Since the African Union Commission (AUC) and the United States (US) government signed off on the Strategic Infrastructure and Investment Working Group (SIWG) in January, the platform has begun to take shape. Projects are being identified and institutional mechanisms built, as both sides test each other’s ability to deliver on their promises.
The SIWG is a promising new initiative aimed at securing investment inflows and developing trade in Africa, notably from the US private sector.
Signs of progress include an agreement between AUC Chairperson Mahmood Youssouf and US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau that the SIWG will align US capital and financing tools with AU-backed infrastructure. This will be informed by the AU’s Agenda 2063, Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
On the US side, the Bureau of African Affairs has been coordinating with the US International Development Finance Corporation and the Export-Import Bank of the US to set up a cross-departmental task force of agencies and US companies interested in investing in Africa. On the AU side, the Chairperson’s cabinet is organising the AUC’s components of the working group.
