The American ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, will visit Ghana and Uganda next month after the director of the American development aid agency Samantha Power recently completed a trip to Kenya, longtime ally of the United States, and in Somalia.
Planned visit to DRC and Rwanda
The diplomatic efforts come as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov embarked on his own tour of Africa where he blamed Western sanctions for soaring food prices, a hypothesis dismissed by Washington.
Antony Blinken will visit Johannesburg and the capital of South Africa, Pretoria, from August 7 to 9, then the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa, before going to Rwanda, which is experiencing renewed tensions with its neighbor Congolese who accuses him of supporting the rebels of “March 23 Movement” (M23).
Request for the release of Rwandan opponent Paul Rusesabagina
In Kigali, the head of the US State Department will call for the release of opponent Paul Rusesabagina, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence.
Having permanent US resident status, Mr. Rusesabagina was made famous by the film “Hotel Rwanda” released in 2004, which tells how this moderate Hutu saved hundreds of lives during the 1994 genocide.
This will be Anthony Blinken’s second trip to sub-Saharan Africa since taking office. Last year he visited Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal.
Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, American diplomacy in Africa focused primarily on competition with China, which has made significant investments in infrastructure on the African continent and which, unlike the United States , did so without asking States for compensation on democracy or human rights.