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Updated March 15th, 2023 at 18:50 IST

Kamala Harris, Antony Blinken set to visit Africa in a bid to counter China's presence

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the US Vice President Kamala Harris are all set to kick start their trip to Africa this month.

Reported by: Bhagyasree Sengupta
US
Image: Shutterstock | Image:self
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The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the US Vice President Kamala Harris are all set to kick start their trip to Africa in a bid to increase America’s presence in the African countries. The trip by the US diplomats is also expected to counter China’s predominance in the continent. According to The Wall Street Journal, The US Secretary of State will be visiting Ethiopia and Niger this week. The US Vice President, on the other hand will spend a week in Africa at the end of March. According to The Wall Street Journal, with these trips, Washington wants to show that it is not only a viable donor to the continent's humanitarian and economic needs, but it is also a viable ally to the country’s economic development and conflict resolution. 

In her trip to Africa, the Vice President will travel to Ghana, Tanzania and Zambian later this month. “The trip will strengthen the United States’ partnerships throughout Africa and advance our shared efforts on security and economic prosperity,” said Vice President’s spokesperson, Kirsten Allen in a statement. Not only this, the US President is expected to visit the continent later this year. The trip by the two leaders follows the visits by first lady Jill Biden and the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. In the January visit, Yellen pledged to boost US investment and trade in the continent. The visits are also efforts to follow up on the commitments the US made at a summit of African leaders in Washington last year. 

The Chinese presence 

Over the years the Chinese presence in the continent has expanded to a great extent. For instance, Ethiopia which is the second-most populous country in the continent is also a hub for China’s Belt Road Initiative. The country, on the other hand, has long supported the United States in an effort to tackle security challenges in East Africa. The crux of the matter is, Ethiopia and other African counties are eager for investment and hence are less interested in taking sides. “You don’t need to tell the Africans that China is here, that Turkey is here, that the Gulf Arab countries are here,” Mvemba Phezo Dizolele, head of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies told The Wall Street Journal. “All these conflicts are typically an expression of the failure of the social contract in one form or another,” Dizolele added. As China escalates its investments in the continent, these frequent visits by American diplomats indicate America’s interest in expanding its influence in the continent. 

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Published March 15th, 2023 at 18:50 IST

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