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Africa: Blinken to Visit South Africa, DR Congo and Rwanda [UPDATED] - Part 1
https://beautifulrwanda.org/2022/08/01/africa-blinken-to-visit-south-africa-dr-congo-and-rwanda-updated/
August 1, 2022
Washington, DC — US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to three African countries from August 7 to 12 with visits to South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda. These stops will follow visits to Cambodia and the Philippines beginning August 2. The trip will be his second to Africa since taking office, following a November visit to Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal.
A centerpiece of the trip will be a major policy speech enunciating the administration’s Africa strategy. A new policy framework has been under discussion for many months, coordinated by Judd Devermont, a former US intelligence analyst who joined the National Security Council as special advisor for Africa strategy last October. On July 1, Devermont was tapped as the NSC senior director for Africa, replacing Dana Banks.
The visit comes days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavlov toured four African capitals and French President Emmanuel Macron visited three west African states and follows on the announcement by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of a US Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, DC in mid -December.
_According to the State Department announcement, Blinken in Pretoria will take part in the US-South Africa Strategic Dialogue, which was launched in 2010 by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to deepen cooperation on a range of issues including health, education, food security, law enforcement, trade, investment, energy, and non-proliferation.
The policy speech he will deliver while there “will be an amplification of our conviction that partnership with Africa is really critical to meeting shared challenges,” Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee told reporters on Friday. He will build on his November policy address in Nigeria and provide an overview of “what we’ve been doing since the administration came into office.” In his meetings with leaders media and civil society representatives, Blinken can expect to be quizzed about a range of issues including vaccine and other health inequities, US funding for climate-change mitigation and concrete support for peace-building and the African Continental Free Trade Area , as well as the upcoming Summit in Washington.
Along with Phee, the Secretary will be accompanied by Enoh T. Ebong, who directs the US Trade and Development Agency, and Dr. John Nkengasong, the former head of the African CDC who is the US Global AIDS Coordinator leading the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). dr Reuben Brigety II, President Biden’s choice to be ambassador to South Africa who was confirmed by the Senate on July 21, is expected to be at his new post to welcome the Secretary to the country.
From Johannesburg, Blinken will travel to Kinshasa where he “will meet with senior DRC government officials and members of civil society to discuss our mutual interest in ensuring free, inclusive, and fair elections in 2023, promoting respect for human rights and protecting fundamental freedoms, ” the announcement states. The Secretary’s trip “will also focus on combating corruption, supporting trade and investment, addressing the climate crisis, building agricultural resilience, and support regional African efforts to advance peace in eastern DRC and the broader Great Lakes region” Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy , and the environment Jose Fernandez will join the delegation in Kinshasa, Phee said.