Why Four African Countries Were Not Invited To The Washington Summit

                    As the historic U.S.–African summit kicks off its first day and now enters into the second day of high level meetings, panel discussions, and a review of key surveys; there are a handful of African nations not present for very different reasons. In total, 50 nations out of all countries that make up the African continent were invited, with three opting out.
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe Yet four were not invited to participate at all.               
                                           

First, three presidents from the African nations of Sierre Leone, Liberia and Guinea have opted out, and cancelled their trips to Washington before last weekend. Each is now engulfed in a battle confronting, and working to help to stem the spread of the Ebola virus, that has gripped their respective countries.
Yet, there are four African leaders who were not invited to take part in the summit, and it is over what some in Washington have called the ‘repressive’ nature of their respective governments. They are Robert Mugabe president of Zimbabwe; Isaias Afeworki of Eritrea; and Omar al-Bashir of The Sudan. The fourth not to be invited is the Central African Republic Interim President, Catherine Samba-Panza.                                            
In the case of the Central African Republic president, that country has not yet held elections necessary for it to be re-admitted to the African Union. Membership in the union was among several criteria cited as necessary for summit participation. Membership or not, the four countries are said to have had poor relations with the African Union in recent years. Admitting and / or inviting any of the four would have sent a ‘bad message’ for the summit, according Ben Rhodes, the Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications.                                                                                                                                              
Rhodes is one of three high-ranking senior administration officials taking part in the four-day summit. “We didn’t simply do a Sub-Saharan African summit.  We invited all of Africa, with the exception of certain countries that are either not in good standing with the AU or are of particular concern to the United States, such as Zimbabwe and Sudan,” Rhodes said in a pre-summit media debriefing with reporters in Washington late last week.                                                                                                                                                  
Yet, there are several African leaders taking part in the summit who have not been barred, but who have received sharp criticism of their governance from groups such as Human Rights Watch.
The human rights group has criticized some of those in attendance noting that “at least a dozen of whom lead repressive governments that have imprisoned journalists, human rights defenders, and anti-corruption campaigners. Many have approved laws that stifle freedom of expression and used national security, defamation, and anti-terrorism laws to prosecute independent writers, protesters, and activists who criticize government policy,” the rights group said in a statement.
The theme of the summit is “investing in the next generation,” said Ben Rhodes, who added that while the fight against terrorism and security is a focus, part of that security includes food security. "It is a major effort in combating famine," he said.
There will be about 80 unofficial side events that have developed as a result of the summit.  The summit has also galvanized much of the African community around the Washington area. The NGO community, including the local universities, think tanks, and business organizations has all put together an interesting set of side meetings that will keep everyone in Washington busy for the entire week.
With those in attendance at the summit, the focus for the next four days is just who is there, among heads of state rather than who is not there.