The United States government has given the assurance that the war in Ukraine will not affect trade and investment between the US and Africa.
According to the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee, the US remains committed and is looking to boost its development policy and partnership with the African continent.
Addressing the media in a digital briefing on the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine in the context of its impact on nations of the African continent, Molly Phee said, “We remain committed to our work to promote trade and investment in Africa from the United States and African trade with Americans to help develop your economies and create jobs. We also remain committed to doing what we can to promote an end to conflict on your continent, and we remain supportive in the humanitarian space addressing Africans who are suffering from conflict in the continent.”
She further indicated that, “We remain interested in helping you deal with the impact of climate change and supporting the protection of your natural resources so that they can be used by you and can contribute to a better environment for the entire community. So we are not going to change our policy. We remain interested in continuing to elevate and deepen our partnership”.
With the current aggression ongoing in Ukraine, Africans have been urged to rise with a common voice and condemned the attacks by Russia.
The conflict is not only affecting Ukraine, the impact is also being felt on African economies with a sharp rise in fuel prices and other commodities across the continent including Ghana.
Molly Phee stated that the United States government has started engaging with other international leaders to stabilize the fuel and commodity sector.
“There is an acknowledgment that there are immediate impacts, as we’ve discussed, on the fuel and commodity sectors, but there are also ongoing efforts by the United States and other international partners to take steps to stabilize energy prices, to improve supply chains, to maybe develop new African supply chains to Europe – new relationships.”
