US-Africa Agenda Puts Security, Gas and Status in Play

More than 1,790 Sudanese nationals in the United States faced the expiration of their deportation protections Monday, and the Department of Homeland Security offered no firm answer about what comes next. DHS told CNN an announcement about their status “will be made at the appropriate time.” The report said they were expected to continue living and working in the country for the time being.

That uncertainty sits alongside a week of official meetings on conflict, elections, security operations and investment. African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Bankole Adeoye was scheduled to end a U.S. visit with stops in Atlanta and New York after meetings in Washington. The itinerary puts state departments, security councils and investors at the table; it records no decisions or direct community response. No clear answer came Monday.

Security on the agenda

Adeoye's delegation met State Department members on Friday, October 16, after a background briefing at the National Endowment for Democracy. They discussed conflicts in Sudan, Ethiopia and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, engagement with juntas and the return to civilian rule in the Sahel, along with upcoming elections in Nigeria, Kenya and Angola. The article reports no outcomes from those discussions. Elections appear as agenda items, not as a reported transfer of power or a change in who makes decisions.

The commissioner was also expected to meet African communities in Atlanta, Georgia, under the theme “Diaspora for Peace.” On Wednesday, October 21, the delegation was expected in New York for a consultative meeting with the African Group at the United Nations, the A3 African Security Council members Liberia, Somalia and the DRC, and the 9th Annual Joint Consultative Meeting with the UN Peacebuilding Commission.

On Thursday, the AU Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council were expected to hold an informal joint seminar. Its five subjects included AU and UN peace operations, youth, peace and security, counterterrorism, children and armed conflicts, and natural resources management. Friday's annual joint meeting was scheduled to focus on future resources and support mechanisms for AUSSOM, as well as Sudan, South Sudan and eastern DRC. The report describes institutional consultations, but identifies no pledged resources or communities setting the terms.

Biodiversity, with a financing gap

Armenia hosted the year's most significant biodiversity conference in Yerevan, beginning October 19, as the United States continued its retreat from global forums. COP17 was to include the first global review of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022 and aimed at halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030.

At least 28 African countries had released new National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans in the previous year. South Africa and the African Wildlife Foundation pressed developed nations to help close the international biodiversity finance gap; the annual goal of $20 billion was falling short. The United States wasn't participating as a full voting party and was the only member state not to have ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity. The targets are global. The financing shortfall remains in the report.

Gas markets and official access

On Tuesday, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency was due to host gas-sector decision-makers from Angola and Mozambique in Houston, Texas, to share market intelligence with potential U.S. partners and investors. The agency said rapid growth in the gas sector was accelerating demand for midstream infrastructure and creating opportunities for U.S. technologies, engineering expertise and equipment. The stated beneficiaries include potential partners and investors; the article doesn't report what local communities will receive.

Other scheduled events included a virtual discussion with Mozambique opposition leader Venncio António Bila Mondlane of the National Alliance for a Free and Autonomous Mozambique, hosted by George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. Tech Safari's Big Move planned its first U.S. capital gathering for professionals considering careers, capital or ventures on the continent. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs was hosting a panel on global volatility and authoritarianism. The week's agenda is crowded with official access and investment talk. The people living with the consequences aren't reported as making the decisions. The annual biodiversity finance goal is $20 billion.