US-hosted Africa summit opens with focus on youth, security

By MATTHEW LEE and AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has opened the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington by spotlighting Africa’s youthful population. She’s making the case that the continent’s demographics will inevitably lead it to become a key global player in the decades to come. Harris offered the optimistic thread on Tuesday at the start of the Biden administration’s three-day summit that’s bringing in leaders from 49 African nations and the African Union for high-level talks. The vice president also announced that the administration would invest an additional $100 million to expand the Young African Leaders Initiative and that the U.S. Export-Import Bank was entering new memorandums of understanding that will clear the way for $1 billion in new commercial financing in Africa.