ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER SENIOR US OFFICIAL IN AFRICA —The U.S. is playing catch-up in Africa this week, again. This time it's Harris, who is spending six days in Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia. Harris is the fifth U.S. official in three months to make landfall in Africa. President Joe Biden has promised to visit Africa later this year. On arrival in Ghana, Harris used brief remarks Sunday before a crowd assembled at Accra’s airport to announce “I’m very excited about the future of Africa.” In practice that excitement means plenty of talks over the coming week on how to increase American investment and how to manage China’s role as a debtholder in the region. Today, 22 African countries are either bankrupt or at high risk of debt distress per the International Monetary Fund, including Ghana and Zambia. DO LOOK UP! You’ll be able to see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus lined up in an arc shape below the moon this week, from anywhere on Earth, with Tuesday offering the clearest view for Americans. ECONOMY — IMF’S GEORGIEVA SEES FINANCIAL STABILITY RISKS: The outlook for the global economy will remain weak in the medium-term, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Sunday at a conference in China. “Even with a better outlook for 2024, global growth will remain well below its historic average of 3.8 percent,” she said. “It is also clear that risks to financial stability have increased,” Georgieva said during the second day of the China Development Forum in Beijing. The three-day annual event is a social mixer of politics and business, bringing together members of the Chinese Politburo with dozens of CEOs from Western companies like Siemens, Mercedes-Benz and Allianz. RUSSIA — PUTIN TO MOVE NUKES TO BELARUS: In a long-flagged move, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he would shift tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, by July 1. From Russia with interest: The EU is looking into investing frozen assets belonging to the Russian central bank to reap returns, according to a paper by the Commission set to be discussed on Tuesday by national experts, and obtained by POLITICO’s Paola Tamma. The paper suggests investing in “liquid, highly-rated assets,” an approach that would require tweaking the EU sanctions regime and which could generate around 2.6 percent annual returns. INDIA — RAHUL GANDHI SENTENCED TO PRISON, BARRED FROM PARLIAMENT: India’s democracy is looking ever more fragile this week. The leader of India’s opposition Congress Party was sentenced to two years in prison for mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname on Thursday, and on Friday was disqualified from parliament by Modi’s allies. The actions stem from a 2019 speech in which Gandhi referred to thieves as having the surname Modi. LATIN AMERICA — U.S. - COLOMBIA LOOK TO BROADEN RELATIONS: A delegation of top Colombian government officials led by Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva Durán is visiting Washington this week to meet with Secretary of State Blinken, and the country’s ambassador told POLITICO’s Daniel Lippman that the meetings represent a new focus on non-security issues in the relationship between the two countries. “It has always been the same; it has always been about business, politics, drugs and security,” Murillo said. “Now, both governments are making a big signal in how they want to broaden the dialogue by also adding in education, culture and inclusive development.” Along with Leyva, four ministers and eight deputy ministers representing those issues as well as women’s rights, tech connectivity and energy transition will meet with U.S. government officials on Monday and Tuesday in the tenth so-called U.S.-Colombia High-Level Dialogue. Senior members of the delegation will also meet with deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman and deputy national security adviser Jon Finer, as well as senior members of Congress. Colombia is one of the most unequal economies in the world. Murillo, the first-ever Black ambassador to the U.S. from Colombia, said that the country’s first leftist government during its 200 years of diplomatic relations with the U.S., has prioritized bringing public services and economic prosperity to regions who have traditionally been left behind. The administration of President Gustavo Petro wants more technical assistance from the U.S. in dealing with migrants given the huge migratory flows from neighbor Venezuela, and hopes this week’s meetings will pave the way for a meeting between Biden and Petro. TUNISIA — ON THE BRINK OF DEFAULT: President Kais Saied, who now rules without the checks and balances of a legislature, and whose administration has been arresting opposition politicians, now faces bankruptcy after missing payments on a $2 billion IMF finance package. The World Bank paused loans to Tunisia two weeks ago, and today European Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni is in Tunis to push for reforms. All that sets the stage for tense discussions during the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings starting April 10. BY THE NUMBERS EU CEOS ARE GREENER AND LESS IN DIGITAL THAN U.S. PEERS: European CEOs are more worried that their companies won’t be viable in 10 years than their U.S. peers (37 percent vs. 20 percent). The European cohort are less likely to deploy artificial intelligence, cloud or other advanced digital technology in the coming year (66 percent vs. 81 percent), but more likely to invest in climate-friendly products and processes than their U.S. counterparts (71 percent vs. 50 percent), according to a PwC survey of 1,000 business leaders.
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