Agence France-Presse is an international news agency headquartered in Paris, France.
Summary
· Africa has become more heated as a diplomatic battleground following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, and Russian security involvements in several countries on the continent.
US Vice President Kamala Harris
arrived in Ghana on Sunday at the start of a three-nation African tour, as
Washington looks to strengthen diplomatic ties on the continent.
The trip to Ghana, Tanzania and
Zambia until April 2 comes after a December summit hosted by President Joe
Biden in Washington with US leaders and counterparts from Africa, a continent
where China and Russia are enjoying rising influence.
Read: US VP Harris to tour Africa
amid growing China, Russia influence
Harris, in company of her husband Second
Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, was received in Ghana's capital Accra by Vice
President Mahamudu Bawumia and senior government officials.
Accompanied by drumming and dancing,
school children welcomed the 49th US vice president with miniature flags of
Ghana at the Kotoka International Airport.
In brief remarks, Harris said her
visit gives her the opportunity to deepen the relationship between the United
States and African partners.
"We are looking forward to this
trip as a further statement of the long and enduring and very important
relationship and friendship between the people of the United States and those
who live on the continent of Africa," Harris said.
"I am very excited about the
future of Africa. I am very excited about the impact of the future of Africa on
the rest of the world including the United States of America," she said.
She said the visit would be
addressing such issues as the climate crisis, increasing food security, and
growing investment on the continent.
Harris is expected to meet entrepreneurs,
students, women and farmers while in Ghana and will also visit the historic
Cape Coast Castle where slaves were kept 400 years ago.
She would hold bilateral talks with
President Nana Akufo-Addo and meet civil society representatives.
On Wednesday she will depart Accra
for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in continuation of her African tour.
Ghana is facing an economic crisis
with inflation at more than 50 percent and its cedi currency down sharply, hit
by the adverse effects of the global pandemic and Ukraine crisis.
Ghana has agreed on a $3 billion
credit deal with the IMF to tackle its economic crisis. It is also in talks
with China on its problems.
The December summit in Washington
was the first of its kind since African leaders came in 2014 to see Barack
Obama.
Africa has become more heated as a
diplomatic battleground following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, and
Russian security involvements in several countries on the continent.
In September, Biden called for an
African permanent seat on the UN Security Council, backed a permanent African
Union role in the Group of 20 economies and said he was planning a visit -- the
first by a US president since 2015 -- to sub-Saharan Africa.
His wife, Jill Biden, reiterated the
commitment to helping African nations get a louder voice at the UN and other
international bodies on a trip to Namibia and Kenya in February.
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