Leaders of five West African countries have begun their respective journeys to the United States for a scheduled summit to be hosted in Washington.
The leaders—representing Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal—are set to participate in the summit from July 9 to July 11.
Washington has cited “commercial opportunities” as the reason for the mini-summit.
Described as the first major diplomatic outreach to Africa by the Trump administration, the summit comes in the wake of several executive orders and travel bans targeting African nations—measures projected to affect the continent significantly, particularly South Africa, within just five months of Trump’s presidency.
Meanwhile, Ghana, which is not among the five invited countries, has initiated discussions with the U.S. government on being removed from the travel ban list issued in June. After deliberations with U.S. officials, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said, “President Mahama’s government is determined to take all necessary and strategic steps consistent with our national interest in ensuring that Ghana is not affected by the much talked about impending U.S visa ban.”
By: Kobina Baidoo
