The US Treasury Secretary said the Biden administration’s commitment to the African continent was “not for show” or “short-term.”
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Senegal to reaffirm the country’s commitment to deepen ties and trade with Africa as it competes with China and Russia on the continent.
“The United States is fully engaged in Africa, fully engaged in Africa,” Yellen said Friday morning at a business incubator in the Senegalese capital of Dakar, calling for a new “mutually beneficial” United States to Africa. publicized the achievements of its economic strategy. .
“Our engagement is not a deal, it’s not a show-off, it’s not short-term,” she said.
President Yellen’s trip to the region’s three countries comes just weeks after President Joe Biden hosted leaders from the African Union as well as dozens of African nations at the second US-Africa summit in Washington, DC. later.
The talks were a follow-up to the first such rally hosted by former US President Barack Obama in 2014. They were part of Biden’s efforts to strengthen ties with like-minded countries in the region. emphasized the
The Biden administration announced a series of new economic investment and trade deals in Africa during the summit, with Biden personally endorsing the African Union’s push for a permanent place in the Group of 20 (G20) Forum on the Global Economy. explicitly expressed.
China, which Washington sees as a major global competitor, has consistently outpaced the United States in investing in Africa in recent years. Russia is also trying to rally support on the continent in response to pressure from the United States and its allies over the war in Ukraine.
Last weekend, China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang ended a week-long visit to African countries, including Ethiopia, underscoring Beijing’s partnership on regional security and economic development.
Qin, who has visited Gabon, Angola, Benin and Egypt, also dismissed the notion that China is competing with the United States in Africa.
“What Africa needs is solidarity and cooperation, not bloc competition. No one has the right to force African countries to take sides,” said the Chinese foreign minister from Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.
In contrast to China’s no-interference approach in the countries it invests in, Yellen said the United States has a “different” policy that prioritizes “transparency, good governance, accountability and environmental sustainability.” said that
“Our approach may be drastic, but we believe it will have lasting results,” said Yellen, who is scheduled to meet with Senegal’s Finance Minister Mamadou Mustafa Ba and President Macky Sall. said.
She will be traveling to Zambia on Sunday and then to South Africa.
During his speech in Dakar, the US Treasury Secretary said African governments needed “fiscal space” to make “significant” public investments.
“I believe the international community, including China, needs to provide meaningful debt relief to help countries regain their footing,” she said.
Yellen also called for an end to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, treading politically dark territory as some African heads of state have not condemned the war because of their ties to Moscow.
“Russia’s barbaric attacks on its neighbors are especially felt in Africa and its peoples,” Yellen said.
“Russia’s war and food weaponization have exacerbated food insecurity and caused untold suffering, and global economic headwinds caused by the actions of one man — President [Vladimir] Putin is creating an unnecessary drag on the African economy. ”
