(Addis Ababa) After a first stop in Ethiopia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is going to Niger on Thursday, a country hailed by Westerners as a democratic success in West Africa where they intend to counter growing Russian influence.
Mr. Blinken is the first head of American diplomacy to visit the former French colony, a key military base for Western forces in their fight against jihadists in the Sahel.
The Secretary of State, expected at midday in Niamey, is expected to announce more American support for Niger, a landlocked country that is one of the poorest on the planet.
In Ethiopia on Wednesday, Mr. Blinken said his travels to the two countries were part of President Joe Biden’s pledge to be “all for Africa with Africa.”
“It means the United States is committed to deep, responsive, and genuine partnerships on the continent,” Blinken explained.
The Biden administration wants to do more to counter growing influences there from China and – more recently – Russia.
Mali, a border country to the west of Niger, has moved closer to Russia, notably with the presence of mercenaries from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, and Bamako has broken the military alliance with France and its partners.
In February, Mali was one of six countries to back Russia by voting against a UN General Assembly resolution urging Moscow to withdraw from Ukraine, on the anniversary of the invasion.
Niger has since become a key ally of French military efforts in West Africa, with 1,000 troops stationed there.
The United States also built and operates Air Base 201 in the center of the desert country, used to fly drones to attack and monitor jihadists.
The history of independent Niger has been marked since 1974 by a series of coups, the last of which took place in 2010. The country regained stability in 2011 after the election of Mahamadou Issoufou who retired in 2021 after the election of Mohamed Bazoum, the first peaceful transfer of power between two elected presidents.
President Bazoum’s action was hailed in Washington, including at a summit of African leaders hosted by Joe Biden in the US capital in December.
A senior US official traveling with Mr. Blinken said the trip was to support the efforts of President Bazoum, who is critical of the action of the Wagner Group.
“We believe they are making the right choices to deal with the kinds of common threats across the Sahel. So we’re trying to highlight a positive example,” the official said, adding that Washington wanted to help Niamey “professionalize” its armed forces.
“Frankly, Niger is in a very difficult position,” she continued, but “despite all these challenges, the authorities are really trying to do the right thing. »
Antony Blinken held talks in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital and headquarters of the African Union (AU), with leaders of the continental body on Thursday, as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to show some respect for the region and avoid perceptions of an authoritarian role of the United States.
The AU brokered the peace accord signed in Pretoria in November 2022, which ended two years of deadly conflict in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, but the United States has played a crucial role with the belligerents, underline diplomatic sources.
Antony Blinken, after talks on Wednesday with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Getachew Reda, a senior leader of the Tigray authorities who challenged federal power, said the peace deal largely held.
But he also linked the resumption of the US economic partnership with Ethiopia to accountability for atrocities during the war, in which the US estimates that some 500,000 people died, more than in Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
Once seen by Washington as a symbol of a new generation of progressive African leaders, Mr. Abiy, Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for ending 20 years of open or hidden war with neighboring Eritrea, has since passed conflict at the quasi-pariah stage.
Ethiopian Finance Minister Ahmed Shide said the government wanted an “inclusive national dialogue” to address grievances, noting that “transitional justice mechanisms are also being put in place to ensure justice and accountability, to to end perpetual violence and impunity”.
Ms. Blinken also announced on Wednesday humanitarian aid of $331 million to help populations affected by violence and drought.
