Category: US

US accuses China of Encouraging Dependency of Africa

In what seems like a second scramble for Africa, the United States and China seems to be at daggers drawn over the wealth of Africa.

China is courageously expanding its business strongholds in parts of Africa, often or challenging or displacing the United States who are in Africa for similar interest.

Shortly before embarking on his first official visit to Africa, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday the U.S. is committed to building on a “strong foundation of U.S.-Africa relations” and accused China of “encouraging dependency” in its approach to Africa.

The VoA reports that in his first speech describing the administration’s Africa policy, Tillerson said the U.S. is “eager” to lower barriers to trade and investment in Africa, whose largest trading partner by far is China. He added that the U.S. approach of “incentivizing good governance” contrasts sharply to China’s, “which encourages dependency, using opaque contracts, predatory loan practices and corrupt deals that mire nations in debt and undercut their sovereignty.”

Tillerson’s one-week, five-nation trip will focus on counterterrorism, promoting peace, good governance and trade and investment.

“Our country’s security and economic prosperity are linked with Africa’s like never before,” the top U.S. diplomat said before an audience at George Mason University just outside of Washington. The trip comes two months after President Donald Trump triggered a wave of controversy when he reportedly referred to African nations as “shithole countries” during an Oval Office meeting on immigration with a bipartisan group of senators.

The African Union, which represents 55 countries on the continent, demanded an apology from Trump. A group of African ambassadors to the United Nations also denounced Trump’s remarks, saying they were “outrageous, racist and xenophobic.”

After more than a year since entering the White House, Trump still has not nominated a chief U.S. diplomat for Africa. And embassies in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Africa and in five other African countries remain without ambassadors.

Tillerson is scheduled to meet with top officials in the allied nations of Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria, some of which are helping in the battle against rebellions from jihadists linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State.

“To understand where the world is going, one must understand Africa is the future,” Tillerson said, noting Africa will be home this year to six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies and will have one-fourth of the world’s workforce by 2030.

Without partnerships to build infrastructure and achieve more economic development, Tillerson warned there will be “new ways for terrorists to exploit the next generation.” He said the administration is willing to collaborate with African countries to address the “drivers of conflict” and to build the “institutional law enforcement capacity of African nations.”

Tillerson also said the U.S. and African leaders “must work to find long-term diplomatic solutions” to regional conflicts “that cause so much human suffering.” He announced the U.S. will give $533 million in additional aid to alleviate famine and other needs caused by conflicts in Ethiopia, the Lake Chad Basin, Somalia and South Sudan.

“Greater stability will attract United States’ trade and investment with African nations,” he said.

Tillerson’s trip will overlap with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is scheduled to visit Ethiopia at the same time.

US Tillerson billed to visit African leaders next week

Between March 6 and 13, the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is expected to be in Africa in his first visit to the continent since President Donald Trump entered office, the State department said Thursday.

Also Read: I am not a racist, I tell the truth—President Trump

Tillerson will travel to “N’Djamena, Chad; Djibouti, Djibouti; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Nairobi, Kenya; and Abuja, Nigeria”, department spokesperson Heather Nauert announced Thursday.

The visit follows a scandal which erupted when President Donald Trump allegedly branded African nations “shithole countries” in January.

Tillerson will meet with leaders in each country, along with African Union leadership based in Addis Ababa.

“He plans to discuss ways we can work with our partners to counter terrorism, advance peace and security, promote good governance, and spur mutually beneficial trade and investment,” Nauert added.

Against the background of his shithole comment, categorizing African countries and Haiti as ‘Shithole countries’, former United States ambassadors to 48 African countries sent a letter to the White House, urging President Donald Trump to desist from disregarding Africa.

The seventy-eight ex-envoys expressed a deep concern over Trump’s remarks about the continent.

The January 11th ‘shithole’ comment elicited condemnations, not only from Africa but also from world leaders. French President Emmanuel Macron said he shared the ‘outrage’ and described it as ‘disparaging.’

Nigeria and South Africa summoned U.S. diplomats to clarify their president’s vulgar remarks even as African ambassadors at the United Nations met with the U.S. ambassador to the U.N, Nikki Haley on Thursday. Haley did not apologise but reportedly told the African envoys that the continent “is very important for the United States.”

The Guardian reports that 78 former U.S. ambassadors to Africa, in the joint letter said they jointly signed the letter “to attest to the importance of our partnerships with most of the 54 African nations.  Africa is a continent of great human talent and rich diversity, as well as extraordinary beauty and almost unparalleled natural resources. It is also a continent with deep historical ties with the United States.”

Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama traveled to Ghana six months after taking office with a message that Africa’s destiny is in the hands of its own people.