The G7 Summit and Africa: Missed Opportunities & Unfulfilled Promises

The G7 Summit held in Taormina, Italy on 26th 27th May, 2017, ended up being a conundrum of missed opportunities and unfulfilled promises. Leaders of the seven most industrialized nations and democracies, were meant to collectively renew their commitment to shared values on democracy and global security. Presidents Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron both attended for the first time since their assumption of office, and were expected to bring fresh perspectives and ideas.

It was also an opportunity to meet with a select number of African Heads of State and Government; President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, President Issoufou Mahammadou of Niger, President Beji Caid Essebsi of Tunisia, President Alpha Conte of Guinea and Chairman of the African Union (AU), Acting President Yemi Osinbajo of Nigeria, and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia, had been invited, in line with existing practice, to the outreach session of Summit. Also invited to the outreach session, were the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinkunmi Adesina, The Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Jose Angel Gurria, The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mrs. Christine Lagarde, and the President of the World Bank, Jim Young Kim.

The G7 Summit was the last leg of President Trumps 5 nation tour and he was expected to build on the successes recorded in Saudi Arabia, Israel and Palestine. This was to be the grand finale of his first outing as the President of the United States of America and expectations were that he should end it on a high and positive note. The Summit provided an opportunity for Trump to speak with one voice, with his European partners, against terrorism, the growing threats of nuclear war, the question of immigration, climate change and Russias incursion into Ukraine. It was also an opportunity to engage African leaders at the outreach session and develop the African component of his foreign policy from the outcomes of the session. The global and regional finance institutions also invited to the session were on hand to assist in ensuring that the outcomes for Africas innovation and development were financially actionable.

Abdication of Opportunities for Leadership

Although the official communique alluded to a number of commitments, it was evident from the dour atmosphere around the leaders that all was not well. President Trump failed to provide global leadership. He felt seemingly awkward with his European peers and appeared not to show interest in committing to shared values on democratic governance, common security challenges and world vision. He was not inclined to any public comments or criticism of the Russian government or its leadership.

In fact, the substantive items on the agenda of the Summit were issues that he vigorously canvassed against during his presidential campaign. Any public repudiation of them would have hurt his political base at home and, for this reason, he deliberately took a non-committal stance, much to the disappointment of his European partners who expected pivotal global leadership from him.

President Trump showed very little interest in the issues on Africa. It was widely reported that he did not listen to the translations of the Italian Prime Minister address in which the later called for concerted global effort in stemming the immigration deluge from across the Mediterranean Sea into the Italian coastal city of Lampedusa. This proposal, despite its implications for global security and human rights concerns, was widely rejected even before the start of the G7 Summit. Not even the passionate plea of the Nigerien Leader, President Issoufou Mahammadou, to assist African countries curtail the wanton loss of migrant lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea, swayed the G7 leaders.

While President Trump did not show considerable interest in African issues, he nonetheless had a thumbs-up photo session with African leaders which many have described as patronizing. The photo session showed the African leaders in poor light. Critics opine that they should have shown more restrain in their excitement for a photo opportunity with President Trump, especially as they had failed to extract any commitment from him. The British Prime Minister Theresa May had a bit of a challenge. She had to rush back home, understandably, in the wake of the Manchester terror attack, but missed the opportunity to speak strongly on the issues concerning Africa. Her grand vision of a global Britain after Brexit would be counting on invigorated trading partnership with Africa.

Unfulfilled Promises

With little enthusiasm from the G7 Leaders, the Summit ended with nothing concrete on Africa. While it would seem an unfair conclusion to reach, the reality however is that since the first Africa outreach session was instituted in Genoa Italy in July, 2001, very little has been achieved, in spite of the promise, at the time, of an inclusive globalized world.

The outreach session with Africa was instituted as part of the inclusive global trend and to ensure that African voices and perspectives were also factored in global decision making process. The inaugural session in Genoa ended with commendable outcomes including the institution of the debt relief programme for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and the establishment of the Global Health Fund (GHF), to combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.

The outcomes were applauded as eloquent commitment of an inclusive world with common goals for economic development and shared prosperity, but the euphoria was quickly derailed by the twin tower terror attack of 9th September, 2001, the aftermath of which placed high priority on combating global terrorism. That attack changed the world and reset, in a profound manner, the global agenda. Since the 911 attack, the global fight against terrorism has cost according to very conservative guestimates, as much as, $4.5 trillion USD, diverting resources from other global challenges deserving attention including lifting Africa from poverty squalor and disease.

The glaring disparities in living conditions, health, education, access to information, clean water, food, shelter and environment and infrastructural standards, between poor and rich nations, have accounted not only for the migratory pull to the developed world but also the dreadful hate, divisive and extremist rhetoric that fuel terrorism.

The 2017 G7 Summit presented the leaders of the free world with another opportunity to unequivocally renew the commitment to an inclusive agenda on global challenges. Its outcomes, very sadly, point to a diffident world leadership unable to speak decisively on the right to life and security and our common global humanity. It will be recorded in history, for its actions and inactions, not only for Africa but the world, as a summit of unfulfilled promises and lost opportunities.