For 60 years, the U.S. Agency for International Development has worked with its partners across Africa to develop their institutions through investments in education, healthcare, agriculture, and energy.
USAID assistance has dramatically reduced the rates of HIV and malaria, lifted millions from extreme poverty, and helped countries in Africa record the biggest increases in primary school enrollment of any region in the world, said USAID Administrator Samantha Power at this year’s U.S.-Africa Business Summit.
“And our unwavering and long-standing commitment to Africa will continue, as we partner with countries to battle a crippling third-wave of COVID-19, build resilience to climate shocks, and strengthen the rule of law amidst a troubling democratic decline on the continent.”
But it is time for the U.S. - Africa relationship to move from a relationship based mostly on aid, to one based on trade, said Administrator Power. “We must strengthen private sector ties between our countries, spur economic investment at a scale that could never be matched by foreign aid, and help Africans realize the kind of sustainable, independent future that they have long sought.”
That is the spirit behind the Prosper Africa Build Together Campaign that was announced at the Summit.The United States is reinvigorating its Prosper Africa initiative through the Build Together Campaign, to elevate the commitment to two-way trade and investment between African nations and the United States.
Through Prosper Africa, the U.S. government will connect American investors with African businesses ripe for investment. This will help American businesses access Africa’s fast-growing markets and create thousands of jobs for both African and American workers.
“Through the Prosper Africa Build Together Campaign,” said Administrator Power, “we will leverage our longstanding presence on the ground to build a better, stronger, more secure, and inclusive trade and investment strategy for African nations and the United States.”
“We will do this in partnership with African countries and in accordance with American values rooted in mutual respect, national sovereignty, democratic governance, and individual dignity, not as a means to advance our own interests or seek favors in return.”
“We believe in the nations of Africa, in their potential, and in the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit of the African people,” declared Administrator Power.“Now we have to work to turn that belief into action.”
