Kamala Harris in Africa: The US Offensive to Counter China and Russia

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris with Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan during a press conference in Dar es Salaam, March 30, 2023. © AFP / ERICKY BONIPHACE

Text by: Alexandra Brangeon Follow

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US Vice President Kamala Harris arrives in Zambia on Friday, March 31, the final leg of her nine-day visit to the African continent. The trip follows the U.S.-Africa summit in Washington in December, where Biden pledged greater U.S. engagement in Africa and announced $55 billion over three years for the continent.

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You're not done seeing us in Africa Antony Blinken said last December in Washington, during the United States-Africa summit. The U.S. Secretary of State has since visited Niger and Ethiopia. Earlier this year, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was in Senegal, Zambia and South Africa.

This time, it was the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris herself, who traveled. This is a real offensive. As soon as he arrived in Accra earlier this week, the tone was set: "I am very excited about the future of Africa. Very enthusiastic about the impact on the rest of the world, including the United States. When I look at what's happening on this continent, the fact that the average age is 19, and what that means in terms of growth, opportunity, innovation and opportunity... I see great opportunities in all of this, not only for the continent, but for the whole world."

Catching up

Washington wants to strengthen and develop ties with Africa – including economic ties – and promote investment in an attempt to counter the rise of China and Russia on the continent. The United States wants to catch up, says Ousmane Sène, director of the West African Research Center. A delay that has widened under the presidency of former US President Donald Trump.

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America is very present in the areas of cooperation on the continent, stresses Ousmane Sène, but in the economic sector, its presence is minimal. The United States needs to get to know Africa. The African continent is a big question mark for them. They must learn to discover this positive Africa, this Africa that is making great strides in all areas, which is ready to welcome all European, American and Asian investors. Win-win investments. The possibilities are there, sleeping. And that others are exploiting. If you look at the countries that invest the most in Africa, there are the Chinese, okay, but the Indians and the Turks are there.

Ghana is in the grip of a severe economic crisis, with inflation galloping at more than 50%. His finance minister was recently in Beijing to renegotiate the country's debt. Ditto for Zambia, where more than half of its external debt is held by Chinese banks – more than $6 billion – and which is in default. And finally Tanzania, where China is the leading investor with no less than a hundred projects underway in different fields: mining, transport, agriculture, fishing and tourism.

A new battlefield between great powers

For Christopher Fomunyoh, regional director for Africa at the National Democratic Institute, the United States also wants to highlight countries that have chosen good governance and democracy: "Ghana is the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to have achieved its independence. Tanzania is currently the only country to have a female president, chief executive. And Zambia is co-hosting a global summit on democracy and good governance."

Africa is once again a battleground between the great powers, argues Guinean columnist Boubacar Sanso Barry, who adds that Africans must take advantage of this struggle for influence between the United States, China and Russia.

« We see all this as a way to redefine the relationships. This gives the African continent leeway to discuss, debate and negotiate with the partners in question. Now, perhaps the United States, France and all the other Western partners know that if we are not careful, the places we risk leaving vacant may be filled by other partners. I think we are becoming less condescending, we are imposing things less, we are trying to discuss relatively as equals, as a partner and not as a former colonial power. »

And who better than Kamala Harris – the first African-American woman vice president of the United States – to carry this new American vision of Africa?

► Read also: Kamala Harris in Africa: "The United States wants to have a new conversation with the continent"

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• Africa
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