Leaders from 17 African nations have joined a ‘Summit for Democracy’ organized by an American administration clearly aware that the United States is itself under scrutiny over its own commitment to the democratic process. The two-day summit, with a participant list the includes 110 countries, is hosted by President Joe Biden, who emphasized soon after taking office last January, that “democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to defend it, fight for it, strengthen it, renew it”.

The summit is the first in a year-long campaign during which participating nations will take initiatives, in the words of the Biden administration, “to make democracies more responsive and resilient, and to build a broader community of partners committed to global democratic renewal”.