Antony Blinken

“ And the United States is committed to working closely with you as you determine how best to meet your specific needs for expanded energy access and economic development, as well as the climate targets that you’ve set. We’re also committed to helping you support the workers and communities who will bear the greatest short-term costs of the shift to clean energy. All that is part and parcel of making what we call a just energy transition. ”

“ They expand our horizons in unexpected ways. To solve problems, yes, but also to marvel, to explore, to inspire. There is so much more for African nations and the United States to do together across so many fields, including some we may not even have discovered yet. As partners, that horizon is ours to make. ”

“ Put simply, the United States and African nations can’t achieve any of our shared priorities, whether that’s recovering from the pandemic, creating broad-based economic opportunity, addressing the climate crisis, expanding energy access, revitalizing democracies, strengthening the free and open international order – we can’t do any of that if we don’t work together as equal partners. ”

“ Sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for 15 percent of the world’s population, produces only 3 percent of emissions. And historically, major economies like ours took steps to develop that we’re now asking others to forgo because we’ve understood the impact on climate.
We recognize this imbalance places a greater responsibility on countries like the United States, both to reduce our own emissions, but also to help other countries make the transition to clean energy and adapt to a changing climate. ”

“ The United States recognizes that African countries face real security concerns, and that countless communities are afflicted by the twin scourges of terrorism and violence. But the answer to those problems is not Wagner, it’s not any other mercenary group. The answer is working to build more effective, accountable African security forces, which respect people’s rights, and tackling the marginalization that often drives people to criminal or extremist groups. ”

“ African citizens want democracy – that is clear. The question – the question is whether African governments can make democracy deliver by improving the lives of their citizens in tangible ways. That is a challenge that is not unique to Africa. It’s one facing democracies in every part of the world, including the United States. ”

“ It’s also fitting because South Africa’s struggle for freedom, and the courage and sacrifices of those who led it, continues to inspire people around the world. We know that in your nation, like ours, the long walk to freedom is unfinished. ”

“ Now, for as long as they’ve had their independence, African countries have also recognized that the right of nations to chart their own path is bound up in ensuring the right of individual citizens to do the same thing.
So this brings me to our second priority: working with African partners to fulfill the promise of democracy.
The overwhelming majority of people across Africa prefer democracy to any other form of government. Even greater majorities oppose the authoritarian alternatives to democracy. More than 70 percent reject military rule ”

“ In each of these places, we’re starting by asking our local partners where our help can make the biggest difference. And we’re drawing on decades of lessons learned in conflict prevention, such as cultivating relationships between community leaders, government officials, and security forces, which are vital to defusing tensions before they erupt into violence; and building resilience to the destabilizing impacts of climate change, like more frequent, more severe droughts. ”

“ We’re rallying other countries and international institutions to step up on key challenges, like debt relief. Together with South Africa and other members of the G20, we helped develop a Common Framework for Debt Relief, bringing in China and other creditors for the very first time. For Zambia, this collective commitment is poised to unlock $1.4 billion in an IMF program designed to help the country return to a stable economic path and foster more resilient, inclusive growth for the Zambian people. ”

“ The United States is there for African countries in this unprecedented crisis, because that’s what partners do for each other, and because helping Africans jumpstart a broad-based recovery and build resilience to weather future shocks is vital to our shared prosperity. ”

“ We’ll focus on the connection between democracy and security. History shows that strong democracies tend to be more stable and less prone to conflict – and that poor governance, exclusion, and corruption inherent in weak democracies makes them more vulnerable to extremist movements as well as to foreign interference. That includes the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group, which exploits instability to pillage resources and commit abuses with impunity, as we’ve seen in Mali and the Central African Republic. ”

“ We won’t treat democracy as an area where Africa has problems and the United States has solutions. We recognize that our democracies face common challenges, which we need to tackle together, as equals, alongside other governments, civil society, and citizens. ”

“ Our future depends on young people like the scholars and practitioners who come here to study. And, as you’ve heard, by 2050, one in four people on the planet we share will be African. They will shape the destiny not only of this continent but of the world. ”

“ Finally, it’s fitting to set out our strategy here in South Africa because there is such a deep bond between our nations and people, and all we have in common as vibrant democracies whose diversity remains our greatest strength. ”

“ Now, leaders across Africa have made clear that while they are committed to doing their part to reduce climate change, they need greater and more reliable energy access to meet people’s urgent needs and growing needs. ”

“ These efforts are making a lasting difference in the lives of millions of Africans. That’s what we’ve seen during the pandemic, when, in addition to providing more than 170 million doses of safe, effective COVID vaccines to African countries – free of charge and with more to come – the health systems we’ve built together over decades have saved countless lives. Clinics that we’ve built together have tended to people with the most severe COVID cases. Community health workers we helped train have gone door to door, getting jabs into arms. ”

“ For decades, African citizens, African countries, the bloc of African nations pushed for these very priorities. And today, to the benefit of people in the United States and all nations, these are the world’s priorities. ”

“ We know the pandemic has dealt a devastating blow to Africa – lives lost, livelihoods shattered. More than 55 million Africans have been driven into poverty by the pandemic, setting back decades of hard-earned progress. ”

“ Across a range of fields, the United States is working with African partners to try to unlock innovation and growth. As we do, we’re building on African-led initiatives, such as the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, which, when fully implemented will comprise the fifth largest economic bloc in the world, and also the African Union’s Agenda 2063. ”

“ These are big numbers, and we have – we talk about numbers, and it sometimes defies us really understanding what it’s all about. Each of these numbers is an individual life, an individual destiny, an individual story. ”

“ Openness also means creating pathways for the free flow of ideas, information, investment, which in the 21st century requires digital connectivity. So the United States is partnering with African governments, businesses, entrepreneurs to build and adapt the infrastructure that enables that connectivity – an open, reliable, interoperable, secure internet ”

“ The United States is committed to raising $200 billion towards this effort, and we’re already implementing projects that are focused on health, on digital infrastructure, empowering women and girls, energy, and climate.
Consider youth. Yesterday, I met with alumni of the Mandela Washington Fellowship. Since President Obama launched the program eight years ago, more than 5,000 rising leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa have come to the United States for academic and leadership training – buildings skills and, as important, relationships that will last a lifetime. ”

“ Every one of these elections is an opportunity for African citizens and nations to reaffirm that leaders are accountable to their people, and strengthen the case for democracy in the region and around the world. ”

“ Our initiative called Feed the Future will invest $11 billion over five years in 20 partner countries, 16 of which are in Africa. And a new initiative we launched with the United Arab Emirates is turbo-charging investment and innovation in climate smart agriculture. ”

“ And it is fitting to set out the strategy here, on the Future Africa campus, an institution whose mission is bringing together people from different disciplines, backgrounds, and nationalities to tackle some of the most vexing challenges of our time. ”

“ That was the spirit that animated the 100 countries that came together for the Summit for Democracy President Biden hosted last December. It will drive the African Leaders Summit that the United States will host this December for the first time since 2014 – providing an opportunity to build greater momentum around tackling shared priorities.
We will work with partners to tackle 21st century threats to democracy like misinformation, digital surveillance, weaponized corruption. ”

“ Now, I could not agree more with the foreign minister – not all countries bear equal responsibility for this crisis. The United States has around 4 percent of the world’s population; we contribute about 11 percent of global emissions, making us the second-biggest emitter after China. ”

“ That’s why, at COP26, President Biden committed to work with our Congress to dedicate $3 billion a year to help people in the most vulnerable countries adapt to the impacts of climate change. As home to 17 of the world’s 20 most climate-vulnerable countries, much of this aid will go to sub-Saharan Africa. ”

“ That means delivering real incentives for governments and communities to choose conservation over deforestation, not just pledges, because the lasting consequences of losing forests like the one in the Congo Basin – the world’s first lung – they will be devastating and irreversible for local communities as well as for communities around the world. ”

“ Now, one reason internet service is so spotty in places like Mozambique is because providers rely on data centers that are hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away. We’re working with African countries and businesses to change that. ”

“ Even before President Putin launched his full invasion, 193 million people worldwide were in need of humanitarian food assistance. The World Bank believes that Russia’s invasion could add another 40 million people to this unprecedented number. Most are in Africa. ”

“ Today, PEPFAR supports 70,000 health clinics, 3,000 laboratories, 300,000 health workers, and countless DREAMS ambassadors, who help keep adolescent girls and young women safe from HIV, including, I think, some who are with us today in this audience. ”

“ That is the equivalent of taking about 10,000 cars off the road. In Kenya, where 90 percent of the energy comes from renewable sources, U.S. firms have invested $570 million into off-grid energy markets, creating 40,000 green jobs. ”