United States vice president Kamala Harris is fast becoming a powerful force in global politics.
Following on from the second US–Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022, during which the US pledged to support the African Union’s Agenda 2063, Vice-President Kamala Harris made a week-long tour of Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia.
From what I heard about the stops in Accra and Lusaka and what I saw in Dar es Salaam, Vice-President Kamala Harris’ Africa trip was a resounding, unequivocal, knocked-out-of-the-ballpark success. She represented the ‘full faith and credit’ of the United States. She’s money.
So, if anybody had any doubts about whether the VP’s visit would make a di€erence, the answer is yes. Whoever the competitor, be it the EU, the UK, Russia, or China it’s ‘game on’.
This trip matters. When I served as President Bill Clinton’s envoy to Tanzania it was in the aftermath of the bombing of our Embassy by al-Qaeda in 1998. Because of that we had more high-level US officials visit Tanzania in 30 months than the country had in the previous 30 years.
Given the gravity of the tragedy, that was understandable. All of this took place during President Clinton’s second term. I mention ‘the when’ because timing matters.
Vice-President Harris’ trip comes in the Biden Administration’s first term. Nothing says priority like a first-term visit. Nothing says priority like sending the Vice-President three months after the African Presidential Summit hosted by President Biden.
That all three countries are among the most stable, vibrant young democracies in Africa, with free market economies, says the US is serious about democracy and serious about trade and investment.
This trip matters. The crowds at every stop and the state dinners that closed each visit leave no doubt.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/01/kamala-harris-seems-be-stepping-up-her-2024-role/
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