The United States of America (USA) "will earmark 55 billion dollars for Africa," the White House said yesterday, before Joe Biden received many leaders from the continent for a summit in Washington.

Jake Sullivan, the US president's national security advisor, indicated that these funds will be earmarked over three years mainly for health and the response to climate change, but without detailing where they will come from or how they will be distributed.

There will be "a real mobilization of resources around concrete objectives", he said, indicating that the details will be revealed in the coming days.

"If you compare what the United States is promising for the next three years with what other countries are promising, I think the comparison is very favorable for us," said Jake Sullivan, quoted by Lusa.

The advisor assured that this funding, and more generally the US commitment, would not be linked to the attitude of African countries towards the war in Ukraine, at a time when many refuse to openly condemn Russia.

"We're not holding a gun to anyone's head," said Joe Biden's aide.

The US-Africa summit, which is taking place in Washington from today and will last three days, should revive US relations with the African continent, put on hold by former president Donald Trump, at a time when China and Russia are advancing with their pawns in the region.

This is the second meeting of its kind, after the first one in 2014.