Involvement by United States business and government agencies in Africa goes far beyond the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). Africa’s strategic importance has risen with the focus on decarbonisation by switching to electric vehicles.Western companies are trying to “de-risk” by reducing their reliance on China for the minerals that go into electric batteries. They are having to play catch-up, as China has been making strategic investments for years.As an example, Chinese entities own or have shares in nearly all the cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which supplies 70% of the world’s output.Chinese companies are estimated to have control over 28% of African copper production, primarily in the DRC and Zambia.There is the added appeal in that Africa is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, and is seen to have huge potential.The US is working at countering the Chinese control and inf luence.Enacted in 2000, Agoa has, by providing new market opportunities, helped bolster economic growth, promoted economic and political reform, and improved US economic relations in the region, according to the US presidential website.President Joe Biden is lobbying for an extension. “I am committed to renew this law beyond 2025, in order to deepen trade relations between our countries, advance regional integration, and realise Africa’s immense economic potential for our mutual benefit. “In so many ways, Africa is the future – and so when Africa succeeds, the whole world succeeds,” he said at the start of the 20th Agoa Forum hosted in Johannesburg from November 2-4.US companies want to be part of that success. After a peak of $69 billion in 2014, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa from the United States dropped to $44.81bn in 2020, but grew to $46.2bn in 2022.According to the US delegation to the US-Africa Business Summit 2023 held in Gaborone, Botswana, in July 2023, the US Government has since 2021 helped close more than 900 deals across 47 African countries for a total estimated value of $22 billion in two-way trade and investment. Since December, the Export-Import Bank of the United States has authorised approximately $1.6bn of transactions supporting exports to Africa.Major projects will follow the US Trade and Development Agency funding of eight feasibility studies into the implementation of over $1bn in digital connectivity, clean energy, and healthcare infrastructure projects on the continent.US investment in Africa is being coordinated through “Prosper Africa,” which brings together services from across the US Government to help companies and investors do business in US and African markets.
