U.S. President Donald Trump will host the presidents of Senegal, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Gabon for a lunch at the White House on Wednesday, with trade, investment, and security expected to top the agenda.
The five leaders, representing nations along Africa’s Atlantic coast, are meeting at Trump’s invitation, although the White House has released few details on the objectives of the gathering.
Officials from the visiting countries told AFP they see the meeting as an opportunity to shift their relationship with the U.S. from aid dependency to trade and investment partnerships. Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai accepted the invitation “with an eye on no longer being solely an aid recipient,” his press secretary, Kula Fofana, said.
Gabonese presidential spokesman Theophane Biyoghe described the meeting as a chance to foster “synergies centred around the industrialisation of our economy.”
The summit comes amid heightened U.S. focus on trade and securing critical mineral supply chains, though the five participating nations do not possess the same level of mineral wealth as countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Trump administration recently celebrated the formal closure of the USAID foreign aid agency, signalling a pivot from a “charity-based model” to one prioritising trade.
Security issues may also feature in the discussions, especially as the region has become a focus of Chinese and Russian engagement. Moscow has recently supported the formation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), comprising Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, which share borders with several of the visiting countries. Additionally, Guinea-Bissau, often used as a cocaine transit hub, recently handed over four convicted Latin American drug traffickers to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo described the visit as “very important,” saying it opens economic opportunities for his country and expressing hope for U.S. support.
While world leaders have occasionally faced tense moments during White House visits, including Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, Wednesday’s lunch is not scheduled to feature a press appearance by the five African presidents.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the lunch at the State Dining Room but provided no additional details. Last month, an internal administration memo revealed that the U.S. is considering adding Gabon, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal to a travel ban list covering 36 nations, adding another layer of complexity to the leaders’ visit.
AFP
