US wants to counter Russian, Chinese influence in Africa

ACRA, Ghana - US Vice President announces numerous bilateral trade agreements to counter Chinese influence in Africa By Gerro Biko The US Vice president -Kamala Harris has announced numerous bilateral trade agreements with Ghana in a bid to ouster Chinese influence in the continent.

Kamala’s travel to the coastal West African states comes at a time when most countries are leaning towards the BRIC’s trading bloc. In support of the breadth and depth of our bilateral engagement, the Administration intends to provide $139 million in bilateral assistance for Ghana in Fiscal Year 2024.

President Biden transmitted to Congress the 10-year plan for implementing the U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability with the Coastal West African countries of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo.

Kamala announced that the Biden-Harris Administration intends to invest more than $100 million to support conflict prevention and stabilization efforts in Coastal West Africa, including at least $86 million in funding over three years specifically dedicated to the implementation of the new 10-year plan.

The plan is intended to address regional threats of violent extremism and instability in Coastal West Africa and enable the U.S. Government to work with Congress to marshal additional assistance to support efforts in the region over the coming years.

The United States supports the holistic approach being taken by Ghana, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Togo to address threats of violent extremism and instability, combining security, development, and peacebuilding. In support of these efforts, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State has begun implementing new programs to help strengthen economic development and increase governance and resilience in at-risk communities, including in northern Ghana.

For instance, USAID’s Africa Trade and Investment program, which the Vice President launched during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit Diaspora Forum, is working to increase regional trade and provide access to finance to entrepreneurs.

The United States is also collaborating with international partners to bolster joint investments in border governance to build unity of effort between local populations and security actors. US-Africa Bilateral Agreements signed during Kamala’s visit The U.S. The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) will deploy a full-time resident advisor in 2023, to Accra to assist the Ministry of Finance in developing and executing medium- to long-term reforms needed to improve debt sustainability and support a competitive, dynamic government debt market.

This project will complement and build on the Government of Ghana’s debt restructuring efforts. This project is part of OTA’s ongoing engagement to strengthen public financial management and financial sector oversight across sub-Saharan Africa.

This year, OTA will execute 25 projects in 15 African countries. This includes eight new projects in Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Zambia in revenue policy and administration; budget and financial accountability; government debt issuance and infrastructure financing; banking and financial services; and economic crimes.

The US also plans to work with Congress to provide support for women and youth entrepreneurs from multiple African countries by creating a Small Business Development Center at the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, which is headquartered in Accra. The AfCFTA forms the world’s largest free trade area by connecting almost 1.3 billion people across 54 African countries into a single market for goods and services.

This center aims to build the capacity of a woman- and youth-owned small and medium enterprises by providing the training and skills necessary to grow their businesses, export, and become stronger players in the African and global economy.

It's expected that the Biden administration will work with the AfCFTA Secretariat and a range of African and U.S. stakeholders to support the negotiations and implementation of this trade arrangement. As part of this support, the USAID-funded Commercial Law Development is providing a series of workshops and training on the AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth under a $950,000 program.

US to fund empowerment programs in Ghana to combat child labor, forced labor, and trafficking in Ghana with new investments of over $ 2 million and continued support and engagement with the Government of Ghana through the Child Labor in Cocoa Coordinating Group.

Ghana will also gain from the U.S. Government, through USAID and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which plans to provide approximately $20 million over the next three years (Fiscal Years 2022-2024 funds), pending the availability of appropriations and final funding allocations, to strengthen Ghana’s ability to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease outbreaks.

YALI Climate Tech Innovators and Leaders Program USAID plans to launch the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Climate Tech Innovators and Leaders Program, which will bring together young leaders and entrepreneurs committed to solving emerging challenges related to climate change, global warming, resilience, and sustainability. This pilot program intends to convene a cohort of 50 young leaders and entrepreneurs from across the continent at the YALI Regional Leadership Center in Accra.

Pan-African Nuclear Energy Training Program The Department of Energy is partnering with Ghana to establish a Clean Energy Training Center and will sponsor the Pan-African Nuclear Energy Training Program. The Ghana Clean Energy Training Center will offer a series of live online nuclear education and training courses made available to all African countries free of cost.

Equality Ambassadors Program US Energy-led Equality Ambassadors Program is seeking distinguished individuals from Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia in the clean energy field who can act as advocates for gender equality and take action to attract, retain, and inspire the next generation of women leaders in the clean energy sector. Clean Energy Technology Integration and Investment in Ghana Biden’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will provide technical power systems assistance and capacity building to Ghana’s publicly owned power generation company, the Volta River Authority, to support large-scale adoption of hybrid photovoltaic-wind systems.

This support will include technical and advisory services to improve the bankability of Ghana’s forthcoming competitive Independent Power Producer process. NREL will also provide technical assistance to Ghana’s transmission company and system operator, Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), to perform advanced modeling for variable solar and wind resources.

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