What African leaders should focus on during trade summit with US

US President Joe Biden’s administration has invited African leaders to Washington, DC next week. African leaders should focus on three big priorities on the summit’s trade agenda. These are approaching trade issues as a bloc. Second, seeking the renewal of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and third, defending the AfCFTA.

First, African countries should approach trade issues at the summit as a bloc. Strength comes in numbers especially considering the size of the US economy relative to Africa. Other major regions like the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) often act as a bloc to ensure their continued geopolitical relevance. The advantage of negotiating as a group is that it is more likely to give African leaders more bargaining power than having the US negotiate individual free trade agreements with individual countries. Negotiating as a bloc will further the African Union’s objectives of achieving trade integration at the continental level, under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).