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Washington, US | BBC | US President Donald Trump began a three-day summit in Washington DC with the leaders of five African states, an event the White House sees as an “incredible” commercial opportunity.
Trump’s guests include the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal – none of whom represent the major economies of the continent.
The meetings are expected to concentrate on Trump’s “trade, not aid” policy and with all of them facing 10% tariffs on goods exported to the US, they may be hoping to do deals to negotiate this rate down.
During a televised lunch at the White House on Wednesday, the African leaders lavished Trump with praise while encouraging US economic partnership.
Seated diagonally from Trump across a long wooden table, Mauritania President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani was the first African leader to speak.
“In the short time you’ve been back in office, the last few months you came to the rescue for peace,” Ghazouani said.
“You rushed to Africa to resolve a longstanding problem,” he continued, referring to a peace deal between Dr Congo and Rwanda facilitated by the White House.
His remarks were echoed by the other African state leaders, most of whom made direct comments in support of Trump being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye complimented his golf skills, inviting him to build a golf course in Senegal.
“Thank you very much. Very nice. Thank you. I didn’t know I’d be treated this nicely. This is great,” Trump responded. “We could do this all day long.”
The African state heads also used the platform to talk about their respective natural resources and raw materials, including rare earth minerals. Some made direct appeals to US investors and the president.
Faye spoke about the prospect of building a “tech city” in Dakar with “views of the sea”, and said: “I would like to invite American investors to take part in this”.
Gabon President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema said his country has “a great deal of resources”, including rare earth minerals.
“You are welcome to come and invest, otherwise other countries might come instead of you,” Nguema said.
Senegal’s former ambassador to Washington, Babacar Diagne, said the invitations to the African leaders reflected the recent “paradigm shift” in US policy towards the continent.
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SOURCE: BBC
