Kamala Harris is on a special mission for Africa.
The vice president of the United States, with a higher bar than her predecessors, perhaps because she is the first woman in office and, moreover, not white, began this Sunday a nine-day trip to Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia, three countries chosen by Washington in view of its efforts to maintain democracy due to the economic pressures that shake the continent.
Apart from these intentions of political solidarity, his main concern in this long journey is to demonstrate that the Joe Biden Administration is committed to strengthening ties with Africa.
But few doubt that Harris will confront suspicions that the effort is more about an attempt to counter China and Russia’s expanding and growing influence in the region than a desire to improve relations with the continent for its own sake.
“We hope that this trip will be a declaration of the relationship and friendship between the citizens of the United States and those who live in Africa”, remarked the vice-president this Sunday, having just landed in Accra (Ghana).
“This tells us about growth and I see a great opportunity for the continent and for the world”, he replied when he was told that the average age of the population is around 19 years. “We have a lot to do”, he added, and went over to talk to a group of children.
In addition to the youth and their future prospects, we must not forget the amount of natural resources of the continent, which has attracted many other powers, especially Beijing and Moscow in search of influence and dominance.
“The message is the same that President Biden offered at the December meeting at the White House with African leaders,” said John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council. “And this message is that Africa matters and our relationship with the continent matters. This is mainly about Africa, its leaders, its nations, more than anything else”, reiterated Kirby.
Not everyone sees it the same way. We have a saying in Swahili, ‘when the elegant fight, it’s always the grass that gets trampled’. We don’t want to be stepped on,” lawyer Fatma Karume, former president of the Bar Association, told the Washington Post. It is clear who the elephants are.
Harris’ trip is the most relevant step to date in the courtship with Africa of a relationship that the previous president left in discord. Donald Trump never visited the continent and destroyed bridges with the famous expression that it was made up of “shit countries”.
The current Government is characterized by a disembarkation of authorities in search of rooting out the damage.
The first lady, Jill Biden, traveled to Namibia and Kenya in February, and the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, passed through Niger and Ethiopia this month. The Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, and the Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, have also made visits there.
President Biden, who offered his support for the African Union (55 nations) to become a permanent member of the G-20, also plans to undertake such a trip throughout 2023, as yet without a date.
For Harris, who will meet with the top leaders of the three countries, this trip has a special meaning. She is the first woman and black woman, of Jamaican and Indian descent, to reach the second most important place in the USA. A spokesperson indicated that he will touch on the human connections between Africa and its diaspora during this trip. You will visit some of the facilities where the slaves were boarded.
