With the Tigray War Over, the U.S. Moves to Mend Ties With Ethiopia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Ethiopia and Niger this week, the latest in a series of trips to Africa by senior US government officials. In late January, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visits South Africa, Senegal and Zambia, pledging more US investment and trade. Yellen’s visit overlaps with Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, who visited Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Somalia. First Lady Jill Biden visited Kenya and Namibia during a five-day trip as part of an effort to promote democracy and raise awareness for drought and food insecurity. and the White House announced earlier this week Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia later this month.

African governments have widely welcomed increased bilateral ties between Washington and African capitals, as well as a willingness by US officials to chart a new course in relations with the continent. Biden administration officials also emphasize that Washington’s diplomatic full-court press of African governments reflects the United States’ resolve to improve the quantity and quality of engagement with African countries on their own terms. “geopolitical force” that “is shaping our present and will shape our future.” But given Washington’s insistence Preparing trips to Blinken With Ethiopia and Niger as well as its increased engagement in Africa through the lens of geopolitical competition with China and Russia, the administration will likely struggle to convince skeptics in those countries and elsewhere that the US is committed to its stated commitment to is honest. Treating them as “equal partners”.

in Ethiopia, get blinken To discuss a number of bilateral issues with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed, as well as With Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairman of the African Union Commission. In Niger, he huddled with President Mohamed Bazoum after he announced $150 million in new humanitarian aid for the country. Blinken’s stop in Ethiopia marked his first appearance there as Secretary of State, while his visit to Niger made him the first US Secretary of State to visit the West African country. Both countries are also symbols of Washington’s broader interests in Africa. Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa and is located in the Horn of Africa, a region geographically important to US security interests. It is East Africa’s largest economy and a regular contributor of troops to international peacekeeping missions. Niger emerged as a major US security partner in West Africa’s Sahel region in the mid-2010s, when concerns over the proliferation of international terrorist groups put the region on Washington’s radar.