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A US-Africa Energy Summit that was expected to take place later this month has been cancelled after US declined to issue travel African invitees.
A notice to prospective attendees from organizers said that the fully booked two-day event had been abandoned “because of the denial of US visas to the vast majority of registered African participants, which, as a result, defeated the purpose of the summit and made it untenable.”
Among those who had been slated to make speeches at the event was Olivier Kamanzi, the Rwandan head of the Chicago-based Africa Global Chamber of Commerce. The summit was to take place in Madison, the capital of the state of Wisconsin.
Other scheduled speakers at the event were ambassadors to the US from Botswana, Ghana and South Africa along with the coordinator of former President Obama's Power Africa programme.
“This is part of a broad policy of the Trump administration to deny, stall and obstruct visa requests regardless of their source,” said Samba Baldeh, a native of Gambia and an elected official in Madison.
“These denials are for everyone, from visits from a member of an immediate family, to former heads of State.”
"The inability of most invitees from Africa to obtain US visas squandered a great opportunity for energy-deprived nations to work with advanced energy providers of the US and Wisconsin," Mr Baldeh added in comments reported by the Wisconsin State Journal.
"This policy isolated the US from the business and culture of the rest of the world."
A similar US-Africa summit scheduled to be held in California in March this year was abandoned because none of 60 African government and business leaders were able to obtain visas.
"Three previous African Global Economic and Development conferences went ahead despite denial of visas to about 40 per cent of participants who would have traveled from Africa," lead organiser Mary Flowers told Voice of America.
“This year it was 100 per cent. Every delegation. And it was sad to see because these people were so disheartened," Ms Flowers noted.
"I have to say that most of us feel it's a discrimination issue with the African nations," she added.
"We experience it over and over and over, and the people being rejected are legitimate business people with ties to the continent."
Comments
Imara, It true that majority elected Trump despite his attacks on Obama,and generally "foreigners".But what does that tell you about the people who elected him. What it tells me is that they align with his ideology. My opinion is that, regardless of what type of government a country has, its the will/mentality of the people that shape on how they should be ruled.A dictator might flex some muscles for awhile forcing people to do what he wants, but eventually people will revolt.
@Maxiley:
Thank you for your objective comments about my post. I would like to make some immediate changes about my comments. It was not "democracy" that made it possible for Donald to be elected president, it was the "electoral
college win" that made it possible for him to be the current US president. Why? In terms of democratic votes, Hillary had over 3 million people vote for her more than Donald!
@Imara, just like everything else, democracy has its pros and cons... and the law is an ass. Once in several decades/centuries some old laws become redundant, some new scenarios present that cannot be solved using the 'archaic' laws...
Legislators, whom the voters depend on to make the laws get lazy and/or hit a blank ... and egos take over.... the biggest ego, then, wins a Trump or a Raila .... and the popular candidate, takes home an Hillary or Uhuru... Fair or unfair depends on which side one is.
You ask who the biggest loser is; me and you, the voter. Sad!
Why hold the summit before confirming that the actual participants could come.This will continue to happen next time confirm that invitees will get visas first and insist on RSVP .
Listen, we can't force people to accept us in their homes. They owe us nothing (colonial plundering apart, and that's the UK).
You can't force someone not to be racist, but you have the power to shape your destiny, and your environment.
I'm all for cooperation between countries and exchange of ideas, but, we need to acknowledge that we can't always depend on people's goodwill.
It's quite interesting that people are lamenting and crying at being turned back, instead of being angry at their leaders and holding them accountable for not making their countries as good as the US. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention; perhaps the Trump administration will create a necessity across the world. I hope this neglect from sugardaddy US will force Africans to look inwards and draw inspiration from the millions of local bright minds.
The time is nigh.
Another thing, why not hold the summit in Africa?
African representatives want to go shopping...
Why not have teleconference?
My thoughts exactly hold the summit in Africa let the Americans get the visas, it was an African summit after all.
It is time the powerful thinking minds of the world come up with a better political construct. "Democracy" has outlived its usefulness! It is now dangerous to humanity. Why? Democracy gave us Adolph Hitler. This man was voted by the people of Germany. After he was defeated in the second world war, over 70 million people had lost their lives.
If we carefully look at all the current democratically elected leaders, there are some we wonder how they could have been elected especially if we examine their activities in their countries and elsewhere.
Donald Trump harassed Barack Obama for years beginning from 2011 until 2016 with his "birther" movement. He claimed that Barack was born in Kenya, not Hawaii. He forced Barack show the American people his birth certificate. This did not satisfy Donald's friend the former Sheriff of Maricopa country in Arizona, Mr. Joseph Michael Arpaio. Donald further questioned his (Barack Obama) educational background by demanding that Barack show him his college transcript. He (Donald)so said many nasty things about women, Mexicans, and Muslims! Yet "democracy" gave him the US presidency!