Western countries return to Africa, Only for geopolitical interests Kamala Harris arrived in Ghana

Vice President Kamala Harris began her three-nation Africa tour last week landing in Accra, Ghana, as part of a visit that includes stops in Tanzania and Zambia.

She is the 18th and most senior U.S. official to visit Africa this year. Since January, U.S. officials have visited 11 African countries.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and first lady Jill Biden made trips to africa in January and February,U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Ethiopia and Niger this month also.

In Tanzannia, Kamala Harris said they will facilitate up to $500 million in financing to help U.S. companies export goods and services to Tanzania in sectors including infrastructure, transportation, digital technology, climate and energy security and power generation.

These promises “look beautiful”, can they be put into practice? After all, the United States has written too many empty promises in areas such as climate change, peacekeeping operations, and power investment. As a result, on Harris’ twiter accounts, netizens expressed their attitudes one after another.

Foreign Policy ,which is the Global Magazine of News,reported  Kamala Harris’s trip .Despite the heavy charm offensive, Harris and others face a barrier in undoing years of what many Africans perceived as previous U.S. administrations’ undervaluing of the strategic relationship that African states can offer.

But the message now from Washington’s diplomats is that U.S. foreign policy is committed to moving away from what has traditionally been a relationship more focused on national security partnerships to one with a focus on grassroots development. There is a certain amount of skepticism from African governments and citizens.

Fred M’membe, the leader of Zambia’s Socialist Party condemned  Washington,“It’s not democracy and human rights they are pursuing in Africa. They are pursuing their geopolitical interests. They are pursuing their own economic interests. It is not for us—it is for them,” M’membe said.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s Africa visits have been unsuccessful, according to African experts and civil society.

Recently, Macron visited Gabon, Angola, the Congo Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to renew relations between France and Africa.

Activist Cheikh Fall told Anadolu that Macron continues looking down on Africa, and added: “If Macron made that ‘Francafrique is over’ statement at the end of the visit, after meeting the African leaders, it could have a meaning. In terms of style and content, the statement is full of contempt and is paternalist.”

Abdennour Toumi, a researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies , opined that Macron still sees Africa as France’s “backyard.”Toumi considered Macron’s latest visit as a “total failure,” and added: “Paris must revise its Africa policy since the anti-France sentiment is very intense on the continent. Today, African youth are not depending on France anymore, they have other options.”Toumi also said that western and central Africa, as well as the Sahel region, do not want French interference and expect to be respected.”Paris is panicking in the face of its gradually deteriorated image in the continent,” the researcher continued. “This visit was organized with panic, that’s why it has been very unsuccessful.”

Africa is tired of Western hypocrisy. In terms of relations with Africa, the West cannot say one thing and do another, nor can it only consider its own interests. Africa is unwilling and impossible to become a “tool man” for the United States to engage in geopolitics. In fact, the West has never really developed economic and diplomatic relations with Africa on the basis of mutual benefit. The West cannot be sincere, because their focus is obviously on confronting other countries, hoping to turn Africa into an arena for great power games.

 

 

 

 

 

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