NOS News•
-
Fleur Kleinhuis
foreign editor
-
Fleur Kleinhuis
foreign editor
US Vice President Kamala Harris has been in Africa since Sunday on a nine-day trip to three countries. With the trip she wants to improve ties between the continent and the US. During the Trump administration, America ignored the African continent, the Biden administration has revived interest in Africa.
“I am optimistic about the future and the future of Africa,” Harris said in her first speech after arriving in Ghana. The US wants to be part of that future, which is why Harris will talk to the political leaders of Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia this week.
Food security, climate change and economic investments in the continent are high on the agenda. Earlier, US officials also cited Africa’s debt and reliance on China as a reason for the visit.
The US government has been warning for some time about the growing influence of China and Russia on the African continent. China invests heavily in Africa, in almost all sectors of the economy and is the largest economic partner. Russia invests mainly in military assets.
“Africa is going to chart its own course, they no longer look only to the West, as they used to do,” says professor of African Studies Mirjam de Bruijn of Leiden University. “That’s why the US is now going to the table with them, they want to maintain their influence in Africa.”
Economic growth pole
The African raw materials in particular arouse the interest of the three superpowers. The continent is rich in raw materials such as lithium and cobalt, the most important raw materials for making batteries.
In addition, Africa is mentioned as one of the growth poles of the world, says De Bruijn. “Africa has a very young population and therefore a large market.
African leaders are not getting involved in the geopolitical discussion: “There may be an obsession in America with Chinese influences on the continent, but we don’t share that obsession,” Ghanaian president Akufo-Addo said during Harris’s visit.
