—– Gabon Gets US$500 Million in investment package casting concerns over how much did Liberia gain from US-Africa Summit…….
IPNEWS: The US. African summit has come and gone with all attending presidents back home but what remains of concern is what did each of the attending leaders gain on behalf of their peoples.
At the opening of the summit, President Donald Trump promised West African leaders a pivot from aid to trade during a White House meeting last Wednesday as the region reels from the impact of sweeping U.S. aid cuts.
Trump said he sees “great economic potential in Africa” as the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau boasted of their countries’ natural resources and heaped praise on the U.S. president, including their thanks for his help in settling a long-running conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Trump described the nations represented at the meeting as “all very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, and great oil deposits, and wonderful people” – a definite shift from his first term, when he used a vulgar term to describe African nations.
The meeting came amid a shift in U.S. global and domestic priorities under Trump’s leadership. Earlier this month, U.S. authorities dissolved the U.S. Agency for International Development and said it was no longer following what they called “a charity-based foreign aid model” and instead would focus on partnerships with nations that show “both the ability and willingness to help themselves.”
Even though the five nations whose leaders were meeting Trump represented a small fraction of U.S.-Africa trade, but they possess untapped natural resources. Senegal and Mauritania are important transit and origin countries when it comes to migration and along with Guinea-Bissau are struggling to contain drug trafficking, both issues of concern for the Trump administration.
In their speeches, each African leader adopted a flattering tone to commend Trump for what they described as his peace efforts across the world and tried to outshine one another by listing the untapped natural resources their nations possess.
“We have a great deal of resources,” said Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, president of Mauritania, listing rare earths, as well as manganese, uranium and possibly lithium. “We have a lot of opportunities to offer in terms of investment.”
Last month, the U.S. administration facilitated a peace deal between Rwanda and Congo to help end the decades long deadly fighting in eastern Congo, while enabling the U.S. to gain access to critical minerals in the region. But analysts said it won’t end the fighting because the most prominent armed group said it does not apply to it.
During the meeting, Trump described trade as a diplomatic tool. Trade “seems to be a foundation” for him to settle disputes between countries, he said.
“You guys are going to fight, we’re not going to trade,” Trump said. “And we seem to be quite successful in doing that.”
He added, addressing the African leaders: “There is a lot of anger on your continent.”
As he spoke, the U.S. administration continued sending out notifications to developing countries about higher tariff rates effective from August 1. The five Western African nations were not among them.
The portion of the lunch meeting that was open to the press didn’t touch much on the loss of aid, which critics say will result in millions of deaths.
“We have closed the USAID group to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse,” Trump said Wednesday. “And we’re working tirelessly to forge new economic opportunities involving both the United States and many African nations.”
West African countries are among the hardest hit by the dissolution of USAID. The U.S. support in Liberia amounted to 2.6% of the country’s gross national income, the highest percentage anywhere in the world, according to the Center for Global Development.
Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai in a statement “expressed optimism about the outcomes of the summit, reaffirming Liberia’s commitment to regional stability, democratic governance and inclusive economic growth.”
During the meeting, Trump reacted with visible surprise to Boakai’s English-speaking skills, which he praised. English is the official language of Liberia, which was established in the early 1800s with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and free-born Black citizens from the United States.
Gabon, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal are among 36 countries that might be included in the possible expansion of Trump’s travel ban.
Experts said that the meeting highlighted the new transactional nature of the relationship between the U.S. and Africa.
“We are likely to see a trend where African countries will seek to leverage resources such as critical minerals, or infrastructure such as ports, to attract US commercial entities in order to maintain favorable relations with the current US administration,” aid Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at Control Risks, a security consulting firm. “Each of the African leaders sought to leverage natural resources in exchange for US financial and security investments, and appeared to view the U.S. intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a model to further cooperation.”
President Joseph Boakai following the Summit returned home Saturday afternoon with cheers over praises lavished on him by President Trump of English fluency
However, observers are concern about the outcome of the summit for Liberia that continued to battled effects of the USAID aid cut.
Contrast this with the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit held by President Joe Biden in December 2022. That event welcomed more than 40 African heads of state, as well as the African Union, civil society, and private sector leaders. It prioritized peer-to-peer dialogue and the AU’s Agenda 2063 – a far cry from Trump’s choreographed spectacle.
How the Trump administration concluded that five men could represent the entire continent remains baffling, unless, of course, this wasn’t about representation at all, but control. Trump didn’t want engagement; he wanted performance. And sadly, his guests obliged.
IPNEWS understand that Gabon is now reaping dividends of the summit in the tone of us$500 Million in new investment package.
On the sidelines of his official meeting at the White House, Gabon is already seeing tangible benefits from its participation in the ongoing US-Africa Summit, as President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema secured a major investment deal aimed at boosting the country’s mining and agricultural sectors.
On the sidelines of the multilateral summit—an initiative led by U.S. President Donald Trump—President Nguema presided over the official signing of a landmark agreement between the Gabonese Republic and Millennial Potash Group. The deal, worth an estimated $500 million, is set to kickstart operations at the Mayumba potash deposit.
According to a release from the Présidence de la République Gabonaise via its Facebook page, the agreement will see the production of 800,000 tonnes of fertilizer annually and is projected to create at least 975 direct jobs for Gabonese citizens. This project forms part of a broader effort to not only stimulate the local economy but also enhance food security and sustainable agricultural practices through domestic fertilizer production.
During the signing ceremony, President Nguema emphasized Gabon’s openness to stronger economic ties with the United States, especially in key sectors such as infrastructure development, energy, and local industrial transformation. “This is more than an investment,” Nguema noted. “It’s a clear signal that Gabon is open for business and serious about forging sustainable partnerships that directly benefit our people.”
The US-Africa Summit continues to provide a platform for African leaders and U.S. policymakers, investors, and business leaders to engage on economic cooperation and investment opportunities. Gabon’s swift engagement and early success story could serve as a blueprint for other African nations looking to attract foreign direct investment through strategic diplomacy.
As the summit progresses, Gabon’s government says it is poised to announce additional bilateral discussions and cooperation agreements, underlining its renewed vision for economic diversification and sustainable development.
For his part, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, held several strategic hearings in Washington, according to the Présidence de la République du Sénégal, official facebook page of the presidency.
The page reports that “he met with a high-level delegation of Boeing, led by Mr. Michael Schnabel, Executive Vice President in Charge of International Operations. The exchanges focused on strengthening the partnership with Air Senegal, including through the acquisition of high-performance aircraft, the development of local capabilities, and the creation of skilled jobs in the Senegalese aviation sector.”
The Senegalese President on day 2 served as host for the United States Chamber of Commerce at a roundtable gathering about 30 executives of American companies, laying out “his clear, bold and attractive economic vision for Senegal,” showcasing reforms in improving the country’s business climate, while outlining investment opportunities in “energy, afri-food industry, infrastructure, digital economy and natural resources (oil and gas).”
The Chamber announced at the event an upcoming “publication of an investment guide specifically dedicated to Senegal, aimed at further supporting American investors.”
President Faye also met with the leaders of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to discuss prospects for enhanced cooperation in ongoing and upcoming structural economic development projects in Senegal.
The Senegalese leader then had exchanges with senior Senegalese executives in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank on economic issues and opportunities for sustainable growth for the West African country.
“President Diomaye concluded his visit by giving an audience to Mr. Christopher Landau, Deputy Secretary of State and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the DFC (American Development Financing Corporation). He expressed the United States’ affirmed willingness to strengthen its economic cooperation with Senegal through increased investment and increased collaboration between the private sectors of the two countries,” the Presidency’s communication channel noted.
