| | | | |  | | By Ryan Heath | | | Follow Ryan on Twitter | Send tips and insights to rheath@politico.com
| | | WTF — MUSK'S TWITTER PURGE: Global Insider's commitment to you is to not react to every last Elon Musk provocation. But there's one that should catch your eye this morning. Twitter suspended the accounts of several prominent journalists covering Musk on Thursday evening, prompting criticism from U.S. lawmakers and bewilderment from the media elite. It's not complicated: Musk is happy to have insurrection supporters on Twitter, and journalists off. We're all talking about Twitter, again, after all. The victims include Ryan Mac (New York Times), Drew Harwell (Washington Post), Donie O'Sullivan (CNN) and Steve Herman (Voice of America). AFRICA SUMMIT WINS AND MISSES Fifty African delegations showed up in Washington this week for the U.S.-Africa summit, showcasing Washington's convening power, but also gaps in the United States' Africa strategy. The Biden administration has progressed from his predecessor's dismissals of Africa into well-received but relatively minor infrastructure deals (such as the Benin-Niger Regional Compact) and vision statements for African partnership. "To create real change, we need real partnerships," per Secretary of State Antony Blinken. But Washington isn't yet outplaying Beijing's infrastructure juggernaut, which has delivered a potent legacy of stadiums, rail lines and broadband connections that contrast with the West's Covid legacy of shuttered embassies, choked-off trade, endless visa lines and late vaccine arrivals. The messaging this week flip-flopped from embracing business opportunities to sanctioning the Zimbabwean president's son. Senegalese President Macky Sall — current head of the African Union — told Biden "we appreciate your attachment to the African-American partnership," and thanked him for his support of the AU being given a seat at the G-20. But Sall felt obliged to share his worries about the Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act, saying it turned a whole continent into "the target" and "could gravely harm the relationship" with the U.S. There's still no needle-loving climate finance effort from Washington, either. Africans didn't cause climate change, Sall said: They're "the least polluting continent but the most vulnerable."
| | | | A message from Qualcomm:   | | | INTERVIEW — IVOR ICHIKOWITZ Global Insider spoke to one summit-goer and long-time advocate for stronger U.S.-Africa ties, South African industrialist and philanthropist Ivor Ichikowitz, the man behind the biggest annual survey of African youth. Western myopia: Ichikowitz said he launched the survey to provide evidence of "a new Africa." Western boardroom inhabitants still see risk where Ichikowitz sees "this incredibly colorful, dynamic, vibrant, exciting, future-looking young continent." U.S. vs. China: "I've seen exactly what the Chinese have been able to achieve: The continent has developed and grown in the last 15 years in a vacuum, because the U.S. has been absent." "I attended the Obama Africa summit. It was almost like somebody had said to Obama at the end of his term, 'Oh shit, we forgot Africa, we've got to call some Africans.' It was ticking a box and there was no sense of commitment." "The Trump presidency was really interesting: the first time somebody in the White House said 'We got a problem' and recognized America's energy transition was connected to Africa. But they turned that into 'We need to get Africa back from the Chinese,' and Trump spoke of Africa as if it was a country." China's Covid win: When the world and embassies and diplomatic travel shut down, Africans were left with "Chinese roads, Chinese stadiums, Chinese telecoms, Chinese electricity. Whereas there was no trade with the U.S. because transport wasn't possible" and vaccines came only in a trickle once available. Biden's sweet spot: They've "stopped talking just about trade and aid, and started talking about partnerships and collaboration. There's now an acceptance of the fact that this is a huge pie. It's the first time I've heard a U.S. government official talk about investment in Africa backed by the government. It's totally different rhetoric," with specific initiatives as follow-up. He was impressed by the Benin-Niger Regional Compact: "It's one that the Chinese haven't seen as a major priority, but which completely changes that part of the continent." "The U.S. was lagging behind China. Europe is now lagging behind both of them very significantly," he said. Commerce department holds the key: "Helping embassies become business-focused, with an investment guarantee scheme, might be America's superpower against the Chinese." Democracy, Africa-style: "A lot of the younger generation do think democracy is a good idea, but don't think that a Western-style democracy is the right style for Africa. I suspect that they saw Trump as a very refreshing kind of icon."
| | | | POLITICO AT CES 2023 : We are bringing a special edition of our Digital Future Daily newsletter to Las Vegas to cover CES 2023. The newsletter will take you inside the largest and most influential technology event on the planet, featuring every major and emerging industry in the technology ecosystem gathered in one place. The newsletter runs from Jan. 5-7 and will focus on the public policy related aspects of the event. Sign up today to receive exclusive coverage of CES 2023. | | | | | | | | TREND CORNER DRONES TO THE RESCUE IN RWANDA: Have you heard of autonomous logistics? It's not only ground robots to the rescue: In Rwanda, it's autonomous aircraft. The government of Rwanda has signed a deal with Zipline to make "autonomous instant deliveries to its entire population." The goal: deliver medicine including vaccines, medical supplies, food and animal health products to hard to reach places not served by traditional infrastructure, like roads and rail. Zipline already delivers 75 percent of the country's rural blood supply. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found Zipline deliveries cut maternal deaths by hemorrhage by 88 percent. TAX — TRACKING CORPORATE TAX RATE TRENDS: Six countries — Colombia, South Sudan, Netherlands, Turkey, Chile and Montenegro — increased their top corporate tax rates, while 10 countries, including France and Greece, cut them, per Tax Foundation analysis. Puerto Rico has the second-highest rate in the world (37.5 percent), while 16 countries don't have any corporate tax at all. The global average rate is 23 percent, while Asia has the lowest regional average rate at 19.5 percent. TECH — TRACKING GLOBAL INVESTMENT PLANS: A new Morning Consult poll of 4,000 businesses in the U.S., China, Japan, India, Germany, U.K., Brazil and Canada, commissioned by IBM, found: — Contrary to expectations of a wider economic slowdown, four in five business plan to keep up tech investment, in particular to help them monitor and hit their Environmental, Social and Governance goals, including through greener IT and supply chain management solutions. — The top areas for investment will be 5G, cybersecurity, Internet of Things, AI and cloud computing. — Missing in action: corporate plans for quantum computing investment; companies appear not to have caught up with government interest in quantum R&D. KLEPTOWATCH QATARGATE SCANDAL HIJACKS EU LEADERS SUMMIT: The 27 leaders were supposed to agree on their response to U.S. subsidies and decide on how to cap gas prices when they met Thursday. Instead, leader after leader was forced to use their press engagements to admit the scandal risked shaking trust in the entire EU system, and allowing EU-bashed Viktor Orbán to urge Europeans to "drain the Brussels swamp." Back in the European Parliament itself, lawmakers voted Thursday to suspend all work relating to Qatar — which includes the final approval of the bloc's aviation agreement with the Gulf state. POLITICAL MISFIRE: Europe's center-right Conservatives used the Qatar scandal to fire the starting gun on their 2024 election campaign platform — targeting socialist hypocrisy. But hours later on Thursday, the European Public Prosecutor's Office announced they were going after a conservative MEP, too: Maria Spyraki of Greece for budget fraud, alongside Eva Kaili, another Greek MEP at the center of the Qatar scandal. Sealed-off offices and cash-filled suitcases: POLITICO's European influence reporter, Sarah Wheaton, explains why the Qatar scandal was inevitable. POLITICO also has this video explainer on how all the players are connected BRITISH POLITICIANS' SEX TOURISM SCANDAL: It's not just EU politicians who subject themselves to undue influence. In their latest dispatch on Britian's All-Party Parliamentary Groups system, POLITICO's Esther Webber and Cristina Gallardo reveal claims that MPs have indulged in the services of sex workers on overseas trips, drank far too much and have been general embarrassments. Fed up with the tourists: Overseas representatives have grown wary of MPs wanting to make trips to their countries, with some resorting to packing MPs' agendas with as many visits and meetings as possible in order to reduce the "free time" for potential misbehavior. A report by the House of Commons standards committee earlier this year warned these trips could "represent the next great parliamentary scandal." NEW RUSSIA SANCTIONS: A new EU package of sanctions has been agreed, but only after a dispute over fertilizers. Six countries argued that the existing sanctions regime made it too difficult to supply fertilizers to third countries, increasing the danger of famine in Africa at a time when Russia's war on Ukraine has already disrupted global food supplies, Eddy Wax reported. Did you know? Europeans take this fertilizer policy disputes seriously. There's even a Dutch minister for nitrogen — one of the biggest elements of commercial fertilizers.
| | | SPOTTED AT AMÉTHYSTE: What started as a one-off effort to cheer Covid spirits in 2021 is now quickly cementing itself as a D.C. social calendar institution. Held at French Ambassador Philippe Etienne's residence Wednesday night, and co-hosted with Heather Podesta, Steve Clemons and Isiah Thomas, Global Insider spotted: U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, infrastructure czar Mitch Landrieu, Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), U.K. Ambassador Karen Pierce, Assistant Secretary of State Lee Satterfield, White House senior adviser Mike Donilon, OMB director Shalanda Young, White House director of digital media Rob Flaherty , deputy political director Carla Frank, POLITICO CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and editor-in-chief Matt Kaminski, MSNBC's Jesse Rodriguez, Symone Sanders, NBC's Carrie Budoff Brown and Garrett Haake and seemingly most of the White House press team. ENI PARTY: The Italian energy company was overwhelmed with 350 guests at their holiday soirée — a further sign of the dearth of holiday parties this season as many tech and media companies go through layoffs. Spotted with host Marco Margheri: Italian Ambassador Mariangela Zappia, Italian MP Lapo Pistelli, and energy gurus Dan Yergin, Helima Croft, Paula Dobriansky and Varun Sivaram. Christian Douglas sang with the American Pop Orchestra. MOVES The World Health Organization appointed Jeremy Farrar as Chief Scientist.
| | | | LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today. | | | | | | | | BOOK: To Ukraine With Love — Essays on Russia's War and Europe's Future, by Benjamin Tallis. REPORT: The National Endowment of Democracy has a new report by Beth Kerley, Roukaya Kasenally, Bárbara Simão and Blenda Santoson on "the big vulnerabilities to democracy that can come with smart cities initiatives." Using examples they studied in Brazil and Mauritius, the report authors concluded that "without firm democratic guardrails, smart cities can undermine privacy, erode good governance norms, and amplify the influence of authoritarian actors," including Beijing. Thanks to editor Heidi Vogt and producer Hannah Farrow. Ryan Heath's husband works for the IBM team that commissioned the Morning Consult poll. SUBSCRIBE to the POLITICO newsletter family: D.C. Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook | Paris Playbook| Ottawa Playbook| EU Confidential | D.C. Influence | EU Influence | London Influence | Digital Bridge | China Direct | Berlin Bulletin | Living Cities | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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