Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Ethiopia on Tuesday and Niger later in the week as the Biden administration seeks to strengthen ties with African partners to counter key adversaries like China and Russia, who are expanding ties on the continent.
The Biden administration has been working to revitalize ties with nations across Africa as one of its top geopolitical goals, and Blinken will not be the only diplomat to meet the continent this week.
Undersecretary for Civil Security, Democracy and Human Rights Uzra Zeya will travel to The Gambia and Senegal, while Lee Satterfield, Deputy Secretary of State for Education and Culture, will travel to South Africa this week.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken attend the closing session of the US-Africa Leaders Summit on Promoting Food Security and Food Systems Resilience at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. December 15, 2022. (Portal/Ken Cedeno/File Photo)
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“You will see this as the year of trips to Africa by US officials,” Deputy Secretary for African Affairs Molly Phee told reporters last week. “We have already seen the First Lady and Secretary of the Treasury and Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on the continent, and I expect many more senior administration leaders to visit to deepen and expand our partnerships.”
The trips come as news of China and Russia’s growing ties with nations in Africa dips as they face mounting opposition from the West.
A report released earlier this month showed that China and Russia are not only spending more on trade, infrastructure development and natural resources across the continent, but also on arms sales.
Together, Russia and China account for nearly half of all arms sales to sub-Saharan Africa, totaling 46 percent of the region’s arms sales over the past decade.
Members and supporters of the KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council and the Diakonia Council of Churches protest April 19, 2008 against the dumping of arms from China bound for poverty-stricken Zimbabwe. A ship carrying weapons from China bound for Zimbabwe left South Africa on April 18, 2008 after a court barred its cargo from being transported to the border. (RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP via Getty Images)
Between 2010 and 2021, Russia contributed 24 percent of arms exports to sub-Saharan Africa, while China provided 22 percent of the region’s arms — far more than the US’s 5 percent, according to data released earlier this month by the Atlantic Council.
While Russia has long had a reputation as the continent’s leading arms dealer, supplying mainly light arms and ammunition, China has recently increased its involvement in the arms sector.
Throughout the 1990s, China shipped around $220 million worth of arms to sub-Saharan Africa, but in the early 2000s that number began to rise, and by 2010 it shipped $205 million worth of arms that year alone dollars to the region.
In 2013 alone, China exported $423 million worth of arms to the region – a timeframe that coincided with the launch of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Over a 10-year period from 2010, China would contribute more than $2 billion in arms sales to sub-Saharan Africa by 2021.
A ship carrying weapons from China to Zimbabwe left South Africa on April 18, 2008 after a court banned its cargo from being transported to the border, SAPA news agency reported. International sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Western countries include a ban on arms sales to the country. (RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s a lucrative business. There are 54 countries, all of which have their own armies and have a variety of security needs,” said Cameron Hudson, senior associate in the Africa program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS). Fox News Digital. “It’s a big market, it’s a growing market.”
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Hudson explained that more limited arms sales by the US and its allied nations to countries across Africa amount to defense standards and democratic values to which the West adheres.
“What distinguishes these two countries from, for example, the US or European countries is that they will actively sell into armed conflicts. They will actively sell to governments that have patchy human rights records,” he said. “Our arms sales to African countries are in the context of a much broader security assistance program.”
Hudson explained that the US tends to view security assistance to sub-Saharan Africa as part of a broader security package that often includes elements outside of arms sales.
“Russia and China tend to sell arms for profit,” he added.
Hudson explained that Russia and China’s lax stance on who they sell arms to is worrying in that it could “prolong ongoing conflicts or create new tensions” – a geopolitical quagmire Russia has already been accused of widening.
Russia’s mercenary Wagner group has around 10,000 soldiers for hire across Africa, where they have been accused of destabilizing governments and local elections and causing widespread unrest in pursuing Russian interests in resource-rich nations.
This undated photo, distributed by the French military, shows three Russian mercenaries in northern Mali on the right. Russia has conducted under-the-radar military operations in at least half a dozen countries in Africa over the past five years, using a shadowy mercenary force that analysts say is loyal to President Vladimir Putin. (French Army via AP)
The notorious group, which the Kremlin still accuses of having no official links despite known arms support through its Defense Ministry, has also been charged with human rights abuses and war crimes in places like Mali – an issue Blinken is likely to address during his trip to Niger.
“Niger is a country surrounded by states that were overthrown in a military coup,” Hudson explained, referring to Mali, Chad and Libya – all of which countries the Wagner group has recently nested within its borders year or so.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks with African Union Commission (AUC) Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat during the working lunch on multilateral cooperation at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, U.S. December 15, 2022. Portal/Evelyn Hockstein (Portal/Evelyn Hockstein)
Although Niger remains a democracy and a US partner country, Hudson said it is a “very weak democracy” vulnerable to Russian aggression.
“Here is a country that is in danger of seeing its democratic light go out and threatened on all sides by a Russian invasion,” he continued. “Blinken goes there to really help lift them up, shed some light on the democratic process and somehow keep Russia in check.
“I’m excited to see how aggressive Blinken will be when he’s there,” Hudson added.