In reaction to what they described as South Africa’s “deepening military relationship” with Russia, a group of US lawmakers has called for the relocation of a U.S.-Africa trade summit scheduled for later this year.
In a letter to Antony Blinken, the secretary of state of the United States, and other top lawmakers, they also warned that South Africa would lose its benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the nation’s premier trade initiative.
The AGOA Forum, a gathering of American and African leaders to explore the program’s future before it expires in 2025, will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In the first three months of this year, South Africa’s exports to the United States under AGOA totaled around $1 billion, making it the second-largest beneficiary of the program behind Nigeria.
African countries are attempting to extend AGOA, which gives exports from eligible nations privileged access to the US market.
“We are seriously concerned that hosting the 2023 AGOA Forum in South Africa would serve as an implicit endorsement of South Africa’s damaging support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the letter, dated June 9, stated.
Referring to the letter, South African foreign ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela said on Twitter: “There is no decision by the State Department/White House to move the AGOA Forum from SA.”
The Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa, which oversees the nation’s trade relations with the United States, stated it had no plans to respond to the letter in public.
President Joe Biden’s special assistant for Africa, Judd Devermont, stated that South Africa’s “potential security partnership with Russia” was a concern for both the White House and Congress.
He would not, however, indicate whether the administration was thinking about moving the AGOA Forum’s location.
“I’m not going to get into the specifics of private conversations with the South Africans, but be sure we are having these conversations,” he told an online media briefing.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is taking part in an endeavor by African leaders to resolve the situation. The government of South Africa has announced its neutrality in the conflict in Ukraine.
However, the lawmakers expressed displeasure with South Africa’s plans to host joint naval operations with China and Russia in February and its intention to host a summit of the BRICS leaders, to which Russian President Vladimir Putin is invited despite being accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
