Did US secretary of State mean it when he said Washington will not dictate Africa’s choices?

It was a conviction born of the struggle of generations of Africans whose destiny had been determined by colonial powers. This inalienable right depends on a system of rules and principles which Africans have helped forge over decades through their leadership in institutions like the United Nations and the African Union.

And yet too often African nations have been treated as instruments of other nations’ progress rather than the authors of their own. Time and again they have been told to pick a side in great power contests that feel far removed from the daily struggles of their people.

The United States will not dictate Africa’s choices. Neither should anyone else. The right to make these choices belongs to Africans, and Africans alone.

At the same time, the United States and the world will look to African nations to defend the rules of the international system that they’ve done so much to shape. These include the right of every country to have its independence, its sovereignty, and its territorial integrity respected – a principle at stake now in Ukraine.

We believe that all nations should be able to stand up for the right of a country not to have its borders redrawn by force, for if we allow that principle to be violated anywhere, we weaken it everywhere.

Openness also means creating pathways for the free flow of ideas, information, investment, which in the 21st century requires digital connectivity. So the United States is partnering with African governments, businesses, and entrepreneurs to build and adapt the infrastructure that enables that connectivity – an open, reliable, interoperable, secure internet; data centers; cloud computing.

That’s what happened in March, when Mozambique became the first African country to license SpaceX’s Starlink technology. The technology uses satellites to provide internet service, and it’s going to help expand access and lower costs for people throughout the country’s rural areas.

Now, one reason internet service is so spotty in places like Mozambique is because providers rely on data centers that are hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away. We’re working with African countries and businesses to change that.

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation is putting $300 million in financing toward developing, building, and operating data centers across the region, including in South Africa.

We recently awarded a $600 million contract to build an undersea telecommunications cable that will stretch over 17,000 kilometers – from Southeast Asia through the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, to Europe – delivering high-speed, reliable, secure connections for people across the continents.

The way this infrastructure is built will reverberate for decades. After all, we’ve seen the consequences when international infrastructure deals are corrupt and coercive, when they’re poorly built or environmentally destructive, when they import or abuse workers, or burden countries with crushing debts.

That’s why it’s so important for countries to have choices, to be able to weigh them transparently, with the input of local communities without pressure or coercion.

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