Sec. Pompeo’s Visit to Morocco: Enhancing Economic and Security Cooperation

Office of the Spokesperson
Department of State
Washington DC

December 5, 2019

Secretary Pompeo will travel to Morocco on December 5, where he will participate in a series of bilateral meetings with senior officials. The Secretary will reinforce the value of our partnership, the importance of our security, commercial, and development cooperation in achieving regional stability and countering the Iranian regime’s malign activities, and the impact of the United States’ support for Morocco’s efforts to grow its economy and increase employment, especially among Moroccan youth.

ADVANCING STRONG PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN AMERICA AND MOROCCO

• In 1777, Morocco was the first country to grant diplomatic recognition to the United States of America. That same year, Morocco opened its ports to the ships of the new American republic, allowing us to engage in trade and commerce and supporting our fight for freedom. Our friendship has endured. Together, we are focused on unlocking the potential of all our citizens to ensure the continued prosperity and security of both our countries.

• Morocco is also the only country in Africa with which we have a Free Trade Agreement. Since the pact entered into force in 2006, Moroccan exports to the United States have more than doubled and the value of our bilateral trade has grown five-fold.

• The United States and Morocco enjoy an economic development partnership, as highlighted in Special Advisor Trump’s recent trip to Morocco, which focused on Millennium Challenge Corporation and USAID efforts to promote gender equality in all aspects of the country’s growth. USAID’s strategy also includes countering violent extremism in high-risk urban and suburban areas in northern Morocco to reintegrate at-risk youth into their communities.

• Morocco is home to the oldest and largest Peace Corps program in the region, welcoming more than 5,000 Peace Corps Volunteers over the past 55 years. Today, almost 200 Peace Corps Volunteers work to strengthen the ties between our two nations while enhancing the life skills of Moroccan youth and encouraging volunteerism.

• The American Legation in Tangier is the oldest U.S. diplomatic property in the world and the only building outside the United States on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. In 2021, the Legation will celebrate its 200th anniversary as a U.S. diplomatic property.

SPURRING MOMENTUM ON THE REGION’S MOST CHALLENGING ISSUES

• Morocco remains a partner on a range of security issues. It participates in more than 100 military engagements with us yearly and is a partner in our International Military Education and Training program, and in the Defeat ISIS Coalition.

• Morocco also takes a leadership role in African security. It contributes more than 2,000 soldiers to UN peacekeeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic and plays a key role in expanding regional security capabilities.

• Morocco is an ally in the Administration’s campaign to promote regional security and will host the Warsaw Process Counterterrorism Working Group in February 2020.

• Under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Morocco is essential to the global fight against terrorism. At U.S. request, Morocco is a co-chair of the Global Counterterrorism Forum, as well as chair of the Forum’s working group on foreign terrorist fighters. Our joint efforts on military cooperation, counterterrorism, and regional stability means the relationship – and foreign assistance funding – benefit Americans and Moroccans alike.

• Morocco is a recognized regional leader in promoting religious co-existence and interfaith dialogue. On October 3-4, in partnership with the United States, Morocco hosted the First Regional Conference on Cultural Heritage Protection for Religious Communities in support of the Potomac Declaration and freedom of religion.

The United States to Elevate Diplomatic Representation with Sudan

Press Statement
Michael R. Pompeo
Secretary of State
Washington, DC

December 4, 2019

The Department of State warmly welcomes Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on his first visit to Washington. “Today, we are pleased to announce that the United States and Sudan have decided to initiate the process of exchanging ambassadors after a 23-year gap.” This decision is a meaningful step forward in strengthening the U.S.-Sudan bilateral relationship, particularly as the civilian-led transitional government works to implement the vast reforms under the political agreement and constitutional declaration of August 17, 2019. We look forward to working with the Senate to confirm an ambassador to Sudan.

Since his August 21 appointment, Prime Minister Hamdok has led Sudan’s transitional government, installed a civilian cabinet, and made key personnel changes to break with the policies and practices of the previous regime. He has demonstrated a commitment to peace negotiations with armed opposition groups, established a commission of inquiry to investigate violence against protestors, and committed to holding democratic elections at the end of the 39-month transition period.

The United States remains a steadfast partner of the Sudanese people and their pursuit of peace, security, prosperity, democracy, and equality.

U.S. Partnership with the African Union – Fact Sheet

Office of the Spokesperson
Department of State
Washington, DC
November 15, 2019

Since the United States became the first non-African country to establish a dedicated diplomatic mission to the African Union in 2006, the United States and African Union Commission (AUC) have built an enduring partnership based on mutual interests and shared values. The United States has worked with the AUC, since launching an official High Level Dialogue in 2013, to advance our partnership in four critical areas: peace and security; democracy and governance; economic growth, trade, and investment; and opportunity and development. Discussions at the 7th U.S.-AUC High Level Dialogue held November 14-15, 2019 in Washington, D.C. advanced mutual interests in advancing stability and building economic opportunity.

Robust and Growing Economic Ties

• The United States has provided sustained advisory support of the AUC Peace Support Operations Division since 2005.
• The United States has supported 23 AU member states in strengthening their capacity to prepare, deploy, and sustain peacekeepers in UN peace operations and AMISOM.

Prevention and Addressing the Causes of Fragility and Instability

• The United States has planned support for the harmonization of AU and Regional Economic Communities to benefit the African Continental Early Warning System.
• To prevent violent extremism, the United States has provided sustained security sector and development assistance, notably through AU leadership and participation in an Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) regional workshop on Strategic Approaches to countering violent extremism.
• U.S. support has totaled over $487 million for conventional weapons destruction (CWD) activities throughout Africa, including humanitarian demining to enhance civilian security and lay the groundwork for sustainable development, and weapons and ammunition management programs that prevent the illicit diversion of small arms, light weapons, and ammunition to terrorists and criminals.
• The United States has provided over $10 million to establish the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and enable it to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreaks of infectious diseases on the continent, including the secondment of two U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) experts, the creation of an Emergency Operation Center, and the training of epidemiologists and incident managers.

Maritime Security and the Blue Economy

• The United States has provided direct advisor support of AUC Peace Support Operations Division work toward operationalization of 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy through support of maritime dialogue workshops.
• The United States has planned support for the eventual creation of a dedicated maritime/blue economy department within the AUC in 2020.

Strengthening Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

• The United States has continued coordination with the AU on its efforts to ensure participation of marginalized communities in 2020 elections and other political processes of AU member states.
• A recent award of $650,000 supports the AU’s Campaign to End Child Marriage in line with the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender Based Violence Globally.
• The United States awarded of $4.8 million to support the establishment of the AU Hybrid Court for South Sudan to ensure accountability for crimes committed in conflict.

Women’s Empowerment

• The United States has deployed tools for African women entrepreneurs under the U.S. Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative:
  • The United States supported the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) with $50 million to advance women’s entrepreneurship in economies around the globe. In May 2019, We-Fi awarded the African Development Bank (AfDB) $61.8 million for its program “Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa” (AFAWA) to improve access to finance for women-owned/led small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) in 21 African countries.
  • In addition to the AFAWA initiative, the We-Fi awarded the World Bank Group $75 million for their project entitled “Creating Markets for All.” The project addresses the barriers that constrain women-owned and led SMEs at multiple levels including financial and market access. Complementary non-financial services provided are to address constraints for women. The project targets 18 countries globally, including ten sub-Saharan African Countries.
  • The United States launched the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) in several AU member states to support African women entrepreneurs in fulfilling their economic potential through facilitated online education, networking, and access to mentorship. Building on the success of the inaugural cohort, AWE will scale and expand to provide thousands more the opportunity to build sustainable businesses.
  • The United States launched the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation’s (OPIC) 2X Africa initiative, a gender-lens investment guideline to directly invest $350 million to help mobilize $1 billion in capital to support women-owned, women-led, and women-supporting projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• The United States strengthened professional networking, business development, financing, and trade capacity building opportunities for International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) entrepreneurship program participants, which resulted in a network of more than 60,000 women entrepreneurs and 44 business chapter associations across Africa. African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP) and other IVLP alumnae have created more than 17,000 jobs in the region.

• The United States leveraged the AWEP network, Beninese civil society, and the government of Benin, to implement SHE’s GREAT! Benin, a program that empowers girls and connects them to skills in agricultural science sustainability techniques and robotics, renewable energy, and app design skills to address and overcome the complex social and economic challenges that girls face around the world. In addition to providing improved technical skills and leadership training, and resources to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV), including harmful traditional practices, SHE’s GREAT! Benin links girls and boys to networks of mentors and partners eager to support them as they execute community projects and learn new strategies for continuing their education, and for girls’ pursuit of careers which are not traditional for women.
• The United States committed $50 million to the World Bank’s We-Fi to increase access among AU member states to financial services for women entrepreneurs, women-owned and women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and women customers of financial services providers.

A Level Playing Field for U.S. Business

• The United States and AUC are collaborating through on-going, exchanges of best practices and technical support to the AU to reach its African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) objectives of lowering barriers to trade and investment, boosting competitiveness and attracting investment, diversifying trade, and helping countries move up the value chain.The U.S. government modernized processes for facilitating two-way trade and investment with Africa through Prosper Africa, a U.S. initiative rolled out earlier this year to boost two-way trade and investment between the United States and Africa by bringing together the full range of U.S. government resources. Prosper Africa envisions establishing a single, consolidated virtual platform that facilitates transactions by identifying opportunities, expediting deals, and managing risk through a variety of programs; and partnering with African governments to enact reforms that foster transparent, predictable, and resilient business climates.

Agricultural and Food Safety Cooperation

• Facilitated by U.S. support, the AU’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Policy Framework was completed by the AU Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture, and approved by the AUC Specialized Technical Committee, in October 2019.

Digital Economy and Cyber Cooperation

• The United States placed a new International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Advisor (ICHIP) at the U.S. Mission to the African Union to train AU member state law enforcement officials.
• The United States is providing additional programmatic support to the U.S. Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI), which includes capacity building for African ICT officials. The majority of USTTI participants are from Africa.
• Planned regionally-based workshops on national cyber strategies include an April 2020 workshop on national cyber strategies for 10 AU member states and a September 2020 workshop on cybercrime and national cyber strategies for AU member states.
• The United States provided assistance to AU member states to improve cyber incident handling, including a November 2019 workshop on Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) and information exchange for nine AU member states.

Asst. Sec. Tibor Nagy And AU Commissioner for Peace and Stability Smail Chergui – Briefing

Commissioner Smail Chergui
Photo: African Union

Office of the Spokesperson
Department of State
Washington, DC

November 15, 2019

MR BROWN: All right, thanks, everybody, for being here once again. Today we’re lucky enough to be joined by two officials from our Bureau for African Affairs: Assistant Secretary Tibor Nagy and Commissioner Smail Chergui of the African Union. They’re here to talk about the U.S.-African Union Commission high dialogue that just took place for the last two days, and we’re going to treat this on the record, both initial statements and Q&A afterwards. And we’ll start off with opening comments from these two gentlemen, so please.

When we get to questions, in an orderly fashion, please.



ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: Me first, huh? Okay. Before I make any opening statement, I did want to just mention that my dear friend – we actually worked together in Ethiopia back – 1999 to 2002. We were both ambassadors there at the same time and we worked together on the Ethiopian-Eritrean peace process to end the war. So it was a delight to be back across from each other in the same conference room.

We just finished our seventh U.S.-African Union high-level dialogue. We alternate year by year. Last year it was in Addis Ababa; this year it was here in Washington D.C. We wanted to do a new format this year. We wanted a much more open dialogue, to have real exchange of ideas as opposed to prearranged topics, so our theme today was kind of along the lines of Africa through the windshield instead of the rear-view mirror, which has been kind of a theme of our Africa bureau for the past year-plus.

We had two major themes, and Commissioner Chergui can give you some more details on them, but his portfolio is peace and security, is commissioner for peace and security, so the first part of today’s – this morning, we talked about some of the what we call hot-button issues across Africa, the ones that are a challenge to peace and security. We talked at length about the Sahel. We spoke about South Sudan, spoke about Central African Republic, spoke about Somalia. That leaves a number of others that we could not get to within the time available. As we said, some of those issues are like deep swimming pools and the best we could do is kind of dip our feet in the water, but those will continue to be engaged between our two sides moving forward, obviously.

Then the second part of this morning’s high-level dialogue had to do on the economic, trade, and investment side, and for us in the Africa Bureau, that is one of our highest priorities, is dramatically increasing trade and investment between the United States and Africa. And we of course are delighted with the recent signing of the Africa-wide free trade area, and we discussed in detail how we can each take advantage of that, work with each other to support it, make a more conducive operating environment for U.S. businesses that are genuinely very, very interested in expanding in Africa. And very productive dialogue. We appreciated the exchange of views. We see a lot of issues in very similar ways. A few issues, obviously, we have some differences, but obviously we all want the same result: a peaceful, prosperous, stable Africa.

Overarching the entire discussion was the fact that we’ve talked about that before, that Africa’s population is going to double between now and 2050. Very few people in the world really are cognizant of that fact, but we very much are, as even by 2025, as the commissioner mentioned, 70 percent of Africans will be young and they will all be eagerly looking for jobs. So that’s something that the world will have to be assisting with.

And I’ll turn it over to my friend.

MR CHERGUI: Thank you, Tibor. I think you said it all, but I want just to confirm that this seventh session of the strategic dialogue was really conducive, was open, and was fruitful in the way that we addressed all the issues at hands, be it some situations of crisis that we have on the continent, but also the strategic issues in term of sharing the view that the most important thing for both of us is really to invest in prevention and human security. So – and to address those situations, that happily we secured agreements, like Central African Republic, on Sudan, and to make sure that we avoid relapses. So I think there is plenty of joint actions that we can undertake together.

We also highlighted the appreciation that we have in Africa for the capacity-building that we are getting from the United States, be it in the defense sector, security, but also in development. So happily, we have this new event that last time in Niamey we launched, as you know, this CFTA, which is a major game-changer for us, as it will provide us to have one market in the continent, thereafter giving new opportunities for the business community here to participate and to contribute to the development of the continent.

So I think we have discussed the issues at hand. Certainly, we are all concerned about the situation in South Sudan, and the extension of three months came as a way maybe to give them additional chance to cope with what we are expecting from them and put in place this transition government. But I think both our friends here in Washington and us think that this cannot be a game of extending all the time, but this is – this maybe – this is the last chance for them to respond to the – first the will of their own people. South Sudanese are tired of the war. I mean, the level of – the dimension of the humanitarian situation is really very difficult on the ground. So we also addressed the situation in Somalia where we are getting very welcomed support in addressing and in support in AMISOM to degrade Shabaab, and also supporting the economical and – endeavor of the government in term of bringing more transparency and good governance in the issues of the state, therefore, maybe allowing this country to benefit from better acknowledgement and maybe better treatment about its – the level of debt that they have.

We addressed also the situation in Sudan. We welcomed, indeed, the nomination of civilian government, and we are going to support the – first, the process of securing an agreement between the armed groups. Those negotiations, as you know, are taking place in Juba, South Sudan. But also, we discussed the best way to give a hand to the Sudanese people in term of the very appalling situation of their economy. I think that is critical. And that goes – that’s what we discussed, the issues of sanctions, how can we address and lift them so in order to allow this country to have a new start.

We also discussed Central Africa Republic. You know that we have a peace agreement since the 6th of February. It is holding, but we have challenges, indeed. Fourteen armed groups is not an easy issue to deal with, but we are maintaining permanent contact with the government, the armed groups, and all the stakeholders. And we highlighted the importance of also launching whatever development programs that can ease the situation for the populations in the remote area mainly where you find telling you, well, we are drinking the same water with the animals. So it’s a powerful message indicating the level of challenges we have to address.

So I think as we are moving to the elections, you can also see that some parties are trying to create a space for them and trying to destroy the agreement itself by – that’s the easiest way for them to attack the president is to destroy the agreement. So we are working together to undo those maybe intentions, but we – meanwhile, we are saying there is no more transition in that country. We – everybody has to stick to the electoral process and the dates in conformity with the constitution. So we cannot continue or – again and again, this country has been going in crisis, permanent crisis, so I think this time we are counting also on the leadership of the United States to support us in making things clear for everybody and making this peace process holding and respected by everybody.
 
We discussed in fact Sahel. I think that is the most difficult and challenging situation we have now in the continent. As you know, the threat of terrorism and violent extremism is expanding. It’s not anymore in north Mali only. It is going down to Burkina Faso and countries like Ghana, Togo, Benin are all on alert. So we have to see what can be done to stop the expansion, but also how can we address in a comprehensive way – it’s not only security and defense, it is also development. It’s also giving hope to people there so that they cannot be radicalized.

So let me stop here. But thank you very much for giving us this opportunity.

MR BROWN: I’ll take the first question from – all right, Shaun.

QUESTION: Sure. Shaun Tandon with AFP. Thanks for doing this, coming down here. Can I follow up on South Sudan? The U.S. had a quite strong statement after this delay, talking about re-evaluating the relationship. Of course, some in Africa, the Ugandans for example, have talked – and you just spoke right now about the idea of giving some time for reconciliation, what do you see – you speak of the last chance for them to have an agreement. What do you see in terms of what the U.S. will do to re-evaluation the relationship? What do you see as measures that you would both take?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: I don’t want to discuss those publicly. Sorry, guys. We’re – we’re implementing those as we speak, literally. You said it was a very strong statement. It’s very mild what – what we really thought at the time. No – so rest assured, we are very seriously re-evaluating our relationship, as Smail said. I think the whole entire international community had hoped that this would be November 12th, that there would be a unity government announced. We saw no reason why it could not happen. Unfortunately – and I would put quotes around the word “leaders” – are obviously quite content with the situation because the quote/unquote “Sudanese government” is not conducting the responsibilities that governments have towards their own people. The international community is providing the food, the medicines, basically all of the human needs that are the responsibilities of governments to do. They’re basically sitting back.

Contrast that situation with what happened in Sudan, that in the midst of political crises, the Sudanese were able to form a transition government without finding solutions for all of their very, very difficult problems. They set those aside, came up with a transition, and now are addressing those one after another in a process.

The South Sudanese didn’t. They – the cost to the international community is enormous, absolutely enormous. At some point the international community has to say enough is enough. We have a lot of tools available to us, and we will not hesitate to use them. And I’ll leave it at that.

QUESTION: But can I follow up on that? As you both acknowledged, we’ve seen this movie before. Sanctions have been put on both Salva Kiir and the –

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: Riek Machar.

QUESTION: Yeah, Machar. Thank you. And if the international community were to withhold some of the humanitarian aid, it would hurt the people of South Sudan, not the leadership. So when you say this is the last chance, my question is: Or what?

MR CHERGUI: For the leadership to respond to the seriousness of the situation, first politically, and then put in place this government, transitional government. This is key to address the other issues in terms of preparing the next elections – the issue of the number of the states, the issue of – I mean, addressing the humanitarian situation – I mean, you can name all the challenges that we have, but if we don’t have the transitional government, nothing can move.

QUESTION: Right, and so my question is: If that doesn’t happen, if there’s no transitional government, you said this is the last chance, and if they still don’t move forward, then what repercussions will they face?
 
ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: Rest assured, there are available mechanisms, tools available – and I’m not going to go any – into specifics, but I can assure you also that the entire international community is hyper-mobilized. I had, for example, a very productive telephone call this morning with His Grace The Archbishop of Canterbury, to show you just the level of interest around the world in this issue. We all recognize the horrible suffering that the South Sudanese people have had to endure, and it really is time to – it is way past time.

MR BROWN: Carol.

QUESTION: Well if the South – or if the Sudanese have done such an admirable job of being able to form a transitional government in the midst of all of their – all the problems that remain, why haven’t you lifted sanctions? When are you going to? Why don’t you reward that kind of thing by lifting sanctions and change the designation of them?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: Believe it or not, I have gotten that question and my colleagues have gotten that question in just about every single forum since the government, the transitional government, was formed in September. This is what I want to underline: One, we’ve had a 180-degree turn in our dealings with the Sudanese Government. Previously, it was a very – but it was an adversarial relationship in many respects. We now see the Sudanese Government as partners. That’s one. Two, ending sanctions and ending especially the state sponsor of terrorism, it’s not an event. It’s not flipping a light switch; it’s a process. And we are heavily, continuously engaged with our Sudanese interlocutors on how we can go about doing that. Again, I’m not going to put the details out in the public. This is something to be done behind closed doors.

QUESTION: Well, can you say how far along in the process you think you are?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: No. Nope. Nope.

QUESTION: You said you expect it next month.

MR BROWN: Robbie was next. (Inaudible.)

QUESTION: Can I just, as a quick follow on that?

MR BROWN: Follow up on the same question?

QUESTION: Can you say whether or not you would expect it to happen next month when the prime minister is expected to come to Washington?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: It will happen when it happens, as quickly as possible. Again, we’re working in partnership. That, to me, is the most important factor.

QUESTION: Can you confirm he’s coming to Washington next month?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: Neither confirm nor deny. Ask the Sudanese.

MR BROWN: Robbie was next.

QUESTION: Yeah, but – can I just – just to clarify – thanks, Robbie, I appreciate it. Are you committing then to lifting the sanctions? It’s just a matter of when, not if.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: No. No, because they’re – because it’s a process. There are conditions to such an event, so everybody is hoping that it will happen. Everybody is hoping that it will happen as quickly as possible because we all understand the hardships that it is causing. But again, to me the bottom line is we are now dealing with partners.

MR BROWN: Okay. Robbie?

QUESTION: Two questions, the first on South Sudan, three-month extension, but at the end of those three months, it’s the same actors at the top who are the ones who are responsible for not meeting the November 12th deadline. So how optimistic are you that three months from now there’s actually – they’re actually going to magically decide to form a new government? And I know you’re being coy about all options on the table. Your office has mentioned sanctions in the past. Would that come before or after the three-month deadline?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: You want to go first?

MR CHERGUI: I think coming from Addis, we just had the ministerial meeting of IGAD member states, which addressed thoroughly the situation. But also I had the chance to meet Riek Machar in August. The easiest thing is we told him, okay, what are you expecting, because he’s – we want to see him and the – and President Salva Kiir together. That’s the message to their nation. So we identified the elements that he wanted to be addressed before going back, and we are going to start working – we’ve already started working on them. So in my public address to the ministers meeting, I said we consider this additional three months as the extreme prolongment, but we are hoping that we can gather those conditions before, because now they are well-known. We have been discussing this over and over.

So we hope that this time things will go better, and we have the leaders of the region, mainly president of Uganda and president of Sudan themselves, who are also accompanying this process. It can be an added value to the process compared with the – what we had in the past. So if we have a kind of – and in consensus also with the neighbor of South Sudan, I think we might move quicker. But I agree with you, I think we have to remain vigilant in addressing such things, and we want to make sure that this time we’ll not miss the new date, because as you are saying, I mean, the Sudanese – South Sudanese people are really tired of this situation.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: And from my point of view, coy may also mean diplomatic discretion, but I will just read a statement – I will read one sentence from the statement that Morgan put out as spokesperson. This is talking about Kiir and Machar. “Their inability to achieve this basic demonstration of political will for the people of South Sudan calls into question their suitability to continue to lead the nation’s peace process,” end quote.

MR BROWN: Who’s next? Humeyra.

QUESTION: So can I ask you about Libya?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: No. Not my – you can ask this gentleman. He covers all of Africa. I get 46 countries south of the Sahara.

QUESTION: Okay, okay. Then I’ll ask you about what you said about rising terrorist threats in West Africa and beyond. Islamist groups around there long used gold and artisanal mining and then financed it with, like, diamonds. We have had quite a lot of investigations going in that area, and we see Burkina Faso and that area doing the same with gold, artisanal mining. What is the scale of this from your side? How worried are you about this? What are the tools that you’re deploying to prevent this?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: The Sahel is very, very difficult to discuss briefly. It is complicated. It’s a multilayered problem. It involves ethnic rivalries. It involves history. It involves the way borders were drawn. And on and on and on.

What started as a problem in northern Mali stemming from the flow of arms from Libya was severely mishandled by the Malian Government and has grown to first threaten other Sahelian states and now to threaten the littoral states of West Africa. I’m sure about Smail can tell you about his experience. I’ve had discussions with the leaders of most of those states, most recently yesterday with the Togolese foreign minister, and every one of those states is very concerned about – and I call it a cancer, cancer that started in Mali and how is infecting the region.

Just as the problem is multilayered and complex, the solution is going to be the same. It’s going to involve, first of all, the will of the governments impacted to face up to it in a very serious manner, starting, again, with Mali. There is a lot of mechanisms in place. There are the United Nations peacekeeping forces. There are the French with Operation Barkhane. There is a G5 Sahel Forces. Now ECOWAS is discussing very seriously getting involved and putting up incredible financial resources to confront this. There is the larger international community. There is the EU. There is obviously the African Union.

QUESTION: Is it working?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: No, it is not. We need to have a much, much more robust engagement. There has to be much more robust coordination. But at the end of the day, it gets back to the willingness, capabilities of the governments involved to confront the issue. And it started out with a couple of countries. Now it’s grown to many more than a couple, and more and more countries are involved. Those that take it very seriously and confront the problems.

The boundaries, as was discussed this morning during the discussion, the boundaries are artificial. You have to remember the boundaries were set at the Congress of Berlin, not through history and geography. So you have to treat it now as a regional problem by the entire international community in a coordinated, organized, very serious manner.

MR CHERGUI: Yeah. If you may allow me, I will add a new phenomenon which is killing more than terrorism. That’s the violence between the communities. And they are also manipulated by these armed groups. So I think the situation is more and more complicated, and I agree with Tibor that it’s also the fact that we have porous borders, the immensity of the desert, and if you take in account that the G5 force was composed of 5,000 troops only in this immensity, it’s just a drop. And even though it has not been operationalized until now, two years after the meeting in Brussels and the announcement made there, out of 414 millions only 18 arrived to the region. So you can see that, on one hand, the terrorism is expanding, and obviously, what we have in play is not helping to cover the situation. So I think the approach advanced by ECOWAS during their last summit in Burkina Faso might be the way out, because it’s the issue of appropriation also. They have put 1 billion on the table to support the security, I mean, apparatus of the region. So we are going to work with them in how we can revisit the ConOps of the forces that we have there, and now address the situation in the best way, but not always whenever we have crisis that the countries of the region have to look outside for the support.

QUESTION: Can you –

ASSISTANT SECRETARY NAGY: Can I add one thing? Because for American audiences especially, we say Sahel, very few people know what we’re talking about – and in the countries of the Sahel. When I was a professor and I talked about this, we have to remember each of those countries by themselves is twice as big as Texas. Burkina Faso is as big as one Texas. You know the others are twice as big. And we’re talking about that immense territory. These few numbers, it’s just incredible.

QUESTION: Can I ask the minister to follow up on –

MR CHERGUI: And then indeed, the response cannot be only security. You have also to add the development dimension which is very important, which means preventing additional radicalization of the youth both by terrorists but also you have all the criminal networks. And I think you spoke about the gold, but don’t forget also the drugs coming through Guinea-Bissau which is fueling terrorism also.

QUESTION: So from your perspective, why is it that the local governments –

MR BROWN: I hate to cut this off, but I have to get him to the White House.

QUESTION: I just would like to hear from – since he’s in from – coming from Africa about his perspective since we – that’s one we don’t get very often. Why is it Tibor said that the – it goes back to the willingness of the governments who are involved? Why do you believe the governments are not willing to participate in this? Are they corrupt? Is there not enough – or do they not have enough money to do it? What does that come down to?

MR CHERGUI: Well, I think the governments are doing their utmost efforts to cope with that situation. Now, as we were all saying, it is very complicated. It needs a lot of investment. It needs a lot of equipment. And the armies of these countries were not prepared or trained for such a challenge. It’s a new one which needs then a different approach which needs specific equipment. And that’s where we are. I mean, if you take Burkina Faso, they are in the stage of reconstitution of their army, but they don’t have a breath. They are just every day targeted. So I think it is really an appalling situation, but I think talking to partners like United States of America, I think together with other partners we have to deal with this global threat because, I mean, Sahel is not far from any country in the world.

MR BROWN: All right, thank you all.

QUESTION: Thank you.

7th Annual AUC – U.S. High-Level Dialogue Joint Communiqué

Photo: US Mission to the AU

Office of the Spokesperson
Department of State
Washington, DC

November 15, 2019

The African Union Commission (AUC) and the United States convened for the 7th Annual AUC – U.S. High-Level Dialogue, led by Ambassador David Hale, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and Ambassador Smaїl Chergui, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, on November 15, 2019, in Washington, D.C.  The AUC and the United States reaffirmed their strong commitment to collaboration, based on mutual interest and shared values.  The goals of the partnership include promoting peace and security, strengthening democratic institutions and human rights, empowering and increasing women and youth participation in economic transformation, strengthening regional integration, expanding trade and investment, and advancing sustainable economic development in Africa, which are all important goals of the AU development framework, Agenda 2063.

The two partners discussed how the AUC and the United States would strengthen their efforts to end and prevent conflict on the continent, and recognized the critical nexus between democratic governance, promotion of human rights, and stability.  They underscored their joint commitment to fully carry out the mandate of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda as an essential component for realizing peace and prosperity.  Finally, the AUC and the United States welcomed the AU’s 2020 theme of the year, “Silencing the Guns by 2020: Creating conducive conditions for Africa’s development” and looked forward to working to end violent conflict on the continent and address the menace of terrorism, trafficking and transnational crime.


The two sides discussed economic growth, trade, opportunity, and development, commending the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with a market of 1.2 billion people.  Highlighting the signing in August 2019 of a joint statement of support for the AfCFTA by Ambassador C.J. Mahoney, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), and Ambassador Albert Muchanga, AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry, officials welcomed Prosper Africa, the establishment of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, and the possibility of Millennium Challenge Corporation regional compacts, as these will promote sustainable economic development in Africa. Both sides further reaffirmed their support for the AfCFTA. The AUC highlighted its development agenda for regional integration, especially enhancing the AfCFTA as a strategic means to increase competitiveness and attractiveness to business.

Officials welcomed the AUC – U.S. joint communique to advance women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship, signed in April 2019, and look forward to additional cooperation in the near term.  They also acknowledged the importance of investing in projects that promote regional integration as an avenue for creating opportunities for African youth.

The AUC noted with satisfaction the endorsement of the second Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) biennial review report on the implementation of the Malabo declaration on agricultural transformation in Africa.  The two sides agreed to continue consultations on the establishment of the AU Food Safety Agency.

The two sides discussed deepening collaboration and augmenting resources for cyber security and digital economy capacity building efforts with a commitment of additional programmatic support to the U.S. Telecommunications Training Institute to increase technical training opportunities for African ICT regulators and policy makers.  Officials also discussed deepening collaboration on youth and education, especially university partnerships with an emphasis on long-term institutional links focused on national development.