The summit is being organized around the theme "Investing in the Next Generation." It will consist of discourse between President Obama, attending African heads of state, and the chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission. The theme pays heed to an increasing U.S. policy focus on expanding trade and investment ties with Africa, and the political, economic, and security-related opportunities and challenges associated with Africa's development, particularly those related to its overwhelmingly youthful population. The Administration has characterized the summit format as being designed to enable a frank, mutual exchange of ideas on which to base U.S.-Africa cooperative relations, rather than to cap a pre-negotiated set of communiques. Cabinet members and other top officials, however, will hold bilateral meetings with some countries' leaders. Summit side meetings on selected issues (e.g., the threat of the Ebola viral disease in West Africa and the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram and other armed Islamist groups in the Sahel) are also planned. The summit will be the first such event hosted by the United States. The summit signals both continuity in long-standing U.S.-African cooperation and increasing U.S. engagement with Africa on numerous fronts—particularly with regard to trade and investment, following strong economic growth on the continent and a marked rise in U.S. development assistance to Africa since 2000. Are all African heads of state attending the summit? There are some indications of bipartisan Hill support for the summit, as indicated, for instance, by the introduction of S.Res. 522 , A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate supporting the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit to be held in Washington, DC, from August 4 through 6, 2014, by Senator Coons, joined by co-sponsors Senator Menendez, Senator Corker, and Senator Flake, on July 24. Some Members of Congress are slated to participate in other summit events, and several related congressionally hosted events are scheduled on the Hill during the three-day summit period. What other official and unofficial events are being held in conjunction with the summit?12

In addition to the three days of official events to be held in conjunction with the summit—described in this report's Appendix A —over 50 deliberation, learning, and advocacy-based forums on a wide variety of topics are scheduled to be held during or after the summit. Other observers contend that such U.S. emphasis on democracy and human rights may, in fact, decrease the U.S. business facilitation prospects arising from the summit, when contrasted with summits held by China. Key additional democracy, governance, and security challenges are discussed below. Trade, Investment, and Economic Cooperation

			What is the nature and focus of U.S.-Africa trade and economic relations? U.S. trade and investment policy toward Africa is focused on economic development goals and encouraging African trade with the United States in order to promote economic growth, as well as enabling U.S. firms to tap emergent opportunities and invest in the region. Improvements in some African countries' economic and political climates in recent years have led to increasing interest in the region as a destination for U.S. goods, services, and investment. Some key factors include: 
Infrastructure . The strategy also seeks to increase U.S. firms' knowledge of the realities of sub-Saharan African business environments and markets, and provide more assistance to help the U.S. private sector to take advantage of trade and investment opportunities in the region. Trade capacity building (TCB). U.S. Aid to Africa

			How does U.S. assistance help address Africa's development challenges? Much U.S. bilateral aid to African countries is provided under these presidential initiatives:
Global Health Initiative. At a YALI summit in late July President Obama also announced that: the program is being renamed the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders; the 2015 program summit will be held in sub-Saharan Africa; and that YALI is providing a new set of online courses, mentoring, and networking resources for program fellows, and that the Administration will launch four regional Leadership Centers to house such resources and foster public and private sector management and leadership development through training, interpersonal networking forums, and related activities. Governance, Democracy, and Human Rights

			What is the state of democracy and human rights in Africa? In several other countries, elected governments have been ousted by military coups in recent years. Peace and Security Issues

			What are the major challenges to peace and security in Africa? Major conflicts in Africa include the ones below:
East Africa. North Africa. The Obama Administration's National Security Strategy, issued in 2010, focuses on advancing "effective partnerships" in Africa. CRS Report R43173, African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Background and Reauthorization , by [author name scrubbed].
This report provides information about the early August 2014 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, DC, and policy issues likely to be addressed by participants in the summit and other events being held in conjunction with it. In providing background on key U.S.-Africa policy issues, the report addresses:
Africa's development and economic challenges; U.S.-Africa trade, investment, and economic cooperation; U.S. aid to Africa; Governance, democracy, and human rights issues; and Peace and security issues, including selected U.S. responses.
The summit is organized around the theme "Investing in the Next Generation." Summit participants—President Obama, the chairperson of the African Union, and an anticipated majority of African heads of state—will discuss investment issues, peace and security, governance, and other topics. No U.S.-African bilateral presidential meetings are planned, although Cabinet officials will hold bilateral meetings with some countries' leaders and summit side meetings on selected issues (e.g., the West African Ebola viral disease outbreak and regional terrorism challenges) are planned. All African heads of state, apart from four, were invited to the summit. The summit is designed to enable frank exchanges of ideas on which to base U.S.-African ties, rather than to formulate a set of pre-negotiated outcomes. The summit and associated events will highlight key goals in the Administration's 2012 Africa Strategy, which focuses on U.S. efforts to help African countries to foster:
good governance; increased economic growth, trade, and investment, in partnership with U.S. firms; durable peace and security; and greater socioeconomic opportunity and development.
There are some indications of bipartisan congressional support for the summit, as reflected by the introduction of S.Res. 522 (Coons, co-sponsored by Menendez, Corker, and Flake) on July 24. There will be one official congressional summit event, a reception, and several unofficial Capitol Hill discussion forums, in addition to dozens of other unofficial events, sponsored mostly by major firms, think tanks, non-profit advocacy groups, universities, and others. Key event topics include trade and investment, development, governance, and human rights.
The summit focuses on the continent as a whole, both sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa, although the Administration's 2012 Africa Strategy focuses on sub-Saharan Africa alone. Likewise, sub-Saharan Africa is the main focus of this report, although some coverage of North Africa is included.
The summit, the first such U.S.-hosted event, follows similar Africa summits hosted by China, France, the European Union, and others, and may be seen, in part, as a response to such events. No major new U.S. initiatives have been publicly announced ahead of the summit. The style of the U.S. summit distinguishes it from those held in other countries to date, which often culminate in pledges of large host financial commitments. This is notably the case for China, which has rapidly expanded economic and political ties with Africa in recent years. The summit has drawn some criticism focused on the lack of both "deliverables" and bilateral presidential engagement, resulting from the belief of some that inadequate attention will be focused on business deal-making, among other reasons.
The report discusses some key social and economic issues in the region. This includes key development challenges—a need for health, education, and other social indicator improvements, especially catering to Africa's youthful population, and a need to address climatic and environmental shocks, among other ends. It also briefly addresses the recent positive shift in Africa's economic environment, including rapid economic growth and growing discretionary spending by consumers, while considering factors that may continue to limit business interest in the region. U.S. trade and investment aid programs, especially trade preferences and trade capacity building efforts under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which expires in 2015 and may be reauthorized (as the report discusses), are also addressed, as is the nature of U.S. development aid.
U.S. bilateral aid to Africa, funded at about $7 billion in FY2014 and supplemented by additional types of aid, including emergency humanitarian assistance, focuses on health, education, agriculture and food security, and, more recently, electrification. U.S. security assistance supports the professionalization of African militaries and the deployment of African peacekeeping troops. U.S. assistance to Africa is delivered largely under six major presidential initiatives, which the report discusses.