US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced today, Monday, during a visit to Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, that the United States wants a "real partnership" with Africa, stressing that his country does not want to bypass the influence of other world powers on the continent.
Blinken said - during a press conference alongside his South African counterpart, Naledi Pandor - that Washington is looking forward above all to a real partnership between the United States and Africa, stressing that it does not want an unbalanced relationship.
He added that US President Joe Biden is looking forward to meeting his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa in Washington next month, before a US-Africa summit scheduled for December 13 in Washington.
On Sunday, Blinken arrived in South Africa, the first leg of his tour of the African continent, which is scheduled to include the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda and will continue until next Thursday.
Later in a speech at the University of Pretoria, Blinken said that the United States would not dictate its choices to Africa and no one else should, stressing that the right to make these choices belongs to Africans alone.
He added that African countries were often treated as instruments of other countries' progress, rather than as concerned with their own progress.
American strategy
At the same time, Washington unveiled a political document announcing a comprehensive reform of its policy in sub-Saharan Africa, where it intends to confront the Russian and Chinese presence, and develop non-military methods against so-called terrorism.
The new strategy comes amid criticism of the futility of the US role in the military war against extremist groups in Africa.
It also takes into account the growing demographic importance and weight of Africa in the United Nations, as well as its vast natural resources and opportunities.
The visit aims to try to bring some African countries closer diplomatically to the Western camp, and to counter Russian influence on the continent, according to many experts.
Africa has often occupied a low rank on the US priorities list, but the US administration confirms that it wants to change this matter.
Blinken's visit to Africa follows recent tours by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and French President Emmanuel Macron.