By Henry Srebrnik, [Saint John, N.B.] Telegraph-Journal
Given Africa’s many problems, any interest shown by a major power can only prove helpful. American Secretary of State Antony Blinken went on a four-country tour of Africa January Jan. 21-26, to underscore that Washington is committed to deeper relations with the continent despite global crises elsewhere.
Visiting Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Angola, he emphasized continued U.S. interests. Key priorities included bolstering security partnerships and enhancing health and economic development.
The U.S. is concerned about stability in the Sahel region of west Africa following coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger since 2020. The French military withdrawal from the Sahel and the end of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali last December have heightened concerns over regional security.
Russia’s powerful Wagner Group of mercenaries has been deployed to Mali, the Central African Republic, and Burkina Faso. A delegation visited Moscow recently from Niger, whose military last year toppled President Mohamed Bazoum.
“Our futures are linked, our prosperity is linked, and African voices increasingly are shaping, animating and leading the global conversation,” Blinken said as he opened talks in Cape Verde.
He called the small country, a Portuguese-speaking archipelago of around 500,000 people that has cooperated with the U.S. on law enforcement and naval stops, a “beacon of stability” and a “strong, principled voice.”
Though much of the continent has been uneasy about the billions of dollars in Western aid to Ukraine, Cape Verde’s Prime Minister Jose Ulisses Correia e Silva told Blinken that his country “strongly condemns” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Blinken toured the port in the capital Praia, expanded as part of nearly $150 million given to Cape Verde through the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which grants American aid to countries that meet democratic standards.
Blinken’s visit to Ivory Coast was seen as reflecting U.S. interests in its stability. In the capital Abidjan, he hailed the Ivory Coast’s stand against last year’s coup in Niger and its approach of “building security together” by investing economically to combat rebel violence in northern areas bordering Mali and Burkina Faso. “I think that can serve as a very powerful model for other countries.”
The Ivory Coast has not experienced a major armed attack in two years, despite being bordered by Sahel countries fighting insecurity. The United States plans to provide $45 million in new funding to aid Ivory Coast and its neighbours in preventing conflict and promoting stability amid regional threats. Food security was also high on the agenda during the talks with President Alassane Ouattara.
Nigeria is the largest country by population and economy in sub-Saharan Africa, and the dominant political, economic, and military power in the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS. The State Department emphasized that Blinken would “highlight how the United States has accelerated the U.S.-Africa partnership” regarding climate, food, and health security.
The U.S. maintains a significant security partnership with Nigeria in its counterterrorism operations against both Boko Haram and the Islamic State’s West Africa Province. Between 2000 and 2022, Washington provided, facilitated, or approved more than two billion dollars in security aid and weapons and equipment sales to Nigeria.
The U. S. is the largest foreign investor in Nigeria, and Blinken met with President Bola Tinubu and Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar to discuss economic opportunities, trade, and countering terrorism.
Angolans have been struggling with drought for 40 years, and almost thirty years of civil war from 1975 to 2002 have left a country littered with mines. Although it is rich in oil and diamonds, most of the 37 million Angolans live in poverty.
But the main reason why the U.S. is engaging Angola is because of the Lobito Corridor rail link that connects mining areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia’s Copperbelt province to the Atlantic port of Lobito in Angola. Logistical bottlenecks in South Africa have had a negative impact on exports of copper and cobalt and this will help alleviate the problem.
The U.S.-funded Export-Import Bank has committed to a $900 million loan for a U.S.-made solar panel project along the rail line, the bank’s largest-ever investment in that kind of installation in Africa.
Historically, the former Portuguese colony has had close links with China and Russia, especially since Beijing helped reconstruct the Benguela railway after the Angolan civil war ended more than 20 years ago. This allowed Angola to connect to the rest of Africa, especially in trade.
“However, the relationship between Luanda and Beijing didn't progress as Angola had envisioned, and now is more sedate. Angola is therefore warming up to Washington,” according to Sanusha Naidu, a senior research associate at the Institute for Global Dialogue in Cape Town. Blinken’s visit is an opportunity to “to take over the space that China used to occupy.”
The strategy seems to be working: Blinken’s stopover in Angola followed a visit to the White House by Angolan President Joao Lourenco just two months ago. While military modernization and regional security issues were on the agenda, trade is also a major motivator for the U.S. which has an interest in using Angola’s railway network and Atlantic ports to shore up global supply chains for itself.
“Angola's economy is at least going to undergo some restructuring and having a strong partner like the U.S. can certainly help,” Naidu explained.
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