The US tries to play its cards in Africa

This week the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the US ambassador to the UNLinda Thomas-Greenfield, tour the African continent, trying to demonstrate Washington’s commitment to deepening relations with the region.
“We are all committed to Africa”

In a speech before his meeting with the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva, this Monday as part of his visit to four African countries, Blinken highlighted the importance of the African region for the United States.

“USA. is committed to deepening, strengthening and expanding its partnerships in Africa, partnerships that benefit both Africans and Americans. As President Biden has said, we are committed to Africa,” Blinken declared. In this context, the secretary once again quoted the North American president, Joe Biden, stating that the future, prosperity and the people of the region and the United States “are united.”

At the same time, the US official indicated that “African voices are increasingly shaping, animating and leading the global debate.” In addition to Cape Verde, which Blinken described as an “extraordinary partner,” the secretary will visit Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Angola. The purpose of the tour is to demonstrate the North American country’s commitment to deepening relations with the region.

The Secretary of State’s African tour coincided with the visit of the US ambassador to the UN to Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

“Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield’s trip will advance the Biden Administration’s goals for Africa, reinforcing commitments to democracy, empowering women and youth, fostering regional peace and security, and promoting sustainable development.” inclusive and sustainable,” says the statement from the US Mission to the United Nations.
Countering China’s growing influence in the region

Blinken’s trip comes amid attempts by US officials to expand their influence in the African region, friendly to Russia, which held another Russia-Africa summit last summer, and China, which is investing in various infrastructure projects. throughout the continent.

According to Oge Onubogu, director of the Africa program at the Wilson Center in Washington, in her recent trips to the continent she encountered a lack of understanding of the American agenda there. She noted that economic development projects undertaken by China in Africa created “visible infrastructure that people can see and feel.”

“But they’re not very clear about what the U.S. is doing,” he said, noting that U.S. officials are working to promote African democracy, as well as condemning military coups, such as in Niger, while working with authoritarian leaders elsewhere.

At the same time, analysts argue that while Russia and China have strengthened their relations with regional nations in recent years, the Biden Administration appears to have left Africa on the back burner due to other priority issues, such as the Ukrainian conflict, and now try to fix it.

In January last year, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also toured the continent, visiting Senegal, Zambia and South Africa, with the aim of “deepening economic ties between the US and Africa.” Then, she stated that Washington’s cooperation with African countries “is not transactional, it is not for show and it is not short-term.” Furthermore, she described the US strategy towards the continent as “mutually beneficial” and based on “transparency, good governance, responsibility and environmental sustainability.”

«They have never been reliable partners for Africa»

Meanwhile, renowned American economist Jeffrey Sachs recently stated that African nations should focus on developing cooperation with China, India, Arab states and those in Latin America rather than with the US and Europe, which “have never been reliable partners for Africa” ​​because of their “greed, self-interest and colonial legacy.”

In his words, the financial aid that Western countries provide to the African continent is too little and incapable of significantly improving the situation. Likewise, in his opinion, given the damage they have done throughout history, “those rich countries should pay taxes based on their historical responsibility for climate change and the abuses of the world system, such as the theft of resources.” and the sins of colonialism, the regime change operations, the assassinations of politicians, such as Lumumba, Gaddafi, etc., by the American and European powers. With RT

Related