diplomat for Africa, Molly Phee, were followed by a new and deadly crackdown on opposition protesters that Blinken was compelled to formally condemn in a statement. In Sudan, conversations between military leaders and the top U.S. While Blinken did not go to either country on his trip, he raised the crises at each of his stops and, while he was traveling, top American envoys visited both Khartoum and Addis Ababa to press authorities there to back down on anti-democratic actions.Īnd yet, despite an agreement in Sudan announced on Sunday after Blinken returned to Washington, neither yielded unvarnished success. He cited Ethiopia and Sudan as prime examples. “We see this happening across Africa - leaders ignoring term limits, rigging or postponing elections, exploiting social grievances to gain and maintain power, arresting opposition figures, cracking down on the media, and allowing security services to enforce pandemic restrictions brutally.” “Governments are becoming less transparent,” Blinken said in the Nigerian capital on Friday. appeals and protests that have been ignored or only partially heeded by leaders in Ethiopia, Sudan and elsewhere, who have appeared unconvinced or uninterested in the administration’s message. While the Biden administration’s efforts to help African nations combat the coronavirus pandemic and encourage climate-friendly policies appear to be making some initial progress, the broader picture is less encouraging.Ī new wave of authoritarianism has reversed some positive democratization trends despite very public U.S. and China off of each other and China’s attractiveness as a partner.Īnd, in Senegal, the capital, Dakar, was gearing up to host a major China-Africa trade and investment event less than 10 days after Blinken’s departure on Saturday. In Abuja, Blinken’s motorcade from the airport passed the giant and unmissable headquarters building of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Nigeria, where a top official spoke only partially in jest of playing the U.S. In Nairobi, much of the secretary’s visit and drives through the Kenyan capital took place in the shadow of or literally underneath a massive, Chinese-financed elevated expressway construction project.
return to the international arena and institutions that his predecessor had eschewed. The limits of Washington’s reach have been evident for some time but have been highlighted in recent months as President Joe Biden has promoted an “America is back” narrative, intended to signal a U.S. But, he allowed that “we have to be judged on what we do, not simply on what I say.” and China: a geopolitical power struggle that has been playing out largely in China’s favor for the past two decades, especially in Africa.īefore leaving the continent at his last stop in Senegal, Blinken said he had been well received by all three leaders he met. interventions.Īnd, nowhere on his three-nation tour last week - to Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal - was he able to escape obvious signs of the intense competition between the U.S. Blinken confronted authoritarianism, growing threats from newly energized extremists, and persistent challenges posed by COVID-19 and climate change, all of which have stubbornly resisted various U.S.