The US government is convening this month’s second summit of US-African leaders not least because the growing challenges of the 21st century are pushing Africa directly into the center of global and US interests. Managing increasingly violent conflicts, worsening climate and human displacement depends on a better US-Africa partnership, one that shares an interest in strengthening the democratic rule of law within and between nations. Democracy has eroded, globally and in Africa, since the first US-Africa summit eight years ago – but this month’s conference may reverse that pattern, say two USIP experts, both former ambassadors to Africa.
Democracy’s Erosions Include Africa
Since the first summit of US-African leaders in 2014, indicators of the state of democracy in Africa have shown that it has been highly volatile – and problematic in recent years. African peoples’ persistent demands for democracy have seen progress, such as Zambia’s peaceful elections and transfer of power 16 months ago, and Kenya’s hotly contested but peaceful elections in August, the results of which were accepted in part because of increased transparency in the counting of votes. Sudan’s grassroots pro-democracy movement continues to show remarkable resilience in its campaign to transition from military to elected civilian rule.
Yet the broader recent pattern has been failure more often – notably seven military coups over 26 months. Twenty years after Africa’s democratic progress after the end of the Cold War, leaders in 16 African countries have weakened or abolished constitutional term limits for presidents – a pattern that has helped undermine governments’ legitimacy and paved the way for coups. See the article : Blake Dowling: From drones to ATMs – high tech pizza. Some governments have used the COVID pandemic to curtail citizens’ rights and consolidate their power.
International indices reinforce both the fluidity of democracy and the decline in Africa. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual democracy index showed an overall decline in democracy in Africa (as in the United States and European countries) in recent years, after years of progress about a decade ago. Freedom House’s latest annual Freedom in the World report notes “16 consecutive years of decline in global freedom.” Last year’s setbacks include new restrictions on media in North Africa and freedom of assembly in Senegal, and social media shutdowns in at least 10 African countries. Africa’s Ibrahim Index of African Governance does not measure overall “democracy,” but an adjacent quality—the performance of governments in meeting public needs for security, basic rights, economic opportunity, and social essentials (such as health and education). The index has recently increased the role of citizen perceptions in its measurements and, like other databases, has recorded a significant decline in effective governance in Africa since 2019, after years of improvement.
West Africa was the regional focal point. Spreading violence and instability in the Sahel region, particularly in its west, has displaced 2.5 million people over 10 years and threatens to intersect dangerously with erosions of governance and democracy in the more populous coastal region. USIP’s Senior Study Group on Coastal West Africa this year “identified improvements in governance as critical to peace and stability” – and thus to any progress in democracy. The US government includes five coastal West African states among nine worldwide where it has prioritized implementation of its new strategy mandated by the Global Fragility Act of 2019.
Peacebuilding work, so intertwined with democratization, sees the imperative of building an American-African partnership that can advance both processes. A peacebuilding approach requires, among other things, listening and the humility to recognize that the need to strengthen democracy is universal, that it applies to Americans as well as to our partners. It recognizes that in order to help global governance and stability, the partnership must also address the democratization and inclusion of Africa, as well as other parts of the Global South, in our international governance institutions, such as the UN Security Council and the International Monetary Fund.
This summit conference and U.S. efforts generally should strengthen two lines of effort to promote democratization. These aim to improve the quality of governance and increase the trade and investment required to expand economies, writes USIP’s Ambassador Terence McCulley:
Greater trade and investment are essential as every African government faces the imperative to significantly increase jobs and opportunities for the demographic tsunami of a growing youth population. Failure risks widespread social instability. The United States has been talking about trade and investment for more than 20 years, with the African Growth and Opportunity Act offering African countries unparalleled access to the US market and other US government initiatives to encourage US businesses to contribute to African market growth. economy. Improved economic prospects can promote peace, stability and democracy in African nations, and stronger trade relations between the US and Africa create jobs and greater prosperity at home, as companies that export tend to pay higher wages.
For more than a decade, we have been talking about unfair competition from world powers like China, which do not follow the same rules that American and European companies have to follow. We have recently seen the malign influence of disinformation campaigns launched by Russia across the continent. But I think we also need to recognize that American companies are often disadvantaged by “loyal competition” from friends like France, the Netherlands and Germany, whose development finance institutions are more closely tied to their foreign policy agendas. The United States has powerful and effective tools at its disposal. To see also : IAFP kicks off with an Ivan Parkin Lecture straight out of Africa. These include the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the US Agency for Trade and Development, the US Agency for International Development, and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). The Millennium Challenge Corporation in particular has clear governance, human rights and social sector investment criteria that guide its investment decisions, as well as other branches of US development assistance. DFC (founded in 2019 as the successor to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation) is building its portfolio in Africa. As it does so, we must ensure that it acts as a strong support for American companies as they pursue opportunities in Africa and that DFC investments advance our democracy and governance agenda on the continent. Increased trade and investment will help boost the growth of African economies, create better trading partners and promote stability and democracy, demonstrating a true US partnership as Africans strive to make the African Continental Free Trade Area operational and achieve the ambitious goals of the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Another important US focus must be to keep the promotion of good governance at the heart of our policy in Africa. The United States strongly supports credible and transparent elections, but building democracy requires sustained engagement beyond the election cycle, including supporting the efforts of our African partners to strengthen and strengthen the social compact between government and the governed. Basically, good governance is about showing relevance to the citizens of the country. Governments do this by providing basic services, including health care, education, infrastructure and clean water, and through responsible security services that protect civilians while respecting human rights. Our development programs focus on these elements, but we must continue to keep this at the heart of our engagement with our African partners. America’s new strategy to prevent conflict and promote stability is a laudable effort to promote a US whole-of-government response to the governance and security gaps creating instability in Africa. It is urgent to implement this strategy quickly. We see that urgency in the northern parts of coastal West Africa, for example. There, marginalized communities are excluded from economic growth and opportunity, making these groups simultaneously vulnerable to cross-border attacks by extremist movements from the Sahel, the recruitment of foreign extremists and the rise of domestic extremism as frustrated young people lack other options.
When I was ambassador to Nigeria [from 2010 to 2013], Boko Haram flourished in the northeast not because the people of Borno State were somehow inclined to the group’s extremist ideology — but because Boko Haram was floating in a sea of indifference because did this the local population do not see the Nigerian national government as a protective force invested in the development of the region. It had been 10 years since any senior government official had even visited the state, and people did not see the federal government as relevant in their lives. People lacked confidence in the security forces, fearing that if they even went to the police station to report Boko Haram activities, they would risk being beaten and arrested as collaborators. As partners in development, we must help reverse such dynamics. Effective, accountable governance that helps people meet their needs is what will also help them feel included in democracy.
The historical and thematic contexts of this month’s U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit underscore an imperative for partnership, writes USIP’s Ambassador Makila James:
The Biden administration’s strategy for sub-Saharan Africa has emphasized “reshaping the importance of the region to US national security interests” — particularly in promoting open societies, democracy, economic opportunity, climate adaptation and energy justice. See the article : Kune Food closes down almost a year after Kenya started up. These are key issues for the United States and the African continent.
The US-Africa Leaders Summit is a significant testament to the administration’s efforts to implement its strategy of engaging Africa with greater respect, partnership and recognition, rooted in realpolitik, of Africa’s global importance. This is only the second such summit, following a conference hosted by President Obama in 2014. Over the past eight years, Africa has changed, as have US and world priorities, especially in several areas:
Other critical issues driving US strategy and the summit include: Africa’s large youth demographics, enormous voting power in multilateral forums, and insistence on an energy justice agenda to respond to climate change. Also, the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and the growth of Africa’s middle class as a huge economic market for US goods and services have positioned Africa as central to many of the things the US government is trying to achieve globally. The summit also talks about working with civil society on governance issues, with the private sector on greater trade and investment opportunities, and with the diaspora as a force multiplier to advance the “common agenda”. New areas of engagement are also promising, including creative industries, digital technology and a civil and commercial space forum to discuss science collaboration.
Finally, by focusing on these issues, Americans and Africans must change the narrative of our relationship from one of dependence and paternalism to one of mutual interest and cooperation. This is what Africans demand in their engagement with the United States and in their own aspirational strategic plan for the 21st century – the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Related Publications
Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf discusses the inspiring resilience of African women in male-dominated societies, the need for women to work together across national borders, and how African leaders can better promote women’s participation by ensuring gender equality is embedded in their policies and practices.
Sex; Democracy & Management
Dozens of African leaders will be in Washington next week for the second US-Africa Leaders Summit. Critical issues such as economic engagement, climate change, food security and global health will be at the top of the agenda as US and African decision makers gather for a series of formal and informal meetings. While such leader-to-leader engagements are critical to addressing these pressing issues, understanding what Africans want from their leaders every day and their countries’ relationship with the United States is critical to meeting today’s and future challenges.
Type:
Analysis and commentary
Democracy & management; economy
The United States government has identified stability in coastal West Africa as a foreign policy priority, engaging five countries in particular – Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Togo – through its Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, which was adopted in December 2021 .The strategy reflects the US government’s consideration of the five countries as strategic focal points in the fight against transnational terrorism and violent extremism emanating from the neighboring Sahel region.
Type:
Analysis and commentary
