Vice President Kamala Harris is set to announce a $139 million aid package on Monday, March 27 for the 2024 year as she kick-starts her week-long visit to Africa. The initiative is said to be part of Washington’s effort to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence on the African continent.
Over the past two decades, China has made significant investments in Africa, particularly in the areas of infrastructure, mining, logging, and fishing. Meanwhile, the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group is assisting numerous nations with security.
Senior U.S. government officials have made several trips to the continent to strengthen connections, and Harris’ trip, which includes stops in Tanzania and Zambia, is the most recent.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Ethiopia and Niger earlier this month and provided $150 million in humanitarian relief for the Sahel region of Africa.
Harris will provide a $100 million package to support conflict prevention and stabilisation efforts in Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo when he meets President Nana Akufo-Addo in Accra today.
“The plan is intended to address regional threats of violent extremism and instability in Coastal West Africa,” the vice president’s office said in a statement.
Washington will also deploy an adviser to Ghana from its Office of Technical Assistance to help the country improve its “debt sustainability and support a competitive, dynamic government debt market,” Harris’s office said.
Ghana defaulted on most of its $29 billion external debt last year, as interest payments and inflation soared, and it still needs to negotiate a resolution with its private international bondholders and bilateral creditors.
