Top US diplomat seeks to shore up ties in Africa visit

NAIROBI, Kenya－The United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken began a three-nation tour to sub-Saharan Africa on Wednesday, and he was expected to arrive in Nigeria on Thursday to deliver a speech on US-Africa policy.

The top US diplomat is looking to champion President Joe Biden's key priorities of promoting Western democracy and fighting both climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, reported Agence France-Presse.

Nigeria, representing 20 percent of sub-Saharan Africa's population and its largest economy, is critical for any continentwide strategy and successive US administrations have courted Nigerian leaders since the restoration of civilian rule in 1999.

But US views of Nigeria hardened last year after deadly violence erupted during massive protests. Biden, in an unusually forceful statement when he was a presidential candidate, voiced solidarity with the protesters and urged President Muhammadu Buhari－whom Blinken was scheduled to meet on Thursday－to rein in security forces.

Congressional objections have held up the sale of 12 US Cobra attack helicopters to Nigeria amid calls to probe whether the military is doing enough to prevent civilian deaths as it battles the two-decade Boko Haram extremism insurgency.

Removed from blacklist

On the eve of his visit, Blinken undid an action by former president Donald Trump by removing Nigeria from the US' blacklist of nations violating religious freedoms.

On his first stop in Kenya on Wednesday, Blinken spoke with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta for about 90 minutes in a meeting that was originally scheduled for 10 minutes. They called for African-driven solutions to the continent's crises including the spiraling war in Ethiopia.

Kenyatta paid a surprise visit to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and met Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday in a bid to bolster an African Union-led mediation initiative to end the violence that has engulfed the northern Tigray region, prompting widespread fears of a spillover in the conflict. The war has killed thousands of people since November 2020.

Notably, in a summit in Washington on Nov 5, rebel Tigray forces in Ethiopia joined with other armed and opposition groups in an alliance against Abiy's government.

Tens of thousands of Ethiopians rallied in Addis Ababa on Nov 7 to support Abiy's government in the civil conflict and denounced foreign interference and pressure in the country's internal affairs.

Blinken, in the private meeting with Kenyatta and other top officials in Nairobi, commended Kenya's role in seeking to ease the conflict in Ethiopia, but urged Kenya to ensure "free and safe elections" next year.

Kenya, a member of the United Nations Security Council, plays an important role in issues related to regional countries including Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia.

The final leg of Blinken's visit will be in Senegal, which is considered one of Africa's most stable countries.

Agencies - Xinhua - China Daily