Dr. Oulie Keita, Executive Director of Greenpeace Africa, has sharply criticized the US-Africa summit held on July 9, 2025, in an opinion piece sent to APA.
She denounced the meeting as a “neocolonial maneuver” primarily focused on resource exploitation, arguing it deviated significantly from the principles of a genuine partnership.
What was presented as a high-level summit between the United States and five African nations (Senegal, Mauritania, Gabon, Liberia, and Guinea-Bissau) was, in Greenpeace Africa’s view, little more than “diplomatic staging in the service of extractive interests.” Dr. Keita’s opinion piece, titled “Until the lion learns to write: Trump’s summit and the making of another African deal,” directly castigated the White House gathering chaired by Donald Trump.
“This summit was not a victory; it was a warning,” Dr. Keita asserted, contending that the mere presence of African leaders did not reflect a relationship of equals. She believes the meeting’s true agenda revolved around securing access to the continent’s strategic resources—including bauxite, offshore gas, and critical minerals—rather than fostering cooperation based on African needs and aspirations.
Facade of rhetoric, entrenched interests
Dr. Keita argues that behind the official rhetoric of trade and a shift from “aid to trade,” Washington’s primary objective was to secure its supply chains, particularly amidst geopolitical competition with China and Russia. “Africa is once again the playing field, not the referee,” she lamented.
She cited Guinea, the world’s leading bauxite exporter, as an example, noting that most of its bauxite is neither processed locally nor subject to strict regulations. “In Boke, communities breathe toxic dust, lose their farmland, and drink polluted water while multinationals rake in billions,” she wrote. Similarly, Senegal and Mauritania, rich in natural gas and possessing strategic coastlines, are at the heart of this covetousness. “Fossil fuel companies prowl like vultures, promising development even as local fisheries are collapsing and marine ecosystems are under pressure,” she added.
A summit without climate, without solidarity
Dr. Keita found the complete absence of any reference to climate justice particularly disturbing, especially when “every country in this room is already bearing the brunt of the impacts of climate change.”
Furthermore, Donald Trump’s proposals on migration, which reportedly involved asking certain African states to accept migrants expelled from other regions in exchange for economic aid, evoked for her a policy of disguised colonial subcontracting. Only Guinea-Bissau’s President, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, reportedly publicly rejected this agreement, a rare moment of resistance, though even his stance included openness to cooperation with Washington, Beijing, and and Moscow.
For Greenpeace Africa, a major persistent issue is the continent’s diplomatic fragmentation. “There is no common doctrine, no collective negotiation strategy. And as long as Africa negotiates in a disjointed manner, it will remain vulnerable to deals that serve external agendas,” Dr. Keita concluded.
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