Africa’s Century and the United States: Policy Options for Transforming U.S.-Africa Economic Engagement into a 21st Century Partnership

In President Biden’s February 2021 address to the African Union Summit, he signaled his intent to reframe the United States’ relationship with Africa, stating, “…the United States stands ready to be your partner, in solidarity, support, and mutual respect. We believe in the nations of Africa.” The following July, he announced the White House would host African leaders in Washington, D.C. for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.

In the eight years since the first U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in 2014, the continent has transformed significantly. The decade since the United States turned toward enhanced economic engagement has yielded deeper U.S.-Africa commercial ties. The second Summit, hosted in December 2022, sought to build on this trajectory and demonstrate visibly the administration’s commitment to building a “21^st century partnership” with Africa.

This publication provides an overview our or Brown Capital Management Africa Forum's U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit paper series including the progress made, challenges faced, and potential opportunities in U.S.-Africa economic relations. 

This paper is part of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit series. The full series is available to read here. 

The Brown Capital Management Africa Forum is a premier platform for substantive and solutions-oriented dialogue on key trade, investment, and sustainable development issues in Africa, and in U.S.-Africa relations. Launched in 2015, the Africa Forum conducts research on key development issues and provides a high-level platform for convening Africa, U.S., and international business leaders, policymakers and subject matter experts in forward-leaning policy-oriented dialogue aimed at advancing sustainable development in Africa and fostering mutually beneficial economic relations between Africa and the United States. The Brown Capital Management Africa Forum is made possible by the generous financial support of Brown Capital Management, LLC (Baltimore, Maryland).