allies and offers lectures about democracy so can the U.S Africa leader Summit here in Washington D.C turn things around and what can America offer that Africa really wants today we're talking with arikana chihombori CUO the former ambassador of the African Union to the United States she's also the founder of the Africa diaspora development initiative which aims to link Africans abroad back to the continent Ambassador it's such a pleasure to talk with you today this big Summit is going on right now in Washington D.C you're in Zimbabwe I guess I want to start by asking you what do the leaders of Africa and President Biden have to get right after this week that you think needs is essential thank you for having me uh this is a very important Summit it's a conversation between the continent and the United States a conversation that is desperately needed particularly at this time in our history and in our life the United States LED Mr advice thing it is the it Still Remains the most preferred trading partner for the African nations however like I used to tell the state department and any engagements that we've had with the United States I felt during my tenure that the United States was slowly losing ground and they were risking losing their position as Africans preferred trading partner so this is a very important meeting that I hope that if the United States like I used to tell uh my colleagues I felt that United States if this was a basketball game the United States needed to call for time out for U.S needed to realize that this is a new game and it required new rules of engagement therefore a need for the United States to re-strategize I'm hoping that for a change this meeting the United States can begin to realize it's no longer business as usual it's no longer a case of the United States saying we make policy and we tell the Africans that has got to change it is a recipe for disaster it is a recipe for the United States seeing itself losing its place as Africa's preferred trading partner this that's what makes this meeting very important and I'm hoping that the U.S can call for time out and understand that engaging Africa at this time it is a new game that is calling for new rules of engagement and therefore it is time to restrategize and treat the Africans fairly to the Africans respectfully and treat the Africans as equal partners you know Ambassador I think one of the things that I'm uh trying to be sensitive to is that we often over in the United States as you know and you were the ambassador of the African Union tend to talk about a continent as opposed to individual countries and nations of which they're 54 they're 49 uh heads of state here in Washington this week and are we making a mistake are we are we is our ignorance on our side from your impression of our ignorance you know Amplified by us talking about Africa so much as as opposed to talking about Rwanda Zimbabwe Ghana should we be our you know is our illiterate illiteracy in this level so obvious that that it's a it's a real problem and do these kinds of summits that bring everyone together do a disservice to that kind of getting to know each country more distinctly I think for the United States and I'll repeat it and I used to repeat it uh all the time during my tenure what really is behind the failure of effective engagement with Africa is the disrespect of the Africans that's where the problem begins if we cannot accept if the United States cannot accept Africans as equal Partners if the United States for example let's look at this particular uh meeting this particular Summit there was no defined agenda there has never been defined agendas whenever they meet with African countries as individual countries it's always the United States setting the agenda the United States setting the policies and the United States telling Africans about the policies that is no way to have any meaningful engagement if you take for example the pocket meeting that was held between China and African heads of state way in advance the issues were clearly defined the agenda was going to focus on trade it was going to focus on Aid it was going to forget focus on investments the African heads of states were engaged in the discussion in the planning the outcomes where are clearly defined with a way forward in terms of follow-up it was a fruitful meeting that addresses the issues that needed to be addressed between not only African countries individually with China but also Africans collectively with China there is no published agenda there is there are no issues that have been presented to the African heads of States Africans have been have not been asked to engage in terms of creating the agenda and making sure that when the African heads of States come to Washington the outcomes the issues to be discussed are going to be meaningful uh outcomes outcomes with follow-up and deliverables that are going to be beneficial to both it remains a one-sided conversation with the United States telling Africans the agendas and the policies the Africans are not on the table to discuss issues pertaining to us wherein lies the problem and the reason that continues to be the case what underscores that is the disrespect for the Africans I repeated it I I complained about it repeatedly it is a serious problem the United States must understand that Africans are not going to take it anymore if you don't treat the Africans fairly United States is going to see itself slowly losing ground to China to Russia to all other nations because without respecting the Africans without treating the Africans as equal without understanding that exploitation and abuse of Africa simply cannot continue this this meeting this Summit is going to be yet another gathering with no outcomes no deliverables until the next Summit I'm sorry but the disrespect of the Africans is at the bottom of it all our agenda for this meeting should have been set out in advance Africa should have been involved without the involvement of the Africans in these discussions this is a useless I'm sorry but that is the fact no I I am very grateful for your candor and it sounds to me I mean I think there was a lot of criticism of the last Summit like this under President Obama that there was like no follow-through and you know it's one of the big questions I'm asking is how do you make a big bang Summit where everyone one comes over it's like checking off the box and say okay we've done Africa now we can move on to other things how do we how do you make that something that's a more sustainable uh and a more continuous engagement of the United States with Africa and what I'm hearing from you is frankly a lot of disappointment and um you know a lot of pessimism about what may come out of this Summit well the the point of the matter is already you know nothing is going to come out of it because it is a one-sided conversation right where is the agenda the agenda should have been published where in advance the African leaders should have been given opportunity to also stand their position so they can come up with an African position that can then be discussed alongside the American position so the fact that it is a one-sided conversation that is yet going to be another useless meeting with no outcomes but again I'm going to keep emphasizing the reason this is happening is because there is a disrespect for the Africans there is a general feeling that we don't need to hear from the Africans their opinions do not matter that we realize the problem why were the Africans not consulted why would Africans not part of an agenda why was there not even an agenda like what happened during the forecast meeting with China those are some basic issues no head of state President Biden would not pick up and go to meet with any other leader in the world without an agenda that simply doesn't happen right so what makes the U.S think that they can engage African leaders without an agenda come to Washington let me tell you what I want to do for you come to Washington let me tell you what you need to do in your countries that game is is an old game right it's not gonna work anymore to be honest with you if I'm to speak the truth I hope a lot of friends don't cut because it is an insult it is an abuse of the African leaders it's a disrespect of the African leaders where is the agenda please respect the African leaders do unto them what you would want done unto you so it's really a simple ask let me ask you a question you mentioned China and how China approaches this I'm interested in what China gets so right and but is there a blind spot there are there problems in the China Africa relationship from your perspective let me also let me just uh hit the nail in the head and deal with 10 000 with the ten thousand pound gorilla in the room yeah racism as well that is a very important part the disrespect of the Africans also goes back to a lot of the people who work in the U.S government not all of them but there's a significant of them who automatically assume that Africans do not know what they're doing Africans need help Africans need to be told what to do and racism is also at the bottom of it all we need to address the individuals who are going to be visiting Africa engaging Africa they must understand that Africans are equal to them but when one goes to Africa with a sense of superiority we realize the problem because you are not going to engage those leaders who are going to come to the table as equals you go in feeling Superior you come back feeling Superior that is not an issue with the Chinese the Chinese are coming in the Chinese yes if you don't negotiate with them and uh they win the game then that's your fault but they don't come in feeling Superior they understand that Africa has something they need so they will come to the Africa they will come and make sure that they let the Africans know that you matter to us that our relationship with you does matter that you don't get that feeling with the United States you get this feeling that there's this sense of superiority that you Africans you ought to be glad that we are engaging you you have to be glad that we're inviting you to come to Washington that sense of security it has to change whether it calls for the United States to retrain their people as they engage Africa but it is that which really goes to the body them of why the engagements are not going to be as effective they must take a page out of what Africa is doing let me say this Chinese people didn't used to be that way but they quickly changed their strategy when they realized that the game they were playing was not gonna work in Africa they changed their strategy and that's why like I said I said it during my tenure I'll continue to say it again if this was a basketball game the United States need to call for timeout this is a new game and it requires new rules of engagement the United States must first and foremost make sure that racism is out of the picture Africans are just as smart as anybody else Africans are equal and until we engage as equals all these meetings all these conversations are always going to be useless and it goes back to the individuals who are going to be at the table with the Africans so the U.S also need to address the issue of racism and make sure that the people engaged in Africa their minds are clear and they accept that Africans are equal tell us about pan-africanism tell us about what Africa the states in Africa are doing to trade to connect to move their agenda forward proactively no matter what the rest of the world is thinking about it absolutely I have to say uh if you were to go back to 1963 when open African fathers came together in the hopes of creating an Africa that spoke with one voice an Africa that had one military an Africa that had one Central Bank One monetary fund uh one one uh one uh Stock Exchange and in Africa with one Customs Union we failed at that over the years but finally uh two years ago uh they approved the AFC FTA the African Continental Free Trade Agreement which is a a policy that saw Africa coming together in one particular area that we are now speaking with one voice when it comes to trade yes its implementation is a monster yes its implementation is work in progress but you can say of the issues that our pan-african fathers met to discuss in 1963 finally over 50 years later we are able to account published the first one which is being an Africa that's going to the World As One Customs Union the spirit of pan-africanism it has taken us a long time to really begin to come together to dismantle the Berlin Conference which of course for those who think oh Berlin Conference is a thing of the past of the past think again as long as we have a country called Togo as long as we have a country called Congo brazzaville it's watini Malawi those small countries even Nigeria or the big ones Kenya Egypt Morocco they cannot survive on their own as long as we're talking about the little bitty individual African countries we are never going to realize the dream of a United Africa that speaks with one voice and until we've dismantled some of those borders until we begin to work ourselves up as a people until we begin to realize that the the colonizers and the rule of dividing hunger left us sealing inferior yeah Supremacy white supremacy was introduced from the very onset when the colonizers came to Africa we were taught to believe that everything African was bad everything European was better and we still continue to suffer from that mentality so yes while we demand that the west and those who don't look like us Africans treat us equally realize that we are human beings just like they are we too as Africans we have a lot of work to do on a personal level where we must also believe truly believe that we are equal to everybody else on Earth and that we are capable that also is a disease that we need to realize as Africans let's wake up and realize that white people are not Superior to us Chinese are not Superior to us we are just exclusive as anybody else that is a serious challenge because we still have people even when you look at uh issues that we could stand up as a people and push back you see ministers from the Western world are going to uh to Africa and then basically can have seen them say some of the most ridiculous things to the Africans and instance of the Africans pushing back and saying hey hold it this is not going to fly instead the Africans are afraid just inherently fear of the white person without any for no good reason whatsoever except that we have been programmed to feel inferior so on an individual basis we continue to speak the Gospel of Truth we continue to share the light as to the brainwashing that is that the African has been put through wherein lies the problem when you look at what is being done at the World Bank for example the Britain women's institutions the the frivolous loans countries that have never defaulted on their on their loan repayments and yet they're still given large interest rates why countries like the United States that don't need any help right they get into loans at zero interest rates you look at the issue I'm glad President Biden I hear he's going to be talking about having the Au as the 51st member of the G20 well let's also take it to the next level let's go to the United Nations let's have Africa 1.5 billion people they need to come to the table let's African Union be the sixth member of the five member U.N security Council you can't just totally disregard 1.4 billion people because you've gotten away with it for centuries well guess what game is over Africans are waking up Africans are beginning to realize and understand the game that have been played unfortunately we don't have that critical mass of people who are continuously going to speak truth to power right the good thing with the after the story of Africa is I was coming from a position of righteousness right a position of Truth a position of facts right those are constants they don't change let's continue to give the world an overdose of our truth but at the same time while we are doing so and demanding a world that is fair that is just and free of racism bigotry and hate we must also work on our own development and our own Awakening as a people talk to me a little bit about how Africa can take advantage of its of its intellectual connection and assets to entrepreneurs who have left but may want to help um Africa back because this is one of your major initiatives absolutely the brain drain that started over 400 years ago when the best and the brightest and the fittest were taken out of Africa forcibly and that that is when the brain drained started I want to make sure that it's very clear and when we talk about African diaspora we're talking about all people of African descent living outside of Africa let's be very clear African-Americans they are Africans who have forcibly taken out of Africa plus the continued brain drain those who are later immigrants who left Africa running away from farming from Wars in search of greener pastures the end result is as we speak Africa has a serious deficit of expertise however the the good news for Africa is that we have a very young intelligent vibrant population that needs opportunities so when we can marry the age group of young intelligent Africans with the expertise coming from the diaspora we can see in Africa that can propel itself to take a stressful place on the world stage like it once was so yes the diaspora are an important component of Africa's development make no mistake about that all the African leaders are fully aware of that all the African leaders are in full support of coming up with programs to make it easier for the diaspora to move back we want to look at diaspora we can come to Africa not just focus on a country that you were born born in but if you are a person of African descent Africa should matter to you Africa should be your problem you must own Africa's problems understand it and participate in the development of Africa for when we have a stable Africa It ultimately it now also correlates with an African-American who is anchored it correlates with an afro-caribbean who is anchored it correlates with an afro-latino who is angered apparently descendants of the formerly enslaved they are like a ship uh without an anger you the wind blows that way here they go until they are anchored by being accepted by Africa until they are anchored by participating in the development of Africa the Jews do it the Chinese do it the Indians do it the Irish do it African Americans together with the African Continental Africans we must make sure that we work together to participate in the development of Africa because the development and the building of the Africa we want it is our responsibility first and foremost and I was alone right I was others are welcome to come join us others are welcome to help us others are welcome to engage us as equal Partners but we must own the building of the Africa that we want is a United Friends of the African diaspora well I want to make a deal with you Ambassador I want this to be a start of a conversation with you that we have many other times I think it's a very important conversation and I'm grateful to you Ambassador arikana chihombori former African Union Diplomat and founder of the Africa diaspora development initiative thanks for your candor and thank you so much for being with us today thank you for having me and keep up the good work these are messages we must continue to put out because the average American is not aware the average European citizen is not aware of what the various Western governments are doing the atrocities have been going on for far too long they must come to an end and your program is doing a great job in getting these messages out we must inform and educate our citizens thank you Ambassador thank you so much thank you so much so what's the bottom line the smart monies on Africa that's where the most interesting Global action is going to be demographically the West and much of Asia are aging while Africa has the youngest crowd on the planet within a few decades much of the world's Global middle class is going to come from Africa and Africa is going to become a stickier place for its brilliant innovators to stay rather than racing off the Europe or the United States sure China and the U.S will both remain engaged in Africa but less and less on their terms and more and more on the terms of African nations as they rise and become more powerful in their own right that's the story of Unstoppable Africa Rising not because of what nations outside the continent are doing for it but what it's doing to chart its own course and that's the bottom line foreign [Music]

Channel: Al Jazeera English

Views: 2,328,614

Keywords: Africa, Africa Summit, Africa Union, Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English, Arikana Chihombori-Quao, Biden, Joe Biden, US Africa Summit, US-Africa Leaders Summit, United States, United States of America, al jazeera live, al jazeera video, aljazeera English, aljazeera latest, aljazeera live, aljazeera live news, latest news, news headlines

Id: UfLxnIqi4Uc

Length: 24min 20sec (1460 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 15 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/Fair-Tie9887]

To answer Steve's question. Oh it's very simple.... build hospitals, schools, and homes, instead of brining lectures and slaver chains. . Bahahahahahahah, but Biden's ice cream addled head can't rationalize that... So the answer is no.

[u/Qanonjailbait]

Omg, benign neglect? Didn’t the CIA assassinate Lamumba? That’s not exactly benign or neglect. America has a history of intervention in Africa just like everywhere else. I can’t stand the constant stream of bullshit coming out of every American swine

The US cherry picks its allies which is why their friends with Saudi Arabia and apartheid Israel right? 🥴

[u/TserriednichHuiGuo]

Because in the long run propaganda doesn't get you far, you need to actually build things in the real world.

Another thing to note is that people will prefer to remember the good things over the bad, so of course China's image continues to improve whilst america deteriorates like in all other things.

[u/Biodieselisthefuture]

Colonizer ignorance, of couse they are going to turn away from a ticking bomb.