The United States of America will host the first U.S-Africa Summit on 5-6 August 2014 in Washington DC. The U.S wishes to use the Summit to strengthen ties with Africa, the world’s most dynamic and fastest-growing continent. The Summit will build on Obama's trip to Africa last year and will focus on enhancing the U.S-Africa trade and investment relations, cooperation on security and ensuring democracy in the territories of the parties.

In hosting the Summit, the U.S joins regions the likes of EU and Japan which have held such high level meetings before with African leaders. As Obama's administration has observed, Africa is increasingly growing into economic power house and is attracting and shifting the focus of the hitherto global economic powers. China has also changed the landscape and lenses through which the west looks at Africa. China is currently the single largest bilateral source of annual foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa’s 54 countries. China’s investment in Africa of various kinds exceeds $40 billion, among which $14.7 billion is direct investment. In addition to investments, China's aid to Africa is almost free of conditionalities and is directed mainly to physical and productive infrastructure. Africa is, therefore, slowly turning to China something that is, to the west, a worrying development.

The west had until now capitalized on its aid and unilateral offers for trade preferences (the likes of AGOA and EBA) in attracting loyalty from African countries. On the basis of the existing or prospected aid, Africa assured investment deals and exported raw materials to the west. With Africa growing out of this economic doldrums end now beginning to influence the global economics, the west is worried and is changing strategies to ensure that either the status quo is maintained or if the change is inevitable, then it should remain in their favour.

In light of the above, the U.S has embarked on the process of reviewing the AGOA in order to ascertain its relevance and possibly refocus and align it with the current dynamics in Africa. In this regard the United States Trade Representative (USTR) launched fours studies in 2013 aimed at informing the U.S on how to move forward with the AGOA come 2015 and generally in focusing the U.S-Africa Trade and investment relations.

The first study will assess the trade and investment performance of the AGOA and the impact it has had on the economies of sub-Saharan Africa. More importantly to the U.S, the study will review the the AGOA against the existing current or potential sub-Saharan African reciprocal trade agreements and the objectives of AGOA. This will certainly be a big factor in the reauthorization of the AGOA. What is clear here is that the study will asses the implications of the Economic Partnership Agreements the European Union has or is negotiating with Africa against the non reciprocal unilateral arrangements (such as the AGOA) which until now, has been the basis for U.S-Africa trade and investment relations.

The second investigation, will assess the economic effects of providing duty-free treatment for AGOA imports on U.S. industries and consumers. In other words, the study will asses whether the AGOA is enabling access to raw materials and or promoting industrialization in the US. The study may also assess whether the AGOA optimizes or undermines the welfare of the U.S consumer. If the reverse is true, that is, if the AGOA is making the U.S consumer worse off and is promoting competition with U.S industries thereby impacting on the employment capacity of the country, then its reauthorization might be brought into question.

The third investigation is aimed at identifying possible changes to the rules of origin under the AGOA with the potential to increase exports from Africa. The issue here to note is that the U.S will be looking at how the AGOA rules of origin are promoting increased exports from Africa. Looking closely at this study together with the first two, one begins noticing that interest of U.S will be at the forefront in the  reauthorization of the AGOA.

The fourth investigation will assess the impact of the EU-South Africa free trade agreement on U.S. exports to South Africa.This last study tells it all. The colonial masters are it again. The scramble for Africa has been relaunched to counteract the struggle for an economic independence which seems to be a new resolve by the African countries.

The dynamics in Africa have changed and the strategies of engagement are also changing. EU-Africa Summit will be held in April 2014. The first ever U.S-Africa Summit will be held in August 2014. China and Japan also began this kind of engagement with Africa in the last decade.

To understand what is behind the new economic and power strugles, one needs to read through the declaration of ministers in charge of foreign affairs, foreign trade and international co-operation at the end of their conference on China-Africa Cooperation held in 2000. One of the paragraphs reads "We reaffirm that the injustice and inequality in the current international system are incompatible with the trend of the times towards world peace and development, hinder the development of the countries of the South and pose threats to international peace and security. We stress that the establishment of a just and equitable new international political and economic order is indispensable for the democratisation of international relations and for the effective participation of developing countries in the international process of decision-making."

Okay, there you have it, Africa has come out of the political and economic doldrums and this is threatening the global stability. All the powers seem to me going back to the drawing board but this time round Africa is being invited to the table. The question remains, will Africa come out the winner?