President Obama is hosting more than 50 leaders from across Africa’s civil society, private sector, and various faith communities in Washington, DC this week. The continent is one of the fastest-growing regions of the world, and this the first time an American president will be meeting with such a large group of African leaders at the same time.
The heads of state of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, however, had to cancel their attendance following the outbreak of Ebola in their countries.
In keeping with the summit’s theme, “Investing in the Next Generation,” Mr. Obama met with 500 young people from sub-Saharan Africa a few days ago. The participants had come to Washington, DC for a six-week leadership fellowship.
The three-day summit, which begins on Monday, will focus on trade relations between the US and African nations and opening new economic opportunities. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker is expected to announce new business deals worth more than $1 billion.
Areas of cooperation between the two parties will include agriculture, democratic governance, and electricity. And Africa’s leaders are hoping that the US will open its markets to more of their products.
During Al Jazeera America’s Sunday night segment “The Week Ahead,” Richelle Carey spoke to Kate Almquist Knopf, Director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, and to Amadou Sy, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Africa Growth Initiative.
Amadou Sy said that the event is very timely, and that it will be beneficial even if its outcome is just to familiarize Americans with the diversity, energy, and vibrancy of Africa.
When asked why it has taken so long to pursue this initiative, Sy said that “during his first term Obama had to deal with the worst financial crisis since the Depression here in the US. But now is the window of opportunity to do something for Africa.”
Knopf added that “it’s a recognition of the growing importance of Africa to the United States. The fact that there are over a billion people on the continent, and population growth there is likely to quadruple over the next decades, it represents an increasingly important area for us economically, for security reasons, and for transnational and global issues.”
In terms of security, the US has been concerned about fighter groups across the continent, ranging from Boko Haram in the West to Al Shabab in the East.
The GDP of sub-Saharan Africa has grown at a much faster rate than the rest of the world over the past decade. Last year, US goods exports to the region stood at $24 billion, a 250 percent increase from 2003; while imports stood at $39.3 billion, which was up by 53 percent from a decade ago.
Sy said Africa has a young population that is growing quickly and a middle class that is expanding, and that more jobs must be created for young people. He said that traditionally US interests in the Africa have had to do with the oil and gas sectors. But now there’s a lot of potential in other sectors, such as information, technology, communications, and retail opportunities.
Knopf agreed, adding that “the expanding middle class is a market that we cannot afford to ignore for our own economy’s sake.”
The US’s sudden push for stronger relations with African nations is partially a response to the increasing economic ties between Africa and China. Beijing is investing billions of dollars in the continent, and has been its biggest trade partner since 2009.
But Sy said that “when it comes to trade, it’s true that China is now the largest bi-lateral trade partner with Africa, but when it comes to investment, the US and France are the strongest.” He added that “the problem is that all the investment goes to very few countries – Nigeria, Angola, South Africa – and very few sectors, namely the oil sector.”  He said moving forward, other sectors should be opened up to the US private sector, and added that Africans have their own priorities, such as better infrastructure and access to electricity.
"There’s incredible space for American businesses to diversify and to expand beyond natural resources and oil,” said Knopf. “I think there’s also tremendous potential for African economies to trade within Africa."

Sudanese expatriate Abdel Aal Hammour recently sat down with some friends over a water pipe in a Doha cafe, but his thoughts were far away. He has lived in Qatar for 10 years, but, like many foreign workers, he remains closely connected to events back home.

For most of this year, Hammour, a 38-year-old quality control officer for Qatar Airways, has been following the aftermath of a January 9 referendum in which the newly named South Sudan voted to separate from the Northern Republic of Sudan and form its own country. The decision, taking effect on Saturday, will leave what was once Africa's largest nation split in two.
The separation follows a 2005 peace deal that ended some 27 years of civil war between the north and south that killed an estimated 1.5 million Sudanese soldiers and civilians. Even so, many Sudanese are concerned the division may have the same polarising effect on the population.
"Sudan is very unique. It is a mixture, like a beautiful painting with dozens of [colors].  We are Arabs and Africans.  Our land is made up of desert and green," said Hammour, a native of North Sudan who finds the decision unfortunate. 
"The Sudanese people have great sorrow because of this separation.  It’s as if a part of them has been taken away." The Sudanese Embassy in Doha estimates there are around 35,000 Sudanese expatriates living in Qatar. Like Hammour and his friends, the majority of Sudanese living in Doha, and across the Gulf region, are from the north. For the most part, Northern Sudanese share the same language and religion as other people in the Arab world.

Confessional divide
Yet expatriates from South Sudan, which is made up predominately of Christians and people practicing tribal religions, have a very different stance on Saturday's separation.
"At last we are free," said Agoyom Akomjo Musellam, senior legal counselor for Qatar Telecommunications in Doha and a native of South Sudan who left in 1995 and has since lived in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar.

"We are free from the bondage of successive political regimes, including the government of Sudan, the Turkish and Egyptian regimes and the British," he added.
The opinions of all Sudanese are hardly so equally divided along geographic, or ethno-religious lines, explained Santos Oryem, a 25-year Doha resident and employee at Qatar Petroleum. He said that he has many friends from the north and south.
"This is the nature of the Sudanese people," said Oryem. "The division is only a political one."
Another Southerner, Veronica Oryem, a lawyer in Doha who was born in Khartoum,viewed the impending division in practical terms: "Southerners were not getting equal opportunities, but we are still one people. I hope visa issues can be resolved between the two countries so the northerners can visit us in the south."
Yet she is one of many Sudanese who have welcomed the separation.
"This should have happened a long time ago," she said.

Celebrations
Veronica's family, as well as southerner Agoyom Musellam, have traveled to Juba, the capital of the new 10-state Republic of South Sudan, to attend festivities to celebrate the formation of the 196th nation in the world and 193rd country inducted into the United Nations.  Veronica's father is arranging a large feast for family and friends.
 
"This is an occasion you cannot stay away from," said Santos Oryem. 
Back in Doha, however, the mostly north Sudanese expatriate crowd has little to look forward to on Saturday.
"We are just waiting for the event, but do not have any specific plans," said Abdul Rahman Bashir Al Tahir, chairman of the Sudanese Community in Doha. He added that some Sudanese may choose to watch the events on television, but he knew of no scheduled gatherings.
Some Sudanese working in Doha, such as businessman Omer Ibrahim Hassan, think that the separation may lead to further conflict in their battle-scarred homeland. Hassan, who moved to Doha from Khartoum only a year ago, admits that southerners were treated like "second-class citizens by the north" and should be able to "taste a bit of independence".
Still, he said if South Sudan ever chooses to return to an alliance with the north, he would welcome the reunification.
"The whole place is my country," he said.  
As a range of Sudanese expatriates said, the "whole place" will now become two countries which both face a multitude of challenges. Disputes over oil revenue, land rights and minority issues continue to simmer below the surface of any tenuous agreements.
Despite the underlying issues, however, South Sudan's secession and independence are set for Saturday and history is set to witness, yet again, the emergence of a brand new nation.