President Donald Trump
Five West African leaders are travelling to Washington this week for a somewhat surprise meeting: US president Donald Trump announced in late June that he would host the heads of state of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau for a three-day meeting.
Washington has cited “commercial opportunities” as the reason for the mini-summit, lasting from 9 to 11 July.
It’s seen as the first major diplomatic outreach to Africa from Washington since Donald Trump returned to office, following a tense one-on-one meeting between South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and Trump in the White House in May.
What agreements and results will come from their meeting with the American president remain to be seen.
