# Nigeria - United States Department of State

- Digital Press Briefing on the U.S.-Africa Business Summit Joy Basu, Deputy Assistant SecretaryBureau of African AffairsAlice Albright, CEO, Millennium Challenge CorporationReta Jo Lewis, President and Chair of the Board of Directors, Export-Import Bank of the United StatesMODERATOR:  Good afternoon to everyone from the U.S. Department of State’s Africa Regional Media Hub.  I welcome our participants logging in from across the continent and thank all of you for joining this discussion on the topic of the ongoing U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Dallas, Texas.  Today, we are very pleased to be joined by the U.S. Department of State’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs, Joy Basu, the Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Alice Albright, and President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, Reta Jo Lewis.  Our speakers will review the 2024 U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Dallas and how the U.S. works to increase trade and investment in Africa. We will begin today’s briefing with opening remarks from our speakers and then we’ll turn to your questions.  We’ll try to get to as many of them as we can during the briefing. So with that, I’d like to turn it over to the president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, Reta Jo Lewis, for her opening remarks.  MS LEWIS:  Good morning and thank you very much.  It is such a pleasure to be here with all of you to speak about the Export-Import Bank of the United States’ commitment to fostering economic collaboration with nations in Africa.  The Export-Import Bank – as we call it, EXIM – is the official export credit agency of the United States.  We actually were established as of February – this February – 90 years ago.  EXIM has played a very critical role in fostering economic opportunity for U.S. companies and for partnering nations that American companies do business with around the world.   It is very exciting to be here at the Corporate Council on Africa’s U.S. annual meeting, and it has given us an opportunity to talk about the work that we have and to make some major announcements.  As those of you who do not know, EXIM offers direct loans, loan guarantees, and insurance products backed by the full faith and credit of the United States to support the exports of U.S.-made goods and services.   So we were actually proud to be able to announce that – on Tuesday, we announced alongside the president of Angola, where we participated in a signing ceremony to celebrate the closing of three key partnerships for global infrastructure and investment, PGII projects, in Angola.  The projects that we signed are historic direct loans for more than 900 million to support the construction of two solar energy power plants in Angola.  The project is the largest renewable energy project and largest transaction in Sub-Saharan Africa in EXIM’s 90-year history.   We also celebrated the closing of a 363 million transaction on the – our China and Transformational Export Program, which we call CTEP, which goes to support the export of small business Acrow Corporation’s prefabricated modular steel bridges and related equipment to construct bridge infrastructure across Angola.   And then the final transaction that we were able to announce with President Lourenço and signed by his minister of finance, Minister Vera Daves, was a final transaction for 42 million to support Gates Air’s export of EXIM – of FM transmitters, towers, training, and other equipment.  This authorization is going to help extend the Angolan Government’s ability to communicate by radio with approximately 95 percent of the country’s population.   These were projects that we were – have been working with the Government of Angola for the last year, and we know that these are the types of projects that epitomizes our commitment to the Biden-Harris administration’s PGII objectives, a collaborative effort by U.S. Government agencies to support sustainable, clean, resilient, and inclusive infrastructure projects. So our commitment to Sub-Saharan Africa is also one of our key mandates that Congress has placed on us since we were reauthorized in 2019 to make more financing available in Sub-Saharan Africa.  And we know there is still more work to be done.  We’re eager to continue building upon our strong work on the commitment – on the strong work on the continent and are excited to be here at the U.S.-Africa Business Summit to seek out additional new opportunities to support U.S. exporters doing business in Sub-Saharan Africa.   MODERATOR:  Thank you very much, Chair Lewis.  So for her opening remarks, now we’d like to go to CEO Alice Albright.  MS ALBRIGHT:  Thank you.  Thank you very much.  Good morning, good afternoon.  Wonderful to be with everybody.  So it’s a very exciting week for us.  There is, of course, as Chair Lewis has just said, the U.S.-Africa Business Summit going on.  It’s the 16th Summit, and there’s a lot of energy in the room, with a number of U.S. agencies there and then a number of participants, heads of state from the continent, and a number of businesses.  It was just a terrific – it is a terrific environment.   MCC has a lot going on in the continent.  One of the things that we also did this week was we celebrated 20 years of MCC being in operation.  We were started in 2004 by President Bush.  And since our founding, we’ve been squarely focused on working on the continent.  Of the $17 billion that we’ve invested globally so far, 10 billion of it has gone to the continent.  We’ve worked in 24 countries.  We’ve done – of the 10, almost all of it relates to infrastructure in one way or another.  We also have a lot going on right now in the continent.  We’ve got about $3 billion in active programs. So in addition to meeting with a lot of our partners, this week we also announced the implementation or the start of implementation of, as I’m very proud to say, our 79th program, and it is a $350 million program in Malawi to help farmers get their goods to market cheaper and faster.  So we are very excited about that.  We also had a chance to meet with a number of our bilateral partners – of course, President Chakwera was with us to announce the project.  We also had a wonderful meeting with President Neves from Cabo Verde.  Of course, Cabo Verde was one of our earliest partners at MCC, and we announced – well, we announced it earlier this year.  We had a chance to speak with him further about something that we think is going to be very interesting, which is a regional program with an island nation, and I think it speaks to that country’s very strong vision for the role that they occupy where they are.   From a trade and regional investment perspective, we think that our regional program is going to really be very additive to our work, and we’ve got a number of different regional programs that are in various states of play.   And then another program that we’re – I’m just jumping around a bit, but another program that we’re very excited about is our program in Mozambique we signed this past fall, and it’s a half-a-billion-dollar program that will focus on various aspects of infrastructure in Mozambique.  One big piece of it is a significant investment to restore the bridge that connects the southern – the Mocuba* Bridge that connects the southern part of the country to the northern part of the country, and it’s become very vulnerable due to flooding and other things to do with climate change.  So we’re very excited about that. We have a lot of other things going on.  We have currently $3 billion in active programs in the continent, and I’m happy to answer further questions about them if we have time.  But let me turn it back over to you all so you can get on to other questions.  Thank you. MODERATOR:  Thank you very much, CEO Albright.  So finally for her opening statement, let’s turn to Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joy Basu. MS BASU:  Thank you so much, and thank you, everyone, for joining.  Good afternoon.  Thank you for your time today and thank you for the important work you do as journalists.  A free press is a critical part of a thriving democracy, and we know that those values go hand in hand with a thriving economy.  So thank you for the important work that you do, and we’re just very – I feel very lucky to be here with Chair Lewis and with CEO Albright.   I will just wrap up very quickly by saying it’s been a successful Summit for us so far, and it’s really exciting to see how much progress has been made with the U.S.-Africa trade relationship not only since the December 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, but since I was with so many of you last summer in Gaborone at the CCA Summit last year.   We had a very comprehensive interagency delegation here to meet with the – I believe the final number of participants from CCA was 1,789, so almost 1,800 people were here.  And we had representation from across our interagency. As you heard from my colleagues, so much of the work that our interagency does is focused on energy and infrastructure, because that is so foundational to the work that other industries create.  We also had incredible deal signings with USTDA and Malawi, working on battery storage; with DFC and Sierra Leone, working on energy.  And we had meetings here to build on those industries with healthcare, with agriculture, and cross-functional industries like ICT. I think the goal of this is to really reiterate the U.S. commitment to Africa and the U.S. commitment to a 21st century economic partnership with the continent.  And the work here at USABS is really helping to partner with our African governments and African and American private sector to facilitate private sector-led economic growth and prosperity. So let me wrap there.  I’m very excited for your questions.  Thank you.  MODERATOR:  Well, thank you very much to each of our panelists today.  We’ll now begin the question-and-answer portion of today’s briefing. So for our first question today, we have a question from Mr. Andualem Sisay Gessesse of the New Business Ethiopia.  And his question is directed to Chair Reta Jo Lewis, and that question is this:  “Can you please explain the major achievements of the Export-Import Bank of the United States in advancing trade and investment with African countries over the past few years and your plans ahead to further enhance and support U.S. companies to invest in African countries and boost trade between the two sides?” So, Chair Lewis. MS LEWIS:  Yes, thank you so much for that question.  One of the things that we are very excited about is that EXIM, as I mentioned, is celebrating our 90th anniversary this year.  And our support for Africa really dates to nearly that beginning.  Since we did our first deal in Angola in 1942, EXIM has had a strong and reliable – and a trading partnership for Africa.  And so since 1997, that has been underscored by EXIM’s congressional mandate to build partnerships and increase financings in the region. I – in Fiscal Year 2023, not only did we – we approved over 1.6 billion in authorizations for Sub-Saharan Africa that I just mentioned, we also have undertaken over five trips and traveling throughout Africa, meeting not only with government officials but, of course, the private sector.  Because we know that it is going to be through public-private partnerships that we can all get this work done.  In the work that we’ve also done in support of U.S. exporters engaging with Africa is that we’ve signed six MOUs with African governments and institutions, as well as signing the memorandums of understanding with Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire.  And we’re – each of these agreements have been designed to facilitate up to about 500 million in U.S. exports financing and deepen the commercial relationship with those countries. We are – we have been working very diligently with those on the continent where we have signed and begun work through MOUs totaling about 1.3 billion with the African Ex-Im Bank, with the Africa Finance Corporation, and then most recently with the Bank of Industry in Nigeria.  In total since I’ve joined EXIM, we have signed about 2.3 billion of MOUs.  And so we recognize that the continent is changing, and we’re committed to the administration’s various initiatives on Africa. You can see, by the MOUs that we have signed, we are prepared to work with African countries and partner with all stakeholders to ensure that our exporters compete on a level playing field.  And so we want to be partners in the work that all of us do in helping U.S. exporters contract with Africa, as well as as we work with the foreign buyers who want to – on the continent who want to purchase U.S. goods and services.   We know that as we have done – undertaken this work, we know that the needs around infrastructure, health care, women entrepreneurship are very vital for – and are vital, and investments for – are needed for economic growth and for job creation.  And so we stand ready as partners and collaborators to work with those on the continent. And as Alice mentioned, this conference has borne out to be very successful for us.  It is such high energy in the room, and to be able to see how far the relationships that we have garnered, along with others in the United States Government who are here in full force to support these efforts that the President has asked us to in building and strengthening and deepening our bilateral relationship.  And EXIM has been – is very proud to have done their part.  MODERATOR:  All right.  Thank you very much.  So we do have a question from Kemi Osukoya of Africa Bazaar magazine.  And I’d like to open Kemi’s mic and if Kemi can answer – ask that question live. QUESTION:  Hello, can you hear me?  MODERATOR:  Yes.  QUESTION:  Okay.  Thank you very much for taking my question.  And good morning and good afternoon to you guys.  My question is a two-part.  What percentage of the deals that were signed will be given to SMEs and women-owned businesses, both on the continent and as well as the U.S. entrepreneurs?  And the other part of my question is, being on the ground at events, you mentioned that you’re hearing feedbacks from the partners, with leaders.  So could you share some of those feedback that you hear regarding the work that you’re doing on the continent?  Thank you very much. MS LEWIS:  No, thank you very much for that question.  As it relates to SMEs, I think what a lot of – what we always like to say at EXIM is that we’re the bank for everyone.  And in being the bank for everyone, we have to strive exceptionally hard as we work with large, medium, and small businesses.  EXIM, when we were reauthorized in 2019, Congress gave us an additional mandate to make additional financing available in the small business arena, and not just – I call it not just small business for small business’s sake, but also to really drill down and go beyond a small business, but also around women entrepreneurship, around veterans, around – and rural communities, and really in the underserved populations. And so we’re very excited that with the agreements that have been signed on these particular deals that I just discussed in Angola, there is a significant amount of work that will be done in the supply chain, and most of those businesses are small business.  We have been – as we have worked through this process with Angola as well as with our own U.S. exporters, small business, they all know that small – that the small business exporters are very essential, and we’re going to be monitoring very, very closely what that looks like.   As it relates to – and then additional work that we have done to ensure that we reach those small businesses is to work with members in the diaspora.  The President announced – President Biden announced a diaspora council a few months ago, and one of the things that we’ve been really hard at work with them is to ensure that the work that we do at EXIM is expose to those members who are specifically focused on how do you develop and continue to build strong relationships with diaspora members throughout the continent.  So we’re really excited about the work that’s going to go forth in Angola and excited about the work that we do at EXIM overall, and the fact that last year, when we authorized the over $8.5 billion, 2 point – 2 billion of that was transactions that were in small business.  So we feel we are on target and on tap to reach those goals, as well as the fact that 90 percent – I think it’s like 88 percent, 88.5 percent – of the transition that EXIM does on a yearly basis is in the small business arena.  So we feel pretty confident that small business is going to be very much a part of the work that we’re doing, not only here in U.S. but those also in Angola and in Africa.  MODERATOR:  Thank you very much, Chair Lewis, for that response.  And we do have a lot of questions, and unfortunately, the time of our participants is limited, so we only have time probably for a few more questions today.  We did receive a question from Ms. Favour Okpale of BusinessDay in Nigeria, and the question is:  “African countries, including Nigeria, face enormous challenges, including inadequate power supply, lack of infrastructure, and security, among others.  Wondering whether these issues were on the front burner at this Summit; and in specific terms, are there concrete commitments from the U.S. to assist Nigeria and other African countries come out of this?”  And she also has a question about AGOA.  So I think if I could throw it to Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Basu for her take on this question.  MS BASU:  Perfect, thank you so much, and thank you again for the question.  We just came back, actually, from the bi-national mission in Abuja last week, which was co-chaired between Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Foreign Minister Tuggar, and we discussed these questions in depth there.  And so I will be brief right now as the readouts of those meetings come out.  But we had a large session on shared prosperity.  And we understand that the challenges that Nigeria are facing are quite acute, and we see them echoed across the continent – as you say, lack of infrastructure, increasing insecurity, and yes, the United States is committed to be a good partner across that spectrum.  What I would say is, in particular, we’ve made commitments both to work on the security situation, but also to, as you’ve heard today, work on infrastructure, whether that’s roads and bridges or that’s energy, huge challenges both in Nigeria and across the continent.  A few concrete commitments were to work on the business-enabling environment in Nigeria, and to make sure that American companies that are investing in Nigeria are having a transparent and positive experience to deliver those goods and services, and we see that across the continent.  We also talked about reaffirming the difficult but hard policy choices that Nigeria is making and that we see being made across the continent to really strengthen their economies.  So of course in Nigeria there’s been a lot of challenge with the currency, but it is hopefully something that will make the economy stronger and enable Nigerian businesses to thrive.  We see that work across the continent as African countries come out of the pandemic and try to come out from under quite significant debt burdens and foreign exchange challenges.  And so we are working closely both with our U.S. Treasury, with the central banks of African countries, particularly Nigeria, and the World Bank to make sure that these countries are on solid economic footing to really serve their people and meet the basic public needs, both first and foremost for their people, but also to create the public sector goods that then allow private sector companies to thrive. So let me pause there.  I’m happy to follow up afterwards as well.  Thank you.  MODERATOR:  All right, thanks very much.  So we have a question on MCC, and that came in from Sogah Blessed of Joy News TV in Ghana.  Sogah, I’d like to open your mic, but if you could please be very brief in asking your question because our time is very limited.  Thank you. QUESTION:  Thank you.  I’m grateful.  Thank you for the opportunity.  I’m asking this question because of a peculiar situation we face in Ghana in the energy sector, the power crisis.  In 2019 the MCC revoked a $190 million funding for the energy sector owing to some challenges we had with the privatization concession.  I’m asking, given the situation in which we find ourselves now, is the MCC willing to avail this crucial funding, or it will be on the condition that unless the Government of Ghana brings back the PDS concession, which was a privatization module, and at the MCC?  Thank you. MS ALBRIGHT:  Thank you for the question.  A couple – a couple of thoughts on Ghana.  We did have a compact with Ghana, and the compact is closed.  And we were able to complete a fair amount of that work.  Right now we don’t have any immediate plans to work again in Ghana, but we can always look again to see if Ghana may be – may become a country that we can work with again. Generally speaking with regard to energy, we’re working in a number of energy compacts across the continent right now, because I completely agree with you about how critical energy is to overall development, which is our main mandate. MODERATOR:  All right, thank you very much.  As I mentioned, our panelists’ time is very limited and I know that Chair Lewis has another commitment in a few minutes.  So I’d like to give her an opportunity to give some closing remarks if she has some closing thoughts for us.  MS LEWIS:  Well, thank you so much.  I think this has been a very important conversation.  We realize – we’re really excited to be able to talk with all the journalists this morning.  I think the thing that we want to emphasize at EXIM is that we have a vested interest in the continent.  But we have a vested interest about the people and improving peoples’ lives, not only in America but also in Africa.  And so that’s why we are here as well as the work that we have done over decades about building partnerships and collaborations.  And I just want to just continue to emphasize the fact that we are looking for ways of how to continue to work with all businesses, especially large, medium, and small, and that to end on saying that equity is a priority for us.  We proudly provide additional support for those critical businesses.  And so when we’re speaking about small business, we’re speaking about women entrepreneurship, we know that they have to overcome a number of challenges.  We know that access to capital is the number one thing to keep them from growing and expanding, and that’s why EXIM is proud to offer additional services to our U.S. exporters and to our foreign buyers and working with our small businesses as we continue to keep a spotlight on them.  And so we are offering the different products and services, and we stand ready to work with them whether it is through initial consultation, helping them as they analyze the opportunities, working – as we work alongside our Department of Commerce who is often leading number delegations that we participate in throughout the continent, and also working to assist small businesses and underserved populations and minority business with connections to resources.  We have a 20-year – five-year history of doing that work, and we have recently introduced some additional products that is going to go to the benefit of that community.  So we are really excited to have been able to have a few minutes to share with you our continued commitment to work on the continent.   MODERATOR:  All right, thank you very much.  And as I mentioned, our panelists’ time is limited, so I’d like to also ask Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Basu and also CEO Albright if they have any closing thoughts for us. MS BASU:  I will defer to CEO Albright first.  MS ALBRIGHT:  Thank you.  Just very, very briefly, we too at MCC are very committed to a very inclusive approach to economic growth.  We didn’t get to touch on it earlier, but we work in almost every country on either figuring out how to include women and women-owned businesses into our work or small and medium-sized businesses.  So this often takes the form of different reforms that are necessary to enable parts of the society that are typically not included to get included.  We’ve got some wonderful examples – one in Lesotho just recently where there were some laws that were changed to enable women to own – to inherit land.  We’ve got a terrific program that we’ve just closed out in Morocco that introduced opportunities to a range of people in that country.  We’ve got a wonderful program in Cote d’Ivoire, a partnership with Microsoft that is focusing on bringing digital skills to women entrepreneurs in Cote d’Ivoire.   So inclusive growth is very much a focus of our work, and I think we’re making good, slow, steady progress on it.  MODERATOR:  All right, thank you.  And finally for Deputy Assistant Secretary Basu.  MS BASU:  Happy to, and happy to quickly answer a couple of questions that were coming up earlier, one around the feedback that we’ve gotten.  The feedback has been for more.  Right, we want more U.S. companies, more trade.  The momentum is really great and we cannot let our feet off the pedal – our foot off the pedal when it comes to strengthening this economic partnership.   U.S. companies in Africa not only help raise standards, but the work that we do, as CEO Albright mentioned, really creates the enabling environment for all businesses to thrive – African businesses, multinational businesses, American businesses.  And we know the marketplace works better when there are more choices, and so we’re glad to be able to facilitate and foster that.  And so that’s the main feedback that we have heard across the last – that I’ve at last heard across the last few days, is for more, and a lot of excitement about momentum that’s been made so far.  There was also a question about AGOA, and I would defer to my colleagues in Congress, who really have the responsibility for reauthorizing AGOA since it is a law.  But I will emphasize that the Biden administration has expressed strong support for the reauthorization of AGOA and the modernization of AGOA.  We want to see it reauthorized in order to be – to continue to be the cornerstone of trade, but also to facilitate our utilization, and to be more impactful and more strategic.   And so we have had great conversations with our colleagues on the Hill, in Congress, and there is what we call bipartisan and bicameral support for AGOA, which I think really emphasizes that our Africa relationship is important across the United States.  However, we do need to see ways that that law will actually get signed, and so we are working closely with our partners in Congress to see what can be done.  My push to our African partners on the continent is to develop utilization strategies to increase their usage of AGOA, which is a really incredible unilateral program for African companies to export to the United States duty-free.  And we want to see more companies – small companies, large companies – take advantage of that.  And so my push to the African partners on the line is to increase awareness but also increase national strategies that will let small companies and large companies make the most of this benefit.  And that maybe leads to my final point, which is a push to all our journalists on the line, which is twofold.  One is to keep doing what you’re doing in bringing transparency to your local markets about what is happening, because that is what is required for economies to thrive, is that transparency and that information and accountability.  So thank you for the work you do there and the ways that enables democracy but also economic growth.  And so keep up that great work.   But also, help us to tell the good-news stories across Africa, but also across the U.S.-Africa business relationship.  I think in the last year there have been a lot of hard stories across Africa, and those are very important, and we are working as a U.S. Government to address the democratic backsliding and the incredible insecurity we’re seeing in many areas.  But one challenge in enabling U.S. businesses to come to Africa is the risk perception.  And so one thing our team does very closely is try to, on one hand, right-size that risk perception and tell the good-news stories of countries that are taking the right policy decisions, that do have the right enabling environments; and then, other side, working to actually reduce the risk of investing by helping shore up security, helping to foster democracy and reinforce democracy.   So I ask your partnership in both sides of that, both in bringing accountability where it’s required, but also in telling the good-news stories because we know there are so many incredible innovations and entrepreneurs, and the world needs those African entrepreneurs to solve the problems of the future, and you are an important conduit for making sure their stories are told.  So thank you. MODERATOR:  All right.  Well, that concludes today’s briefing.  I want to thank Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs Joy Basu, Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Alice Albright, and President of the EXIM Bank of the United States Reta Jo Lewis for joining us today.  Thank you also to all the journalists for participating.  As always, a recording and a transcript of today’s briefing will be distributed to participating journalists as soon as we can produce them.   If you have any questions about today’s briefing, you may contact us here at the Africa Regional Media Hub at AFMediaHub@state.gov.  I would also like to invite everyone to join us on Twitter, or X, at our handle @AfricaMediaHub.  Thank you very much and have a great day. # # # 
- Joint Statement on the 2024 U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission Office of the SpokespersonThe text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America and the Government of Nigeria on the occasion of the sixth U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission in Abuja on April 29-30, 2024.Begin Text.The Governments of the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Nigeria held the sixth round of the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission in Abuja on April 29-30, 2024.  This year’s Binational Commission built on the strong foundation agreed during the January 23, 2024, meeting between President Bola Tinubu and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken in Abuja, as well as the momentum from the last BNC held in Washington, D.C., in February 2020.Foreign Minister Yusuf M. Tuggar led the Nigerian Interministerial delegation, while Deputy Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee headed the U.S. delegation of federal departments and agencies.  Strategic discussions covered a wide range of bilateral and global issues in which U.S.-Nigeria cooperation advances mutual interests in security, prosperity, and human development.  Both sides acknowledged that our relationship is grounded in shared values of pluralism and respect for sovereignty.  Both sides renewed commitments to promote democracy and respect for human rights, cooperate for shared economic prosperity, and jointly overcome health and security challenges.The U.S. delegation welcomed an overview of Foreign Minister Tuggar’s 4D policy of Democracy, Development, Demography, and Diaspora and took note of Nigerian ideas to incorporate U.S. contributions to meeting these goals.  The U.S. delegation noted that in FY 2023, U.S. development, humanitarian, and security assistance to Nigeria approached $1 billion annually.Deputy Secretary Campbell invited Foreign Minister Tuggar to meet Secretary Blinken in Washington at a date to be determined.  The United States announced a planned visit by the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement to Nigeria in July.  The U.S. delegation also discussed a major symposium in Washington, D.C., in October to bring together American and Nigerian technology leaders.Shared ProsperityParticipants discussed Nigeria’s bold economic reform agenda and the importance of sound macroeconomic policies to enhance investor confidence and attract private sector investment.  Both sides welcomed constructive comments from Nigerian and African businesses on the operating environment and discussed the importance of transparency and predictability for investors in Nigeria.  The two sides reiterated their intent to take steps to expand trade and investment ties and shared an understanding that expanding ties offered the potential to support sustainable and inclusive economic growth and job creation in both countries.  Already, the United States International Development Finance Corporation has a portfolio of over $700 million in direct loans, loan guarantees and other financing support in Nigeria.  In line with its prioritization of infrastructure investment, the United States presented the principles of the Blue Dot Network to Nigeria.  Both countries actively engaged in discussions focused on the principles of the Blue Dot Network.  Nigeria looks forward to further engagement with the U.S. government on this issue.The U.S. Secretary of Commerce and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment for Nigeria are developing a Commercial and Investment Partnership, showcasing a mutual commitment to deepening commercial and investment ties between our two countries.  This Partnership focuses on key priority sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, and the digital economy.With a focus on innovation, the U.S. delegation shared perspectives on emerging technologies and announced plans for a U.S. government-funded artificial intelligence (AI) conference in Lagos later this year.  Both governments stressed their commitment to the overarching goals of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Digital Transformation with Africa (DTA) initiative, which is working to promote opportunities in the digital economy through access to digital infrastructure and skills to advance social and gender equality and create jobs, are committed to empowering youth and women working and studying in technology fields as a path to economic growth.   In addition to expanding digital skills, the two governments intend to create education-focused exchange programs to enhance executive levels. The United States commended Nigeria’s ambitions to increase information and communications technology infrastructure and leverage opportunities to expand cooperation on emerging technologies development, such as AI.  Both sides expressed interest in deepening cooperation in strengthening Nigeria’s digital economy through a structured forum for regular multi-stakeholder engagement every three months between U.S. and Nigerian government officials and the U.S. business community to discuss progress toward achieving the U.S.-Nigeria Joint Action Plan on Digital Transformation.  The United States also discussed DTA-funded support for the development and implementation of Nigeria’s National Policy on Digital Public Infrastructure, Startup Act, National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, and National Public Key Infrastructure.  The two sides also discussed Nigeria’s interest in joining the Global Cross Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) Forum as an Associate Member, as well as potential Nigerian participation in the Department of Commerce National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) African Women Digital Leaders Training Programs.  Lastly, the two governments shared their intent to strengthen bilateral space cooperation.The United States highlighted the importance of Nigeria removing import prohibitions and reducing high tariffs on a wide array of agricultural products to help address food insecurity and food price inflation.  The United States also emphasized its engagement in improving food security and strengthening agricultural productivity, both globally and in Nigeria.  This includes the announcement of a new $75 million investment by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to support the development, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of Indorama’s third urea-ammonia fertilizer facility in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.  Additionally, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) shared a $50 million five-year Water for the World country plan for Nigeria approved in July 2023.  The United States also announced its Global Food Security Strategy for Nigeria launched in March.Both sides noted that the two-way trade in goods now totalled over $10 billion.  Nigeria expressed its desire to increase African exports to the United States, while the United States reaffirmed its commitment to Nigeria’s development and pledged efforts to facilitate Nigeria’s use of trade opportunities.  The two sides discussed Nigeria’s utilization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and identified ways to increase sustainable and inclusive growth.The United States and Nigeria confirmed the importance of expanding energy access and reliability as fundamental to achieving economic growth and prosperity.  To that end, the United States highlighted that Power Africa, working with Congress, intends to support a new, five-year, $90 million program to support on and off-grid development.  Recognizing the threat of climate change, both governments reaffirmed that they are committed to collaborating on and strengthening existing workstreams under the Net Zero World (NZW) Initiative, deploying renewable energy to reduce emissions and expanding electricity access, and rapidly reducing methane emissions and gas flaring to achieve the goal of the Global Methane Pledge.  Both sides look forward to the launch of the Clean Energy Alliance of Nigeria, a clean energy buyers association to aggregate corporate demand for renewable energy under the Clean Energy Demand Initiative (CEDI).  The United States and Nigeria intend to augment work through the Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources’ Energy and Mineral Governance Program to reduce oil and gas sector methane emissions, key to advancing climate goals.  Finally, the United States looks forward to hosting a Nigerian delegation for an inaugural Energy Security Dialogue in September in Washington to expand and deepen our energy partnership, enhance ongoing cooperation, and explore increased energy investment opportunities between the United States and Nigeria in the energy sector.The United States and Nigeria noted the importance of aviation in facilitating not only people-to-people ties but also trade and investment.  To this end, the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs conveyed its formal intention to bring the 2000 Open Skies Agreement into force.Security CooperationThe United States and Nigeria, guided by their shared democratic principles, are committed to deepening military and law enforcement cooperation and developing strategies to mitigate civilian harm and protect human rights.  As a result of this cooperation, the United States shared the Department of Defense Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan (CHMR-AP) and information about the U.S. civilian harm mitigation process.  In turn, Nigeria shared its plans to adopt and implement its own Civilian Protection Policy.The two sides further explored innovative solutions to improve security conditions in Nigeria and the region and pledged to continue to work together to address insecurity, including in the Gulf of Guinea.  The two governments intend to establish a standing security working group that would enable deeper security cooperation.Both sides reaffirmed their intent to further strengthen counterterrorism cooperation, including by working together on aviation security, border security, terrorism financing, and law enforcement and investigative capacity.  The U.S. side saluted Nigeria’s leadership role in galvanizing African and international partner efforts to counter terrorism on the continent in a manner consistent with international law through whole-of-society approaches, as demonstrated by its hosting of the High-Level African Counterterrorism Meeting in partnership with the United Nations Office of Counterterrorism on April 22-23 in Abuja.  Both sides reaffirmed their pledge to counter al-Qaeda, ISIS, and their affiliates, including through sanctions designations as well as through the two countries’ membership in the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.  The United States noted that it intends to provide support to build the capacity of Nigerian law enforcement to detect and disarm improvised explosive devices and other types of explosives used by criminal and terror groups.The United States demonstrated a strong commitment to support Nigeria’s efforts to build the capacity of Nigeria’s criminal justice system and strengthen police reforms and accountability in Nigeria.  Both sides discussed developing, training, and equipping the Special Intervention Squads, rapid reaction units for responding to kidnapping, criminal, and terrorist actions and ensuring the security and respect for human rights of those in Nigeria.  The United States affirmed its support for expanding the Police Complaint Response Unit to other Nigerian cities and building increased capacity for investigating and conducting reviews of crimes and misconduct by police officers.  Both sides discussed President Tinubu’s creation of a police reform commission, and the United States offered its expertise to the Government of Nigeria.  Both also discussed the potential challenges and needs of state police forces should the Nigerian Assembly pass an act creating such.  The United States and Nigeria also discussed collaboration in developing analytical tools and crime mapping to facilitate more effective law enforcement operations.On transnational organized crime, the United States commended Nigeria’s efforts and regional leadership in the effort to combat drug trafficking.  The United States also intends to provide additional support to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to combat the trafficking of synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl and captagon, to step up the interdiction and dismantling of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories, and to facilitate more regional cooperation on countering drug trafficking and trafficking in persons.  The United States complimented Nigeria’s substantial efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking in persons cases, and both sides also discussed how to improve efforts internally and regionally.Nigeria and the United States shared concerns regarding the threats that cybercrime poses to mutual peace, prosperity, and security.  Nigeria identified its several efforts and capabilities for combatting cybercrime, presenting many avenues for bilateral cooperation.  The United States commended Nigeria for acceding to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime in 2023 and Nigeria’s collaboration in several fora on cybercrime.  The United States and Nigeria pledged to work together on combatting cybercriminals who target citizens of both countries.  To that end, the United States announced the upcoming deployment of an INL-funded cybercrime advisor in Nigeria to facilitate that cooperation and provide training, equipment, and technical assistance to build Nigeria’s capacity for cybercrime, including fraud scams and sextortion.  Both sides understand the need to reinforce efforts to combat cyber-enabled money laundering and  fraud and to make greater use of both technology and international cooperation mechanisms such as extradition and mutual legal assistance.Democracy, Governance, and AccountabilityThe two sides affirmed their commitment to fostering accountable and effective democratic institutions, strengthening the rule of law and respect for human rights, and improving government accountability and fiscal transparency.  The United States saluted Nigerian efforts to enable greater citizen participation in government through the use of information technology.  The United States and Nigeria are committed to working together on Nigerian strides toward greater transparency with the Open Government Partnership.  The United States pledged to support Nigeria’s efforts to increase transparency of public financial management and civil society efforts to increase government transparency.  Nigeria emphasized its prioritization of anti-corruption efforts and its commitment to continued participation in the Global Forum for Asset Recovery (GFAR) Action series.The two governments discussed ways the Nigerian government could better coordinate with civil society stakeholders to resolve conflict, especially by supporting state peacebuilding agencies.  They also discussed potential legislative solutions that would enable both farmers and herders to live in peace and security.  The United States discussed its support to bolster the rule of law and, help improve Nigerian conflict response and expand community peacebuilding in Nigeria through early warning and early response activities.The United States and Nigeria reiterated their strong and longstanding commitment to respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.  The sides emphasized the need to take active, sustained steps to respect the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and religion or belief for all and the importance of promoting mutual respect and peaceful coexistence among religious communities.  Participants further emphasized the importance of protecting civilians, particularly members of vulnerable communities, and holding perpetrators of violence accountable.Partnerships in HealthBoth nations emphasized the crucial role of improved health as a fundamental pillar for enhancing the well-being and inclusive development of the Nigerian people, in alignment with the new Health Sector Renewal Strategy.  The United States commended Nigeria’s commitment to increasing health expenditures, particularly through annual increases to procure lifesaving HIV Anti-Retroviral (ARV) drugs.  The U.S. delegation noted that through PEPFAR, the United States invested more than $8.3 billion in lifesaving HIV and related TB programs.  Highlighting the progress made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, both sides reiterated their shared goal to end HIV as a public health threat in Nigeria by 2030.The two sides recognized important bilateral efforts to enhance cooperation in the health sector through increased research and technical collaboration, investment in human capital development and healthcare infrastructure, facilitation of a predictable regulatory environment through shared understanding, and the exchange of best practices.  The U.S. delegation welcomed Nigeria’s announcement of its intent to establish lead paint laws, standards, and plans to address lead in consumer products, including spices and cosmetics.Building upon the longstanding partnership between the two nations in combatting infectious diseases, leaders expressed their intent to further strengthen cooperation on pandemic preparedness, prevention, and response, with a particular focus on vaccine delivery and the research and development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics as identified in Nigeria’s National Action Plan for Health Security.  Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to eradicate polio in Nigeria and meet the revised target goal 2026 while laying the foundation for the Nigerian government to increase its funding for polio surveillance per the National Polio Emergency Action Plan.  Both governments reaffirmed the importance of the Nigerian government&#8217;s engagement with the National Assembly to enact health security legislation and of sharing Nigeria’s successes in mapping and addressing gaps in legal frameworks for health security with Global Health Security Agenda partners.  The United States acknowledged Nigeria’s progress in creating an enabling environment for local pharmaceutical manufacturing through its Unlocking Value Chains policy and pledged continued support in this endeavour.Global Issues and Multilateral ReformNigeria and the United States remain united on the need to modernize global governance institutions in order to adapt to meet future challenges.  The United States expressed support for Nigeria’s drive for reforms to global governance institutions, including permanent representation for Africa on the United Nations Security Council, increased representation for Africa at senior levels of the IMF, and reform of the WTO to increase equity.  The two sides intend to continue the discussion of global tax reform.  The United States welcomes Nigeria’s leadership on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.Movement of PeopleBoth countries stressed priorities on the movement of people, including visas and adoptions, and reaffirmed bilateral agreements related to the operation of diplomatic missions and staffing of the operations of USAID, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, INL, and their contractors.  Both countries pledged to strengthen cooperation under the bilateral extradition treaty.PartnershipThe United States recognized Nigeria’s leadership in Africa and on the international stage, including its important role in the United Nations and other international fora and its diplomacy to maintain or return to democracy among ECOWAS members.  Under the elevated framework of the BNC, both sides reaffirmed their desire to continue working closely together at the bilateral, regional, and international levels.The U.S. delegation thanked Nigeria for the warm welcome and excellent organization of the BNC.  It was decided that the next meeting of the BNC should be held in Washington, DC, at a mutually convenient date to be arranged through diplomatic channels.End Text.
- Digital Press Briefing with Sara Minkara, U.S. Special Advisor on International Disability Rights, on Disability Rights in Africa Sara Minkara, Special Advisor on International Disability RightsBureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and LaborMODERATOR:  Good afternoon to everyone from the U.S. Department of State’s Africa Regional Media Hub. I welcome our participants logging in from across the continent and thank all of you for joining this discussion on the topic of Disability Rights in Africa.  Today, we are very pleased to be joined by the U.S. Department of State’s Special Advisor on International Disability Rights, Sara Minkara. We will begin today’s briefing with opening remarks from Special Advisor Sara Minkara and then turn to your questions.  We will try to get to as many of your questions as we can during the briefing. And with that, I will turn it over to Special Advisor Sara Minkara for her opening remarks. MS MINKARA:  Awesome.  Thank you, Johann, and so great to be with you all here today.  Good afternoon to you and good morning to us on the East Coast side here.  My name is Sara Minkara and I’m the U.S. Special Advisor on International Disability Rights.  Just a little bit of background in terms of what we do and what we were doing in Kenya last week.   So I lead the U.S. Government foreign policy on disability all over the world with my team, so we cover the globe, and we approach disability and inclusion not just from a human rights lens but also from an economic lens, from a value-based lens.  A lot of times, if we take a step back and we think about disability narrative in our society, we’re still seeing society – society still sees us – and I say “us” because I am a person with a disability – still sees us from a point of we need to be taken care of and protected.  I want us to shift to a point where we are seen as users of the systems, we are seen as contributors to the systems of society at large, we are seen as entrepreneurs, employers, employees, we are seen as people that will need to go online and be able to access online shopping, for instance, and the e-commerce platforms.  We need to be able to access the AI that’s coming out and becoming more part of our economies and systems at large.  We need to be able to access physical technological infrastructure of communication and information accessibility.  So we need to shift from a point of, oh, let’s take care of the disability community, but another narrative of let’s break down barriers, let’s make society accessible at large so people with disabilities can contribute.  And that’s what brought us to Kenya. Last week there was the AmCham Business Summit, which is held every year, in Nairobi, and it brought together corporate leaders, government leaders from across Africa – across East Africa, across Kenya.  You had companies like Coca-Cola and Google and Microsoft, et cetera, but you also had local Kenyan and East African companies present – East Africa companies present there, et cetera.  And it was a space for us to talk about the importance of the AI and digitization and moving towards an Africa that’s (inaudible) building on to innovation and transforming our economies, et cetera.  And our point of being there was how do we ensure the disability lens is at the table; how do we ensure persons with disabilities are – their voices are heard; and how do we ensure that we are tapping into the 16 percent of the world’s population which is the disability community. We also had the chance to do some bilateral work in Kenya, working with the civil society community.  We met with some government individuals and focused on a few Kenya-specific disability-related initiatives and bills and amendments, acts, et cetera.  This is our third time to Africa in my current role.  We’ve been to Nigeria and Mozambique, and we were happy to be back on the continent last week.   So I’ll stop here, but ultimately, our goal is we want all sectors, including the media sector, to be talking about disability innovation in tech, and inclusion, and that we’re talking about economic transformation and within our societies.  Thank you.  MODERATOR:  Thank you very much, Special Advisor Minkara.  So we’ll now begin the question-and-answer portion of today’s briefing.   So for our first question – and this is, I think, particularly interesting as we are right now on a Zoom call – the question is:  “What role does assistive technology play in advancing disability rights?”  So, Special Advisor Minkara? MS MINKARA:  It’s a really good question.  And I look at this question in two layers.  One is, yes, assistive technology is super important, and it’s helped break down barriers for us as persons with disabilities.  For example, I use a screen-reader software called JAWS that allows me to use my computer and access my computer, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, which is really important because the more we move towards technology, the more that we want to make sure that those are accessible to all.  But on the other hand, the caveat is, if websites are not built accessible and websites are not built in a way to be able to work with screen-reader software, my screen-reader software is useless.   So one layer to this question is, how do we ensure that anything that we build is accessible and how do we bake in also within our mainstream technology ways that allow for more opportunities to navigate.  What I mean by that – my phone right now, any iPhones, right, and this is also for Android and other phones, right – my iPhone, I can easily open up, go into general settings, accessibility, and turn on voiceover, and that will allow me to be able to access my phone like anyone else; it’s just through touch screen.  I touch and it reads back out.  I’m not buying a special phone.  I’m not buying extra things.  It’s baked in.  And that’s what’s really important, is how do we create technology out there that’s accessible for everyone.  Right now I go to a lot of new hotel rooms and there’s these touch screens that are not accessible to me, right?  So technology is really important, innovation is really important, but let’s make sure accessibility is baked in.   MODERATOR:  All right, thank you very much.  So for our second question, it comes to us from Kemi Osukoya from Africa Bazaar Magazine, and the question is this:  “As we have seen in the U.S., people with disabilities still face many challenges in the workplace and society.  How will the U.S. use its experience to work with local partners in Africa to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities in Africa while also respecting African cultures?” MS MINKARA:  That’s a really good question.  As you mentioned – and it’s a really good point – we’ve been in a 50-year journey of disability inclusion.  There’s a lot of progress but there’s a lot more work to be done.  There’s a lot of learned lessons and there’s a lot of great practices, but there’s a lot of things that we can also learn from all over the world.  And I think when we talk about disability inclusion, we need to ensure that we localize it to the local culture and context and that we ensure that everything is designed through the community.  But one thing that is common anywhere in the world, in that whether – depending – doesn’t matter where, what culture, what country, what community.  The one common thing is we as people with disabilities, we have the desire to be seen, to be heard, and to be valued.  We don’t want society to look at us and say, you need to be fixed; we want to break down – we want society to break down barriers and accessibility barriers for us so we can access the systems in society at large.  That’s anywhere in the world.   So when we’re designing programs, including inclusive employment, I want us to look at the system and say, how can we break down barriers?  How can we make sure this space is more inclusive and accessible?  It’s not just compliance; it’s actually breaking down barriers.  And how do we ensure that every single person’s potential is being addressed, but also, how do we really – in each community there are certain difficult conversations we might need to have, assumptions towards disability – some assumptions in societies that were too costly, were a burden, were different, were incapable.  We need to address those narratives as we are building solutions in the practices and the policies.  MODERATOR:  All right, thank you very much.  Our third question is:  “What are the challenges you have faced in promoting disability rights in your institutional priorities?” MS MINKARA:  Really good question.  I think disability – I call it a double-edged sword.  On one hand, wherever I travel, no one will say, oh, it’s not important, right?  It is an issue that people do want to work on or would like to have a conversation on, but in a lot of spaces it’s not prioritized.  In a lot of spaces, we’re still seen as a point of charity needed to be taken care of.  So a big part of our challenge has been actually disrupting the narrative.  A big part of the challenge has actually been able to showcase countries and societies and policy makers that disability inclusion is, like, actually a benefit to them, benefit to their work.  And I think that’s something that we want to continue on.  It helps everyone.  It helps our GDP.  It helps innovation.  And when you make a system accessible for persons with disabilities, it will benefit everyone.   So that’s the narrative that we need to continue working on.  And journalists like you guys can help kind of promote that narrative.   MODERATOR:  Okay, thank you.  Our next question is an excellent segue to what you were just discussing.  The question is:  “What do you tell people who ask, why should I care about disability rights?” MS MINKARA:  Ah.  Well, a couple of reasons.  One, why should we care?  The disability community is a big part of our – is a big percentage, 16 percent, of our populations; globally we are 1.3 billion.  When we exclude persons with disabilities from the economy it impacts our GPD up to 7 percent.  I think it’s more than that, but let’s say that.  When we don’t bring in the disability perspective, we actually lose out on amazing ways of making society accessible for everyone.  So, for instance, people don’t realize that text messaging came out of the need of the deaf community.  Ramps came out of the need of the – you know the curb cuts for the sidewalks, came out of the need of the wheelchair users, but everyone benefits from them, right?   So that’s on one layer, is it is a value to our society and economy at large.  But the second layer is, as we age, a lot of us become – gain more disability.  Anyone can be part of the disability community at any point in time.  Disability touches all of us at some point.  So it is an important element, important identity in our society.  MODERATOR:  All right, definitely a lot of food for thought there.  You mentioned in your previous answer the economic impacts of caring about disability rights, so that feeds into the next question, which is:  “What can companies do to promote greater economic participation for persons with disabilities?” MS MINKARA:  So I look at this in a few different layers.  One is, if we’re talking about employment, let’s actually journey map and see the different barriers of persons with disabilities when it comes to employment, reaching out the application process, reaching out with the disability community, making sure the application process is accessible when a person is employed, then how do we make sure we break down barriers within the system so they can actually raise – be able to go up in leadership, right?  There’s many different layers of barriers.  Let’s break that down.  I want corporations to break that down.  I’m not a fan of quotas because quotas are technical solutions to an adaptive problem.  When we’re talking about investment, a lot of companies might come in into a community, a society and invest, right?  And right now there’s a lot of talk around sustainable investment.  Well, let’s make sure it’s sustainable and accessible investment.  Let’s make sure accessibility is baked into any investment that companies do. Third layer is when sometimes you have a lot of corporations support – for instance Visa, Mastercard, all these different companies are supporting women-owned businesses.  How do we also make sure there’s a lot of support towards disabled-owned businesses, right?  So there’s many layers to this, but ultimately the first step is any company, bring the disability community to your kind of ecosystem.  Make sure you’re listening to the needs of the disability community and make sure that you’re working with them as you’re integrating disability into your own efforts.  MODERATOR:  Thank you.  You just mentioned that there are barriers to economic participation, so the next question is, in fact:  “What are some of the barriers to economic participation for persons with disabilities?”  MS MINKARA:  So barriers – there’s many layers to barriers, right?  People think it’s just infrastructure.  Infrastructure is one.  You have infrastructure – physical, right?  You have barriers in your educational system.  You have barriers within the technology that’s being developed.  Barriers within information that’s – and how communication is being brought forward, right?  So there’s many layers of barriers within – as we move forward in society.  That will then translate into economic barriers.  If my recollection is correct, WHO said – and I would definitely just double-check on this – WHO said that only 50 percent of persons with disabilities have access to the internet, right?  That in itself is a barrier.  There are statistics out there that says – I forgot the number fully, but 90-something percent of all websites out there in the world are not accessible, right?  So if you’re having all these different layers of barriers, then you’re not going to be able to full economic – participate in the economy.  So we need to make sure that there’s – address those barriers but we also need to address the narrative barriers.   MODERATOR:  All right, fantastic.  Thank you.  I think we only have time for a couple more questions.  But I do have a very interesting question here:  “How can assistive technology play a role in inclusive education initiatives?”  So assistive technology in education.  Interesting.  MS MINKARA:  I think assistive technology in education is really important.  I mean, I benefitted from that.  Again – but again, we need to make sure there’s assistive technology that’s being brought forward, but then also as we move forward more into digital education, any platforms that we’re designing for education, any softwares, are made accessible for everyone.  And I think it’s two layers, right; assistive technology, but I think it’s also the tools that are being developed, the courses, the online courses, everything, there’s an accessibility lens to it. Also the third layer is we need to ensure that all of our teachers are trained on inclusive education, right?  So there’s many layers it.  Yes, assistive technology is one important tool and variable towards inclusive education. MODERATOR:  All right.  Well, we all are, in fact, here from the U.S. Government, so this next question is very apt:  “What has the U.S. Government been doing to drive development and access to assistive technology for persons with disabilities?” MS MINKARA:  A good question.  So USAID is actually one of the founding members of AtScale, which is an entity that focuses on investing in assistive technology.  I definitely would look them up.  But in a lot of our work across USAID, across our embassies’ efforts, there’s been a lot of work on disability inclusion.  So I think in – and depending on the mission and the embassy, sometimes they focus more on inclusive education, et cetera, et cetera.  I would definitely look into, for instance, in Kenya, something that we – I was able to connect with and learn from is Sightsavers and the amazing work that they’re doing with farmers with disabilities in the supply chain, and also working with companies on getting retail distributors to be woman with a disability.   So I think there is a lot of great work that’s being done in different missions and embassies. MODERATOR:  Okay.  Well, I think we have time for one more question, then, before we wrap up.  And looking to the future – it’s a great question for looking for the – to the future:  “What are the benefits and risks presented by artificial intelligence for persons with disabilities?” MS MINKARA:  Ooh.  I like that question.  So one, if AI is – first, AI is being developed from limited data, and a lot of times biased data on disabilities.  So that is something for us to be very aware of, and careful, and really address.  Number two, if AI is being developed and it’s not – accessibility is not baked in, it can further marginalize us.  But on the other hand, if AI does bring in the right data and does bring in accessibility, it can be an amazing tool for us as a disability community to be able to further integrate into society. One example that I love to say is the chief accessibility officer for Microsoft was talking about during COVID one – one of their employees was deaf, because everyone went virtual and they started using Teams, the deaf employee is the one who created captioning, the automatic captioning for Teams, because that’s how he was going to be able to access what people were saying.  Who benefits from that?  Everyone that uses Teams, right?  So again, when you bake in accessibility to the AI, it will benefit everyone as well.  MODERATOR:  All right.  Special Advisor Minkara, you’ve been very generous with your time.  If you don’t mind, there has been one additional question which came in online.  And if you do have another couple of minutes, I would very much like to be able to take this question.   MS MINKARA:  Okay, definitely.  MODERATOR:  If you permit.  MS MINKARA:  Yes.  MODERATOR:  So the question is how do you – it comes from Francisco Govima of Govima Media.  The question is:  “How do you see the role of the United States in developing and promoting disability and inclusive entrepreneurship, particularly in international settings, such as the recent AmCham Business Summit in Nairobi?” MS MINKARA:  That’s a really good question.  So I see it in a few different ways.  One of our great networks in a lot of countries is the AmCham community, the American businesses, and how we ensure that – what our American businesses are in supporting different entrepreneurs and marginalized population.  How do we ensure that they are also supporting persons with disabilities, disability-owned entrepreneurs, ensuring that any of their services, any of their efforts are inclusive of disability and accessibility. So whether it’s through the AmCham, whether through the Commercial Business Affairs Office in the State Department, whether through USAID – and, like I mentioned, the Sightsavers programs – we need to ensure that people with disabilities are brought to the table through an economic lens, whether it’s entrepreneurs, employees, employers, and also breaking down barriers within trade and investment as well.   So really good question, and our embassies and our colleagues are one of our amazing players on the ground to help implement some of this work.  MODERATOR:  All right.  Thank you so much.  Well, we have really covered a lot of ground today, and unfortunately, our time is limited, and we’re just about at the end of the session here.  But Special Advisor Minkara, I wanted to ask whether you have any final words to share before we wrap up.  MS MINKARA:  Just saying thank you to all who participated and for the questions.  And please, please, please be part of the narrative change that we need to see when it comes to disability inclusion.  Please keep reporting on disability, and I just want to thank everyone.   MODERATOR:  All right.  Well, that was fantastic.  Thank you so much.  So that does conclude today’s briefing.  I want to thank the U.S. Department of State’s Special Advisor on International Disability Rights Sara Minkara for joining us today, and also thanks to all the journalists who participated and submitted questions.   A recording and a transcript of today’s briefing will be distributed to participating journalists as soon as we can produce them, and then we’ll be sending them out wider following that.  If you have any questions about today’s briefing, you may contact the Africa Regional Media Hub at AfMediaHub@state.gov.  I would also like to invite everyone to follow us on Twitter, or X, at our handle @AfricaMediaHub.  Thank you very much to everyone, and have a great day.    # # # 
- 2024 U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission Concludes in Abuja Office of the SpokespersonU.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell and Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar co-chaired the sixth round of the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission (BNC) in Abuja on April 29-30, 2024.  Established in 2010, the BNC is the premier platform of official engagement between the Governments of the United States and Nigeria to expand cooperation and advance shared goals and democratic values.  This year’s BNC built on the strong foundation agreed during the January 23, 2024, meeting between President Bola Tinubu and Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken in Abuja, as well as the momentum from the last BNC held in Washington, D.C. in February 2020.This year’s BNC featured five working groups covering a range of issues to advance our mutual interests, reaffirming the robust bilateral cooperation enjoyed by the United States and Nigeria.  The groups focused on the U.S.-Nigeria partnership in shared prosperity; security cooperation; democracy, governance and accountability; health; and movement of people.Additionally, the BNC included four discussions on expanding our cooperation to identify solutions to improve outcomes in the areas of: cybercrime, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, food security, and growth in the digital economy and emerging technologies.The U.S. delegation welcomed Foreign Minister Tuggar’s vision for the future of Nigeria’s foreign policy as laid out in his 4D doctrine of Democracy, Development, Demography, and Diaspora.  The two sides discussed how U.S. assistance could augment Nigeria’s efforts in these areas.  The U.S. delegation announced a visit of the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement to Nigeria in July.  The U.S. delegation also announced a major symposium in Washington, D.C. in October to bring together American and Nigerian technology leaders.
- Deputy Secretary Campbell’s Travel to Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and France Office of the SpokespersonDeputy Secretary Kurt M. Campbell will travel to Abuja, Nigeria; London, United Kingdom; and Paris, France April 29-May 3.  In Abuja, the Deputy Secretary will co-chair the sixth U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission (BNC) with Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar to discuss partnerships; security cooperation; shared prosperity; democracy, governance and accountability; and the movement of people.  He will also meet with senior Nigerian government officials, business leaders, and civil society representatives.In London, the Deputy Secretary will participate in bilateral meetings on the Indo-Pacific and the AUKUS trilateral security partnership.  He will also meet with UK counterparts to discuss continued support for Ukraine, as well as efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza in conjunction with the release of hostages, and address the dire humanitarian situation.In Paris, the Deputy Secretary will attend the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM), chaired by Japan, under the theme of “Co-creating the Flow of Change: Leading Global Discussions with Objective and Reliable Approaches Toward Sustainable and Inclusive Growth.”  In addition to his meetings at the OECD, the Deputy Secretary will meet with French counterparts on support for Ukraine, the PRC’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine, and an Indo-Pacific dialogue.
- Victor Fred Udoh Victor Fred Udoh, Local Guard Force (LGF), was killed while on duty in a vehicular accident in Lagos, Nigeria, on September 27, 2020. He was a guard supervisor who served on the LGF at U.S. Consulate Lagos for 32 years.
- Prince Ubong Sunday On May 16, 2023, Prince Ubong Sunday, a driver, was killed when gunmen attacked a U.S. diplomatic convoy in southeast Nigeria&#8217;s Anambra State. Sunday and two other drivers were detailed to the Regional Security Office for the duration of this travel.
- Elwin Ramirez Cpl. Elwin Ramirez, Marine Security Guard, died during a training exercise on December 17, 2022, while stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria. His hometown is Lodi, California.
- Ekene Nweke On May 16, 2023, Ekene Nweke, a driver, was killed when gunmen attacked a U.S. diplomatic convoy in southeast Nigeria&#8217;s Anambra State. Nweke and two other drivers were detailed to the Regional Security Office for the duration of this travel.
- Friday Morgan Nigerian Police Force Inspector Friday Morgan was killed when gunmen attacked a U.S. diplomatic convoy in southeast Nigeria&#8217;s Anambra State, May 16, 2023.