“The Secretary will highlight how the United States has accelerated the U.S.-Africa partnership since the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, including in areas such as climate, food, and health security. The department said that the US top diplomat will also reaffirm U.S. commitment to coastal West African partners through the Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, U.S. partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The tour will be Blinken’s fourth trip to the continent as Secretary of State and his first to sub-Saharan Africa since visiting Niger in March of 2023. It also comes on the heel of his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi’s visit to several countries on the continent, including Côte d’Ivoire. Washington has been struggling to thwart the growing influence of China and Russia in southern Africa.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 19, 2024 13:02 UTC