We've seen African summits in Paris, Brussels, Beijing and Ankara. For the second time ever, after 2014, Washington is hosting an African leaders' summit. With superpower rivalries heating up, no long lectures are planned on human rights and corruption. Instead, the Biden administration is bowing to the African Union’s own blueprint for sustainable growth. Is it the same script as former colonial powers France and Britain?
We ask about trade and security but also about soft power: in a globalised world, the West wants to rally support and counter disinformation. On that score, what is the responsibility of a US tech sector whose outsized power can unwittingly fuel that disinformation?
And if US politicians can now find Africa on a map, it is also because of a spectacular surge in immigrants from the continent. How much clout do the dual citizens from countries like Nigeria and Ethiopia carry inside the Beltway? How do they impact politics in their countries of origin?
Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Juliette Laurain and Imen Mellaz.
