By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has appealed to “governments, communities and peoples” across Africa to embrace Washington’s vision of democracy, openness and economic partnership.
“Our strategy is rooted in the recognition that sub-Saharan Africa is a major geopolitical force — one that has shaped our past, is shaping our present, and will shape our future,” Blinken said at the University of Pretoria in a speech detailing the Biden administration’s policies for Africa.
“It’s a strategy that reflects the region’s complexity, its diversity, its agency; and one that focuses on what we will do with African nations and peoples, not for African nations and peoples,” he said.
The tour has been portrayed as an attempt to counter recent efforts by Russia and China to gain influence on the continent.
Blinken said that the United States and African nations “can’t achieve any of our shared priorities — whether that’s recovering from the pandemic; creating broad-based economic opportunities; addressing the climate crisis; expanding energy access; revitalizing democracies; or strengthening the free and open international order — if we don’t work together, as equal partners.”
South African academics and students responded warmly to Blinken’s speech, which was a broad declaration of U.S. intentions toward sub-Saharan Africa.
The United States is often faulted for overlooking the continent in recent decades, opening space for Russian and Chinese interests to make significant inroads.
The United States’ top diplomat is in South Africa as part of a three-nation tour of Africa including Congo and Rwanda in what is seen as a contest between Western nations and Russia to win support from African countries over the war in Ukraine.
Blinken’s tour follows recent trips to African countries by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and French President Emmanuel Macron.
South Africa is among many African countries that have taken a neutral stance on the Ukraine war.
South Africa has refused to condemn Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, arguing that there were faults on both sides and that Nato expansion was one cause of the war. The ruling ANC party, in power since 1994, has said it wants to remain neutral in order to better encourage peace.
“We really advocate for peace”, Naledi Pandor, minister of international relations, said at a joint press conference.
Despite the warm diplomatic welcome offered to its visitor, South Africa did not appear to shift its position on Ukraine. Instead, Pandor criticised the US and other western powers for focusing on the conflict there to the detriment of other international issues.
“We should be equally concerned at what is happening to the people of Palestine, “Pandor said.
The new US diplomatic strategy appears in part to appeal directly to ordinary people in Africa, rather than their leaders, by promising support for democracy and accountability.
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