U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Ghana on Sunday (March 26), the first leg of her three-nation tour of Africa that aims to strengthen Washington’s diplomatic ties with the continent. This visit echoes that of former President Barack Obama to the same country just under fifteen years ago. However, the geopolitical climate is very different, with the war in Ukraine, and especially the growing influence of China and Russia. While the arrival of a black president in the White House in 2008 had raised immense hopes, many African leaders regularly express their frustration with American policy towards Africa, which is still too perceived as a continent of problems rather than a land of opportunities.
The stakes are high to make up for the delay taken by Washington, accentuated by the Trump years. Now the Biden administration must step up its efforts, because the battle is on the diplomatic field. And to meet these challenges, Kamara Harris must provide proof of the sincerity of the United States, in particular through the fulfillment of the many promises not kept so far, and clearly avoid several pitfalls, including that of presenting the African States as pawns in the geopolitical strategy of the United States. “What an honor to be here in Ghana, and on the African continent. I am very excited about the future of Africa. I am very excited about the impact of Africa’s future on the rest of the world. When I look at what’s happening on this continent and the fact that the average age is 19, what does that tell us about the growth of innovation and opportunity. I see in all this a great opportunity, not only for Africans, but also for the rest of the world, “said the American vice-president when she got off the plane.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has undoubtedly given the United States an added sense of urgency to win over more African countries. UN votes to condemn the Russian war in Ukraine have divided African countries.
In any case, after other trips to Africa by members of President Joe Biden’s government as well as his wife Jill Biden, Kamala Harris’ visit is also meant to be symbolic, she is the first black person and the first woman to become a vice -President of the United States. She had traveled to Zambia as a child, when her maternal grandmother, originally from India, worked there. This trip will also allow him to strengthen his qualifications in foreign policy, ahead of a potential second candidacy of Mr. Biden in the presidential election of 2024, with Ms. Harris at his side.
On the US agenda, Kamala Harris’ tour of Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia, scheduled until April 2, comes after a US-Africa summit in December in Washington, during which President Joe Biden pleaded to create a broad partnership with Africa, as the United States seeks to promote the positive vision held by Washington, which sees in this continent the “future of the world”. She is expected to address during her visit the climate crisis, improving food security and increasing investment in the continent, she said.
The government of Joe Biden is aware of the “strategic importance” of African countries on global issues such as climate change, the resilience of supply chains, as well as as “actors” within the UN . Youth is one of the main themes of Ms Harris’ trip, as the average age is just 19 on this rapidly growing continent, where it is estimated that one in four earthlings will live in poverty. 2050.
The American vice-president should meet entrepreneurs, students, women and peasants. She must also visit a former hub of the slave trade, the fort of Cape Coast (south). She will also meet with President Nana Akufo-Addo and meet representatives of civil society. She is due to leave Ghana on Wednesday for Tanzania.
While Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent visit to Ethiopia and Niger focused on those countries’ security challenges, the Vice President’s tour will take her to countries facing serious economic challenges. Ghana is facing an economic crisis with inflation over 50% and a decline in the local currency, the cedi, hit by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The country has reached a $3 billion loan agreement with the IMF and is also in talks with China over its economic problems.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta was on a mission to Beijing for negotiations with the Chinese government. “So far the meetings are very positive and encouraging in China,” he tweeted, as his country needed assurances to unlock IMF financial support.
Zambia is in a similar situation to that of Ghana. The copper-rich nation became the first African country to default on its debt when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Zambian leaders are also in talks with China to restructure its debt and have also sought financial support from the International Monetary Fund
The trip is clearly part of Washington’s strategy to curb the growing presence of Beijing and Moscow in the resource-rich continent, and push a more positive message from the United States, officials say. Americans. “It is no (mystery) that we are engaged in a competition with China, very clearly, to compete with China in the long term,” a senior US official said.
Citing “real concerns” about Chinese loans allowing Beijing to increase its control over the continent’s fragile economies, the official stressed that Washington was not looking to replicate China’s methods. “Our relationship with Africa cannot and should not be defined by competition with China,” he said, calling for a “positive agenda in Africa” ??based on transparency and partnerships between the public and the private.
