Africa: Top Biden Administration Cabinet Member Spells Out Africa Policy

Cape Town — Spelling out the Biden Administration’s new strategy for sub-Saharan Africa on Monday, the United States Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken, both declared that the U.S. and African nations should be “equal partners” and appealed for support for Ukraine’s defence of its territorial integrity.

“[T]oo often African nations have been treated as instruments of other nations’ progress rather than the authors of their own,” Blinken told an audience at the University of Pretoria during a three-nation trip to the continent.

“Time and again they have been told to pick a side in great power contests that feel far removed from daily struggles of their people. The United States will not dictate Africa’s choices. Neither should anyone else. The right to make these choices belongs to Africans, and Africans alone.”

He continued: “At the same time, the United States and the world will look to African nations to defend the rules of the international system that they’ve done so much to shape. These include the right of every country to have its independence, its sovereignty, is territorial integrity respected, a principle at stake now in Ukraine.”

Earlier in the day, South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, criticised some European nations – and the United States Congress – for “patronising bullying” of South Africa.

She exempted Blinken from her criticism, but singled out the “Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act” recently passed by the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. She described the legislation, which seeks to “hold to account African governments and their officials who are complicit in aiding (Russia’s) malign influence and activities”, as “a most unfortunate bill”.

Sub-Saharan Africa is a major geopolitical force

Blinken said the Biden Administration’s “new strategy for the partnership” with sub-Saharan Africa is “rooted in the recognition that [the region] is a major geopolitical force, one that shaped our past, is shaping our present, and will shape our future.

“It’s a strategy that reflects the region’s complexity – its diversity, its power and influence – and one that focuses on what we will do with African nations and peoples, not for African nations and peoples.”

He said the U.S. under Biden would pursue four priorities:

To “foster openness, by which we mean the capacity of individuals, communities, and nations to choose their own path and shape the world we live in”;
“Working with African partners to fulfill the promise of democracy”;
To work with Africa to recover from Covid “and lay the foundation for broad-based, sustainable economic opportunity to improve the lives of our people”; and
Combatting climate change by leading the transition to “clean energy”.

Key excerpts from his address:

On the first priority: “Openness also means creating pathways for the free flow of ideas, information, investment, which in the 21st century requires digital connectivity. So the United States is partnering with African governments, businesses, entrepreneurs to build and adapt the infrastructure that enables that connectivity – an open, reliable, interoperable, secure internet; data centers; cloud computing.”

The overwhelming majority… across Africa prefer democracy to any other form of government

On promoting democracy: “The overwhelming majority of people across Africa prefer democracy to any other form of government. Even greater majorities oppose the authoritarian alternatives to democracy. More than 70 percent reject military rule; more than 80 percent reject one-man rule, according to the Africa-based polling organization Afrobarometer…

“[T]he question is whether African governments can make democracy deliver by improving the lives of their citizens in tangible ways. That is a challenge that is not unique to Africa. It’s one facing democracies in every part of the world, including the United States. And it’s a problem that won’t be fixed by maintaining the same approach.

“So here’s what we’ll do differently. We won’t treat democracy as an area where Africa has problems and the United States has solutions. We recognize that our democracies face common challenges, which we need to tackle together, as equals, alongside other governments, civil society, and citizens.”

“We’ll focus on the connection between democracy and security. History shows that strong democracies tend to be more stable and less prone to conflict – and that poor governance, exclusion, and corruption inherent in weak democracies makes them more vulnerable to extremist movements as well as to foreign interference. That includes the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group, which exploits instability to pillage resources and commit abuses with impunity, as we’ve seen in Mali and the Central African Republic.

Tackling the marginalization that often drives people to criminal or extremist groups

“The United States recognizes that African countries face real security concerns, and that countless communities are afflicted by the twin scourges of terrorism and violence. But the answer to those problems is not Wagner, it’s not any other mercenary group. The answer is working to build more effective, accountable African security forces, which respect people’s rights, and tackling the marginalization that often drives people to criminal or extremist groups. The answer is sustained diplomacy to end violence and open paths to peace – diplomacy that’s increasingly being led by African leaders, regional organizations, and citizens.”