DAKAR – U.S. President Donald Trump is hosting five West African leaders on Wednesday for a “multilateral lunch” at the White House as the region reels from the impact of sweeping U.S. aid cuts.
The surprise meeting with the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau comes as the Trump administration has taken radical steps it said are meant to reshape the U.S. relationship with Africa.
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The leaders are expected to discuss key areas of cooperation including economic development, security, infrastructure and democracy, according to a statement from Liberia's presidency.
The White House said “this discussion and lunch dialogue with African heads of state was arranged because President Trump believes that African countries offer incredible commercial opportunities which benefit both the American people and our African partners.”
Earlier this month, U.S. authorities dissolved theU.S. Agency for International Development and said it was no longer following what they called “a charity-based foreign aid model” and instead will focus on partnerships with nations that show “both the ability and willingness to help themselves.”
The U.S. African Affairs senior bureau official Troy Fitrell earlier this year said the Trump administration wants to focus on eliminating trade deficits with Africa.
“Assistance involves a donor and a recipient, but commerce is an exchange between equals,” he said.
Critics say the abrupt shift will result in millions of deaths.
A study published in the Lancet medical journal late last month projected that USAID’s dismantling and deep funding cuts would lead to more than 14 million additional deaths globally by 2030, including 4.5 million children.
West African countries are among the hardest hit by the dissolution of USAID. The U.S. support in Liberia amounted to 2.6% of the country’s gross national income, the highest percentage anywhere in the world, according to the Center for Global Development.
The five nations whose leaders are meeting Trump represent a small fraction of U.S.-Africa trade, but they possess untapped natural resources. Senegal and Mauritania are important transit and origin countries when it comes to migration, and along with Guinea-Bissau are struggling to contain drug trafficking, both issues of concern for the Trump administration.
Liberia's President Joseph Nyuma Boakai in a statement “expressed optimism about the outcomes of the summit, reaffirming Liberia’s commitment to regional stability, democratic governance and inclusive economic growth."
Gabon, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal are among 36 countries which might be included in the possible expansion of Trump's travel ban.
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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.