This decision comes in the face of strong calls from U.S. politicians to change the summit’s location. Their primary concern? South Africa’s alleged deepening military ties with Russia, according to a Reuters report.
The summit in question, known as the U.S.-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum, is scheduled to convene in Johannesburg, South Africa’s capital, from November 2 to 4. Both U.S. and South African officials jointly announced this plan in a statement released just this Wednesday.
On the agenda are crucial discussions surrounding the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which currently provides tariff-free access to the American market and is set to expire on September 30, 2025. Additionally, the summit will delve into the future of Washington’s primary trade initiative for the African continent.
The origins of the diplomatic tensions trace back to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In the aftermath, U.S. and European leaders made concerted efforts to rally African nations against Moscow’s actions. However, despite these efforts, most African countries chose to remain neutral on the matter.
Despite South Africa’s declared neutrality, Washington has expressed growing concerns about what it perceives as increasingly close relations between Russia and South Africa. South Africa is a significant trading partner of the United States in Africa, adding to these concerns.
In a significant development, prominent figures in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate penned a letter in June, urging the Joe Biden administration to consider an alternative location for the US-Africa trade forum. They also hinted at the possibility of revoking South Africa’s trade privileges under AGOA.
Their reasoning pointed to South Africa’s participation in joint naval exercises with China and Russia in February, as well as plans to host Russian President Vladimir Putin at a BRICS bloc conference.
Interestingly, these senators appeared to support the U.S. ambassador to South Africa’s assertion that a Russian warship under sanctions had amassed weaponry at a South African naval base last year.
In a subsequent turn of events, Putin decided against attending the BRICS conference, despite being sought by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of war crimes related to Ukraine. Additionally, a South African investigation into the alleged arms shipment found no evidence to substantiate the accusations.
As diplomatic tensions simmer, Ebrahim Patel, South Africa’s trade minister, has called for an extension of AGOA during his remarks on September 20, in an attempt to move past these contentious issues.
