US President Joe Biden pledges visit to sub-Saharan Africa

US President Joe Biden announced plans to visit sub-Saharan Africa soon. The US is working to expand its presence in the region and counter the influence of Russia and China.

"We're all going to be seeing you and you're going to see a lot of us," Biden told the nearly 50 African leaders as he attended the third day of a US-Africa summit in the US capital.

The visit would be Biden's first to sub-Saharan Africa since he became president. It would even be almost his first formal visit to the continent, barring a quick stop in November in Egypt.

Biden has focused his foreign visits in the two years he's been president on Asia and Europe, as he sought to bolster Indo-Pacific ties and coordinate western unification against Russia, and less urgently also China.

However, US officials have stressed ahead of the summit that the US must strengthen ties with the African continent, where both China and Russia enjoy a heavy presence.

In the summer, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken embarked on a three-nation African tour to promote his country's new strategy for sub-Saharan Africa, which seeks to counter the influence of China and Russia in the region.

Support for AU getting permanent G20 role

Biden also supported a permanent role for the African Union within the Group of 20 economies.

"Africa belongs to the table in every room — every room for global challenges that are being discussed — and in every institution," he said.

Earlier in September, the US president had called for an African permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

The ongoing summit is the first since former US President Barack Obama hosted African leaders in Washington in 2014.

The Biden administration has pledged $55 billion (€52 billion) worth of public investment, private investment, aid, and trade deals across Africa. Biden said this was "just the beginning."

rmt/sms (AFP, AP)