50 African States To Attend Us-Africa Summit

Fifty African countries will be participating in a planned U.S.-Africa summit, due to open in Washington on August 4, a U.S. diplomat said Thursday.



"Fifty governments have already confirmed participation of whom most will be represented by heads of government," Grant Harris, special assistant to President Barack Obama and senior director for African affairs, told Anadolu Agency in a telephonic press briefing from Washington.



The three-day summit will address a broad spectrum of issues, including development in the African continent.



"Investing in Africa's development is the focus of the summit," Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said.



The summit will give the U.S. the opportunity to renew its commitment for long-standing partnership with Africa, she said.



Thomas-Greenfield said that while development, trade and investment will take a center stage at the summit, the threat of terrorism will also be raised.



The idea for the summit, which takes place with Washington increasingly aware of China's attempt to enhance its own diplomatic profile in Africa, was first announced by Obama last June.



On Wednesday, 500 African students were introduced in a ceremony in Washington as the start of their three-month rigorous training under Obama's Young African Leaders' Initiative (YALI).



On the occasion, Obama announced the renaming of the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders in honor of Nelson Mandela.



The U.S. leader also announced his intention to double the number of annual participants in the Mandela Washington Fellowship to 1000 by the summer of 2016.



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