(Addis Ababa) After a first stop in Ethiopia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is going to Niger on Thursday, hailed by Westerners as a democratic success in West Africa where they intend to counter growing Russian influence.
Mr. Blinken will be the first senior US diplomat 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.
During his visit to Ethiopia on Wednesday, 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 told reporters.
The Biden administration wants to engage more on the continent to counter growing influences on the continent 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 join Russia in 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 has also built and operated Air Base 201 in the center of this desert country, used to fly drones to attack and monitor jihadists.
After a succession of coups, Niger has become a democracy since 2011, and the American administration hopes to consolidate these gains.
President Mohamed Bazoum’s action was hailed in Washington, including at a summit of African leaders hosted by Joe Biden in the US capital in December.
Anthony Blinken began talks in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa on Thursday with African Union (AU) leaders, as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to show deference to 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 that ended two years of deadly conflict in Tigray, northern Ethiopia. And the United States played a crucial role with the belligerents, underline diplomatic sources.
Anthony Blinken, after talks on Wednesday with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Getachew Reda, a senior leader of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a rebel movement challenging his rule, said the peace deal held largely with a “very significant drop” in abuse.
But he also called for accountability for atrocities during the war. The exact toll is difficult to assess, but the United States estimates that some 500,000 people died during this conflict, more than in Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
Once seen by Washington as a symbol of a new generation of progressive African leaders, the Ethiopian prime minister, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2019 for ending 20 years of open or hidden war with neighboring Eritrea, has moved on to quasi-pariah stage.
The United States has also since January 2022 excluded Addis Ababa from AGOA, an American initiative allowing African countries to be exempt from taxes on certain exports.
Anthony Blinken also announced on Wednesday humanitarian aid of $331 million to help populations affected by violence and drought.
Ethiopian Finance Minister Ahmed Shide said the government wanted an “inclusive national dialogue” to address grievances.
“Transitional justice mechanisms are also put in place to ensure justice and accountability to end perpetual acts of violence and promote impunity,” he said.
