US-Africa Relations in the Biden Administration

Date: February 8, 2020 – Time: 10am (EST) / 4pm (West/Central Africa time)
Venue: Zoom Platform – Register Here

1. Overview

The inauguration of President Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States provides a welcome opportunity to reset the country’s relationship with sub-Saharan Africa. The Trump administration largely ignored Africa in the last four years with less focus on upholding democratic norms across the continent. African countries have increasingly seen the United States as only interested in them as part of great power competition with China and Russia.

As the coronavirus continues to ravage the world the new Biden administration is already under significant pressure to bring it quickly under control. Across sub-Saharan Africa the last four years has seen major backsliding in democratic gains. There have been constitutional changes to perpetuate incumbent rule (Cote D’Ivoire and Guinea), a recent coup d’état in Mali, worsening conflict in Cameroon, Ethiopia and Central African Republic amongst others. What can we anticipate will be the major pillars of the Biden administration’s approach to Africa? Where would Africa feature on the administration’s priority list and where could the administration obtain quick wins? Is there an opportunity for renewed engagement on a broader and deeper level? These are some of the questions to discuss in this one-hour panel discussion.

2. Date and Venue

February 8, 2020 at 10am (EST) / 04pm (West/Central Africa time). Event will be held on ZOOM and streamed live on Foretia Foundation Facebook Page

Dr Denis Foretia
Executive Chairman – Nkafu Policy Institute and Co-Chair – Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation

4. Participants

The event will bring together public policy experts, policy makers at the national, continental and international levels, and leaders of civil society organizations. It will be open to the general public with a session for Q&A.