Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh led a U.S. delegation to Ghana and Senegal to discuss the infrastructure needs within these countries and around the region. Singh was joined by Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Alexia Latortue and U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Africa Bureau Travis L. Adkins, reflecting the Biden Administration’s whole-of-government effort to implement the Build Back Better World Initiative (B3W) in a manner that is transparent, sustainable, adheres to high standards, and catalyzes the private sector where possible. This was the first B3W listening session in Africa, demonstrating President Biden’s commitment to strengthening our ties in the region and to narrowing the global gaps in physical, digital, and human infrastructure that have been widened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Ghana, Singh and the U.S. delegation met with Vice President E. Mahamudu Bawumia and Ministers of Finance, Defense, and National Security. In Senegal, Singh and the U.S. delegation met with President Macky Sall and Minister of Economy Amadou Hott to discuss both how the United States can mobilize investments to meet Senegal’s infrastructure and development needs, and ways of improving development impact within the framework of B3W. Singh and the U.S. delegation also visited the site of the Institut Pasteur Dakar vaccination manufacturing facility and a cold chain warehouse, which have received support from USAID and the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), respectively. Singh also participated in a roundtable with representatives of international financial institutions and members of civil society including women, climate, and agricultural leaders. Throughout his trip, Singh met with representatives from the private sector as well as key environmental, labor, and civil society leaders to solicit their views as to how we can best support local communities in a way that responds to infrastructure needs and advances the highest standards for transparency and anticorruption, financial sustainability, labor protections, and environmental preservation.

As the United States and our partners start to develop and implement the B3W initiative, we recognize that robust, meaningful partnerships with donor and host countries alike will be critical. For this reason, on the margins of COP26 last week, President Biden, European Commission President Von der Leyen, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosted a meeting with several G7 partners to hear from countries with major infrastructure needs on how major democracies of the world can meet the enormous infrastructure need in the developing world – and committed to addressing the climate crisis through infrastructure development. Early in October, Singh led an interagency delegation to Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama to hear directly from a range of Latin American stakeholders.

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