Agence France-Presse is an international news agency headquartered in Paris, France.
Summary
After Ghana, she will travel on
Wednesday to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
US Vice President Kamala Harris has met with Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo in the first stage of
an Africa trip, announcing a bilateral aid package and $100 million to shore up security in coastal West Africa.The trip to Ghana, Tanzania and
Zambia until April 2 follows a December summit hosted by President Joe Biden in
Washington with leaders from Africa, where the US hopes to balance the rising
influence of China and Russia.
After a brief meeting at the
presidential palace in the capital Accra on Monday, Akufo-Addo and Harris said
the visit would strengthen ties and opportunities between the longtime
partners.
"This trip is motivated by the
importance of the direct relationship between the United States and Ghana, and
as I travel the continent, those countries as well," Harris told
reporters.
Struggling with an economic crisis,
burgeoning debt and inflation of over 50 percent, Ghana has agreed on a $3
billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Ghana's finance minister also
returned this month from a trip to China, where the two governments discussed
debt issues.
"China is one of the many
countries with whom Ghana is engaged," Akufo-Addo said, dismissing
concerns over China's investments. "The relationship between America and
Ghana is a relationship which has its own dynamic."
Earlier on Monday, Harris' office
said the US would provide Ghana with $139 million (128 million euros) in
bilateral assistance next year.
This will go towards economic,
business and cultural initiatives, as well as the health sector with projects
such as an anti-malaria programme.
Washington will also send a special
resident advisor to Ghana to help Akufo-Addo's government with its debt profile
management this year, it said.
Ghana is one of the Gulf of Guinea
nations, along with Ivory Coast and neighbours Benin and Togo, suffering from
the fallout from jihadist violence over their northern borders in Burkina Faso.
Togo, Ivory Coast and Benin have all
been hit by attacks blamed on gunmen crossing over their northern borders in
the Sahel region, where Islamic State and al Qaeda-allied militants operate.
A French troop withdrawal from Mali
after disputes with the ruling junta there and two coups and instability in
Burkina Faso have helped refocus Western partners to aid Gulf of Guinea nations
to counter the southward spillover of militant violence.
Ghana has pushed for more regional
military cooperation among West African coastal states as well as initiatives
to help development and aid in vulnerable northern border regions.
Harris said the Biden administration
would invest $100 million as part of a plan to help Ghana, Benin, Togo and
Ivory Coast in stabilisation, governance and countering the threat of jihadism.
Russian security company Wagner is
also operating in several countries in Africa and has been sanctioned by the EU
over rights abuse allegations there.
"We made clear our
concerns," the Ghanaian leader said about Wagner's presence over the
border in the Sahel region.
"It raises the very real
possibility... that, once again, our continent is going to become the
playground for great power conflict."
Asked about a bill currently in
Ghana's parliament that critics say will severely restrict LGBTQ rights, Harris
said she had addressed the issue with Akufo-Addo and said the US considered it
a matter of human rights.
Akufo-Addo said the bill was still
under discussion in parliament and had been reviewed by the attorney general,
and "substantial elements of the bill had already been modified".
"We will see what the final
outcome will be."
Other programmes announced by
Harris' office will include small business development funds, especially for
women and youth, financing to help combat child labour in Ghana's cocoa
industry and investments in weather and climate early warning systems.
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