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- Last week, the Russian foreign affairs minister and the French president were in seven different African countries.
- Now, the US secretary of state is due in SA, DRC and Rwanda to meet government and civil society leaders.
- The US is set to discuss the arrest of Rwandan politician Paul Rusesabagina.
Just under a fortnight after Russia sent an envoy on a four-nation tour of Africa, the United States will this week dispatch Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, to South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.
Blinken's visit will not feature Egypt, Congo (Brazzaville), Ethiopia and Uganda, the countries visited by Russia's foreign affairs minister Sergey Lavrov.
On Friday, agencies reported that Lavrov and Blinken spoke over the phone - the single known communication between senior officials from the US and Russia since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
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During Lavrov's visit to the four countries, France's President Emmanuel Macron was also on a three-nation African tour, which took him to Cameroon, Benin and Guinea Bissau.
With the war in Ukraine dividing global superpowers, all are rushing to Africa to reaffirm their individual relations with mostly their former colonies, as shown by Macron's visit to former French colonies.
The US is the single biggest donor country in Africa, with over R132 billion of assistance to 47 countries and eight regional programmes in sub-Saharan Africa.
South Africa
Blinken's visit to Africa will take place from 7-9 August, starting in South Africa, where he will lead the US Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa delegation.
The strategy seeks to promote "an open and stable international system, from tackling the effects of climate change, food insecurity, and global pandemics, to shaping our technological and economic futures".
Blinken will also attend the US-South Africa Strategic Dialogue in Pretoria for bilateral talks.
DRC
The visit to the DRC from 9-10 August is an important to-do list for Blinken because the central African country is due to hold elections next year.
"The secretary will meet with senior DRC government officials and members of civil society to discuss our mutual interest in ensuring free, inclusive and fair elections in 2023, promoting respect for human rights and protecting fundamental freedoms," the US said in a statement.
Blinken is also expected to discuss ways in which the DRC can tackle legacy issues, such as corruption and building on trade and economic ties, as well as "addressing the climate crisis, building agricultural resilience, and supporting regional African efforts to advance peace in eastern DRC and the broader Great Lakes region".
Rwanda
Blinken will arrive in Rwanda on 10 August for a two-day visit.
He is expected in the country because the United States Senate committee on foreign relations has called for a "more effective US policy" on Rwanda.
The major tiff involving US-Rwanda relations of late is the jailing of President Paul Kagame's critic, a US citizen Paul Rusesabagina.
Rusesabagina has been in jail since his arrest in August 2020 when a plane he believed was bound for Burundi landed in Kigali.
As a Kigali hotel manager during the 1994 genocide, he saved more than a thousand people from being killed and his actions inspired the Hollywood film, "Hotel Rwanda".
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Blinken will raise the issue with Rwanda.
"He will also raise democracy and human rights concerns, including transnational repression, limiting space for dissent and political opposition, and the wrongful detention of US Lawful Permanent Resident Paul Rusesabagina," the US said.
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
