NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, August 7, 2014

This week U.S. investors and African leaders from the African continent will converge on Washington D.C. for the inaugural US – Africa Leader’s Summit. The Summit, designed to promote trade and investment in Africa and encourage U.S. private sector investment in Africa, is a major step in the U.S.’s efforts to establish a new relationship in Africa — with the hopes of counteracting China, who have been capitalizing on Africa’s investment potential. What will they find? Undoubtedly, these U.S. investors will find an Africa that has enormous investment potential and with a population that is ready to break out. These U.S. investors will find an Africa that is hungry for U.S. investment, expertise, and rule of law. And as these U.S. investors engage, and high-return opportunities are spotted and due diligence has been conducted; memories of failed business interventions in Africa will be revived and old stereotypes will emerge.