(Reuters) -The first African leaders’ summit of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term will be held next week in Washington, with heads of state from western and central African nations, media reports said on Wednesday.
The news was first reported by Africa Intelligence and confirmed to Semafor by a person familiar with the plans.
The meeting will take place from July 9-11 and will be attended by Trump and leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal, according to the reports. Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports.
The Trump administration has axed swaths of U.S. foreign aid for Africa as part of a plan to curb spending it considers wasteful and not aligned with Trump’s “America First” policies. It says it wants to focus on trade and investment and to drive mutual prosperity.
On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was abandoning what he called a charity-based model and will favor those nations that demonstrate “both the ability and willingness to help themselves”.
U.S. envoys in Africa will be rated on commercial deals struck, African Affairs senior bureau official Troy Fitrel said in May, describing it as the new strategy for support on the continent.
(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese)
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