Major Trade and Investment Deals Following the 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit

July 12, 2023 Mary

In December 2022, President Biden hosted leaders from across the African continent for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, DC. At the Summit, business and government leaders committed to catalyzing trade and investment deals and partnerships which will create jobs and foster shared prosperity for people across the African continent and the United States.

Today at the U.S.-Africa Business Summit hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa and the Government of Botswana, the U.S. delegation announced that since the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in December, the Biden-Harris Administration has helped close 75 new deals between the United States and African countries for a total estimated value of $5.7 billion in two-way trade and investment.

Since 2021, the U.S. Government has helped close more than 900 deals across 47 African countries for a total estimated value of $22 billion in two-way trade and investment. As the Administration’s flagship infrastructure initiative, the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) is helping to advance and scale several of these public and private investments across the continent.

The U.S. delegation also marked significant progress in delivering on the $15 billion in commitments made by business and government leaders at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022, as well as the additional $8 billion in private sector commitments and $1 billion in U.S. Government commitments made in conjunction with Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit to Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia in March 2023. These mutually beneficial partnerships advance shared priority areas, including sustainable energy, health systems, food security/agribusiness, digital connectivity, infrastructure, and finance.

Key achievements include the following:

Since December, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has authorized approximately $1.6 billion of transactions supporting exports to Africa. During the Vice President’s recent trip to the region, EXIM and the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania announced an MOU to facilitate up to $500 million in U.S. export financing to Tanzania. In June, EXIM approved an initial $900 million in financing for two solar projects to generate over 500 megawatts of renewable power and provide access to clean energy resources across Angola, estimated to support 1,600 jobs.
Since December, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has funded eight feasibility studies since the Summit to advance the implementation of over $1 billion in digital connectivity, clean energy, and healthcare infrastructure projects on the continent. In addition, USTDA arranged reverse trade missions focused on airport infrastructure and last-minute connectivity, with the intent to connect African public and private sector representatives with the latest U.S. technologies, services, and financing solutions.
Since December, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has committed nearly $110 million in financing to projects across the continent. This builds on DFC’s announcements from the Summit of $369 million in new active commitments across Africa, more than $2.4 billion in active commitments to support development projects across Africa since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, and a total portfolio in Africa of more than $11 billion as of December 2022.
The Digital Transformation with Africa (DTA) Initiative established the African Digital Policy Council to coordinate this signature $800 million initiative’s investment in the continent’s digital future. Vice President Harris in April issued a “call to action” to the private sector and philanthropic community to make direct investments and social impact commitments to advance digital inclusion in Africa. This work will directly support DTA’s aim to make sure that people across Africa can participate in the global digital economy.
In April, Prosper Africa, in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the Africa Tech for Trade Alliance and saw the close of $274 million in long-term financing for affordable housing across West Africa. With USAID, the Prosper Africa initiative has launched Buyer-Supplier Partnerships across the continent; rolled out a Catalytic Investment Facility in partnership with nine African funds; and launched Continental Services that support businesses in maximizing opportunities under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Today, the Administration announced British A. Robinson as the new Prosper Africa Coordinator.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and USAID, in partnership with Prosper Africa, closed a deal with Moroccan Government-owned financial institution La Société Nationale de Garantie et du financement de l’Entreprise (commercially branded as Tamwilcom) to expand a green credit guarantee product in Morocco that will unlock commercial bank lending for small businesses to invest in climate-friendly projects in the country’s industrial zones, unlocking up to $100 million in guarantees, mobilizing up to $160 million in commercial loans, and catalyzing up to $200 million in private investment.
Since the launch of the U.S.-Africa Clean-Tech Energy Network (CTEN) in December, 24 U.S. clean-tech companies have joined the network, strengthening the cleantech ecosystem to improve energy access through power generation, newly established electricity connections, and spurring U.S. clean energy exports. Power Africa‘s Health Electrification and Telecommunications Alliance (HETA), a public-private partnership, is investing $47 million to leverage more than $150 million of private sector resources to install reliable, renewable power and provide mobile network and internet access for at least 10,000 health facilities across sub-Saharan Africa. CTEN, coordinated by Power Africa and Prosper Africa, launched at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, links clean technology energy companies in the U.S. and Africa to close $350 million of new clean energy deals over the next five years.
Since December, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)approved over $9 million in export loans to support U.S. small business exports to the continent. These loans together supported nearly $20 million in U.S. small business goods and services sales to North and Sub-Saharan African customers.

Since announcing their commitments at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, businesses and investors have closed on deals across the continent. A full progress report on the trade and investment commitments made at the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit and as part of Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to the continent can be accessed here: https://www.prosperafrica.gov/u-s-africa-leaders-summit-progress-report/