US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has begun the third leg of his African tour, arriving in Ethiopia following stops in Senegal and Angola, in a trip widely believed to be an attempt to counter Chinese influence on the continent.
The trip, which began on Saturday and will end on Wednesday, is Mr Pompeo's first official visit to sub-Saharan Africa in nearly two years in office.
In Luanda, Angola's capital, Mr Pompeo expressed support for president Joao Lourenco's declared efforts to tackle corruption and introduce economic reforms.
“Here in Angola, damage from corruption is pretty clear,” Mr Pompeo said. “This reform agenda that the president put in place has to stick.”
In Senegal, on the continent’s west coast, the secretary of state reviewed deals with US firms related to road building, healthcare and electricity projects. Mr Pompeo has previously spoken about what he calls China’s “dangerous influence” on the African continent, saying Chinese investment “undermines the rule of law”.
"Everybody can see that China is clearly overtaking the West in terms of trade with Africa and investment in Africa," said Ahmadou Aly Mbaye fromof the AmericanWashington-based Brookings Institution think tank, ahead of Mr Pompeo's visit. China has been Africa's biggest trading partner for more than a decade.
Since US president Donald Trump came into power, critics have accused him of ignoring Africa, and of delaying decisions on, or even failing to make, key appointments related to the continent, including a full-time state department permanent representative for Africa, as well as ambassadors in countries such as Chad and Tanzania.
Mr Trump has also been criticised for reportedly describing African states as "s**thole" countries, though he denied saying that. The White House also denied he had made a reference to "huts" after the New York Times reported that he had said Nigerians would never "go back to their huts" if they visited the US.
‘Little interest’
Jeffrey Smith, the founding director of Vanguard Africa, a nonprofit organisation that supports pro-reform leaders and democratic development in Africa, told The Irish Times the lack of a long-term Africa strategy coming from the Trump administration has been concerning.
Mr Trump had shown little to no interest in developments on the continent, “including major national security issues that merit serious attention”, he said.
In some ways, Mr Smith said, “Trump’s general indifference toward the continent” had “actually allowed career professionals in the state department and the US Agency for International Development, for instance, as well as congressional leaders and their staff, to play more of a leadership role, which has been a net positive, in my opinion”.
However, the Trump White House’s reticence on or indifference to the major democratic challenges facing Africa, “namely inherently flawed and rigged elections, has emboldened a new generation of autocrats and abusive leaders”, Mr Smith said.
