In Ghana, Kamala Harris ‘Excited About the Future of Africa’

March 26, 2023by Chris Megerian, Associated Press
In Ghana, Kamala Harris ‘Excited About the Future of Africa’
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks after arriving in Accra, Ghana, Sunday, March 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris was greeted by schoolchildren, dancers and drummers as she arrived Sunday in Ghana for the start of a weeklong visit to Africa intended to deepen U.S. relationships amid global competition over the continent’s future.

“We are looking forward to this trip as a further statement of the long and enduring very important relationship and friendship between the people of the United States and those who live on this continent,” Harris said.

The children cheered and waved Ghanaian and American flags as she stepped off her plane after an overnight flight. She smiled broadly and placed a hand on her heart as she passed by the dancers.

“What an honor it is to be here in Ghana and on the continent of Africa,” Harris said. “I’m very excited about the future of Africa.” She said she wanted to promote economic growth and food security and welcomed the chance to ”witness firsthand the extraordinary innovation and creativity that is occurring on this continent.”

Ghana is one of the continent’s most stable democracies, but Harris is arriving at a time of severe challenges for the West African nation. Its economy, among the fastest growing in the world before the COVID-19 pandemic, faces a debt crisis and soaring inflation that is driving up the cost of food and other necessities.

A country of 34 million people that’s slightly smaller than Oregon, Ghana is also wary of threats from instability in the region. Burkina Faso and Mali have each endured two coups in recent years, and local offshoots of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate in the area known as the Sahel, which is north of Ghana. Thousands of people have been killed and millions more have been displaced.

The fighting has created an opening for the Russian mercenary outfit known as Wagner, which maintains a presence in Africa despite participating in the invasion of Ukraine as well. Mali welcomed Wagner after it pushed out French troops that were based there, and there are fears that Burkina Faso will do the same.

The economic and security challenges will likely be discussed on Monday when Harris meets with Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo. They also are expected to hold a joint news conference.

The two leaders have met twice before, both times in Washington.

During their first meeting, in September 2021, Akufo-Addo said “our big challenge — and it is a challenge of all those who want to develop democratic institutions on our continent — is to ensure and reassure our people that democratic institutions can be a vehicle for the resolution of their big problem — that is economic development as the means to eradicate poverty on the continent.”

Harris is the highest-profile member of President Joe Biden’s administration to visit Africa this year. After Ghana, she plans to visit Tanzania and Zambia. She returns to Washington on April 2.

The expanded outreach is intended to counter China’s influence, which has become entrenched in recent years through infrastructure initiatives, lending money and expanding telecommunications networks. Ghana, for example, reached a $2 billion deal with a Chinese company to develop roads and other projects in return for access to a key mineral for producing aluminum.

Most of Harris’ events in Ghana will focus on young people. Africa’s population has a median age of 19.

On Monday, she plans to visit a skate park and co-working space that has a recording studio for local artists. Her husband, Doug Emhoff, who is accompanying her on the trip, will hold a town hall meeting with actors from a local television show and attend a girls basketball clinic.

In the evening, they will attend a state banquet with the Ghanaian president and first lady.

On Tuesday, Harris will give a speech and visit Cape Coast Castle, where enslaved Africans were once loaded on ships bound for the Americas.

Before leaving for Tanzania on Wednesday, Harris will meet with women entrepreneurs and Emhoff will tour a chocolate company that was founded by two sisters. The name of the company, ’57 Chocolate, is a reference to when Ghana became independent.

Cameron Hudson, an Africa expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Ghana has been “a bright spot in the region” but “it’s facing some very stiff headwinds.”

He noted that the country’s south, where the capital of Accra is located, is primarily Christian, while the northern area is mostly Muslim, and there are fears that militants could expand their operations there.

“These terrorist groups are able to prey on existing fault lines within these societies,” he said.

Hudson said Ghanaian authorities have intercepted weapons shipments and human smugglers. Sometimes there are bursts of violence, and the number of incidents spiked last year.

A+
a-
  • Kamala Harris
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Diplomacy

    March 25, 2024
    by Kate Michael
    Breaking Barriers: Women in Foreign Service Diplomacy

    WASHINGTON — Women have long played pivotal roles in international diplomacy, though their contributions may have been overshadowed by historical... Read More

    WASHINGTON — Women have long played pivotal roles in international diplomacy, though their contributions may have been overshadowed by historical biases and systemic barriers. In honor of Women’s History Month, distinguished voices, including retired Ambassador Barbara Kay Bodine, Ambassador Paula Dobriansky and Allison Mann, Ph.D., historian,... Read More

    March 19, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    Biden Presses Netanyahu to Slow Advance Toward Planned Rafah Operation

    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a planned ground operation into Rafah — effectively... Read More

    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a planned ground operation into Rafah — effectively Gaza’s last remaining city — would be a mistake and urged him to send a senior delegation of military leaders to Washington to discuss alternative approaches... Read More

    February 20, 2024
    by Kate Michael
    Brazilian Diplomat Talks Relationship With US in Advance of Blinken’s Visit to Rio

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to Rio de Janeiro this week, marking his first visit to... Read More

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to Rio de Janeiro this week, marking his first visit to Brazil after four years as the top U.S. diplomat. Many believe the visit, scheduled to coincide with the G20 foreign ministers’ summit, is overdue as the... Read More

    February 8, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    White House to Welcome Jordan’s King Abdullah II Next Week

    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will welcome the king and queen of Jordan to... Read More

    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will welcome the king and queen of Jordan to the White House next week to celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations and grapple with how to bring an end to the ongoing crisis in Gaza.... Read More

    December 20, 2023
    by Kate Michael
    Ambassador Burns Hopeful About Future US-China Relations

    WASHINGTON — Last month, President Biden met with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in California.... Read More

    WASHINGTON — Last month, President Biden met with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in California. This was the leaders’ first meeting in a year, and while it didn’t yield any major breakthroughs, after years of deteriorating relations, there was an effort... Read More

    November 29, 2023
    by Dan McCue
    Vice President Harris to Attend Climate Talks in Dubai

    WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Dubai on Friday to attend the COP28 climate change talks. According... Read More

    WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Dubai on Friday to attend the COP28 climate change talks. According to the White House, the vice president’s scheduled two days at the talks “will underscore the Biden-Harris administration’s success in delivering on the most ambitious climate... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top