Vice President Harris speaks in the course of the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit in Washington on Dec. 15, 2022.

Andrew Harnik/AP

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Andrew Harnik/AP

Vice President Harris speaks in the course of the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit in Washington on Dec. 15, 2022.

Andrew Harnik/AP

Vice President Harris is leaving on Saturday for a week-long journey to Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia. She would be the highest-ranking Biden administration official to go to the continent because the White House strives to deepen its outreach and counter Chinese affect there.

Harris plans to fulfill with President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania, and President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia — leaders she met with in Washington in December in the course of the Africa Leaders Summit.

The journey may also contact on a private word for Harris, senior administration officers informed reporters. She will go to Zambia’s capital Lusaka, the place she traveled as a toddler. Her grandfather, a civil servant in India, had labored on refugee resettlement points in Zambia, officers mentioned.

Harris, the primary Black vp, may also tour the Cape Coast Slave Castle in Ghana and provides remarks concerning the brutality of slavery and the African diaspora, officers mentioned.

Harris is the newest in a collection of high U.S. officers to go to Africa

Officials mentioned Harris’ journey is part of President Biden’s dedication to go “all-in on Africa.” The president is predicted to go to the continent this yr, too.

First girl Jill Biden went to Namibia and Kenya earlier this month and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken went to Ethiopia and Niger last week. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Senegal, Zambia and South Africa this yr, too.

“It’s a partnership that’s not a one-way street. It’s not about imposing solutions. And it’s not just about foreign aid or humanitarian assistance,” a senior administration official mentioned. “It’s about mutual investment and mutual economic growth and creative partnerships and deep people-to-people connections between the American people and the people on the African continent.”

China has been boosting its presence in Africa

In her discussions with leaders, college students and enterprise house owners, Harris intends to speak about points associated to democracy, know-how, financial progress, meals safety, and Russia’s battle in Ukraine, officers mentioned.

The Biden administration push on the continent comes after China and Russia have boosted their investments and presence within the area. Having high-level officers like Harris go to helps present a distinction with what the U.S. can provide the continent.

China and Russia attempt “to build dependency,” mentioned Mark Green, a former ambassador to Tanzania who was head of the U.S. Agency for International Development in the course of the Trump administration. “We seek to build self-reliance,” Green mentioned in an interview.

But the U.S. focus needs to be on listening to leaders concerning the wants of the continent moderately than on U.S. geopolitical technique, mentioned Green, who’s now the pinnacle of the Wilson Center in Washington.

“Whenever you say ‘strategic’ or whenever you talk about China, the natural reaction for Africans is, ‘OK, well, this isn’t about us, it’s about somebody else,'” Green mentioned.

Countering China’s affect around the globe is one in every of Biden’s high overseas coverage priorities. But White House officers insist these visits to Africa are extra about forming connections moderately than countering the affect of different nations.

“Our relationship with Africa cannot and should not and will not be defined by competition with China,” a senior administration official informed reporters. “We’re not asking our partners in Africa to choose. We want to expand African options, not limit them.”