President Joe Biden announced Thursday the U.S. will spend $75 million on aiding African voting systems.
“My administration will work with the United States Congress to invest $75 million to strengthen transparent, accountable governance; facilities — facilitate voter registration; support constitutional reform; and more,” Biden said while speaking at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.
The aid comes as part of a broader initiative to reaffirm “the U.S. commitment to engage with complex political transitions in Africa.”
The administration also plans to invest $1.8 million towards transforming “digital spaces to reflect feminist democratic principles” in Africa, and has pledged over $6.5 billion to the continent since President Joe Biden’s inauguration “to support peace, security, democracy, human rights, and governance in Africa.”
The president announced Thursday the administration will work to pledge $55 billion to “invest in Africa’s people, Africa’s infrastructure, Africa’s agriculture, Africa’s health system, Africa’s security,” and said he “may show up” in some African countries.
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 15: (L-R) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, President Joe Biden and African Union Chairperson Macky Sall (R) participates in the Leaders Session – Partnering on Agenda 2063 at the U.S. – Africa Leaders Summit on December 15, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit is the first one held since 2014. Forty-nine African leaders traveled to Washington, D.C. for the summit, which aimed to facilitate U.S.-African relations amid increasing Chinese and Russian influence in the continent. (RELATED: Biden Claims There Will ‘Surely’ Be Another Pandemic While Kicking Off U.S.-Africa Summit)
At the summit, Biden proposed inviting the African Union to be a permanent member of the G20, and said America committed its “original sin” during its time of slavery.
“We remember the stolen men and women and children who were brought to our shores in chains, subjected to unimaginable cruelty. My nation’s original sin was that period,” Biden said Wednesday at the Summit dinner.
“We honor their descendants, who our generations have — for generations have helped build this country and propel it to higher heights, leading the charge, blazing new trails, and forging a better future for everyone in America,” the president added.