Biden says 'partnership' with Africa crucial for world

US President Joe Biden called on Wednesday for a broad partnership with Africa, calling closer ties crucial for the world.

"When Africa succeeds, the United States succeeds. Quite frankly, the whole world succeeds as well," Biden told the US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington DC, the second such summit that has been held in the American capital since 2014.

The US will invest $350 million for the digital transformation in Africa, Biden said, to "make sure people across Africa can participate in a digital economy."

The US signed a "historic" memorandum of understanding with the new African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, he said, which will "unlock new opportunities to trade and investments between our countries."

"Second, we're investing to facilitate greater regional trade within Africa, including by investing in infrastructure," he said.

The president noted the signing of a $500 million compact with Benin and Niger under the Millennium Challenge Corporation and said it would help "build and maintain roads, put in place policies that reduce transportation costs."

Touching on global issues from pandemics to food and climate crises, Biden said: "We can't solve any of these challenges without African leadership at the table and I'm not trying to be nice."

The US capital is hosting a three-day US-Africa Leaders Summit, which 49 African leaders are attending. Issues concerning the African continent are discussed in public sessions as well as in bilateral meetings.