US launches new strategy for Africa

• Secretary of state Antony Blinken ends SA visit with a plan to tilt the geopolitical tug-of-war

US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Tuesday ended a three-day visit to SA, which he chose as the launch pad for his country’s new Africa strategy in an effort to reset relations between the US and SA, according to analysts.

His visit, which came after SA and a number of other African countries abstained at the UN earlier in 2022 on resolutions condemning Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, marked the start of a weeklong tour of African countries that is seen as an effort by the US to counter China’s growing influence on the continent.

The US would have been caught off guard by SA’s “nonaligned” stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Bob Wekesa, director of the African Centre for the Study of the US at Wits University, has said. The calls by US President Joe Biden and Blinken to their counterparts in SA after a UN resolution on the matter testified to this.

SA and a number of other African countries abstained from voting on the resolution against Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, passed days after the war broke out. “There was a reaction of consternation [by the US],” Wekesa said.

One of the objectives of the US’s strategy towards subSaharan Africa, launched at the University of Pretoria on Monday, is to foster openness and counter “harmful activities” by China, Russia and “other actors” on the continent.

SA considers itself a close ally of both these countries as part of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) bloc.

The strategy document says China sees sub-Saharan Africa “as an important arena to challenge the rules-based international order, advance its own narrow commercial and geopolitical interests, undermine transparency and openness, and weaken US relations with African peoples and govern

ments”. Russia, the document says, “views the region as a permissive environment for parastatals and private military companies, often fomenting instability for strategic and financial benefit”.

It goes on to say that Russia uses “its security and economic ties, as well as disinformation, to undercut Africans’ principled opposition to Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine and related human rights abuses”.

In his speech at the launch of the strategy, Blinken gave the assurance that “the US will not dictate Africa’s choices”, but added that “the US and the world will look to African nations to defend the rules of the international system that they’ve done so much to shape”.

This includes the right of every country “to have its right to sovereignty and territorial integrity respected, the principle at stake now in Ukraine”.

Yet there was a subtle threat that countries not in line with the US view could face consequences, and Blinken hinted that those supporting democracy would be given assistance with development.

Blinken’s office declined to comment on a direct question about whether the US would sanction countries that retained ties with Russia in the face of Western sanctions.

But, the US representative to the UN, ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, last week said ahead of her Africa tour: “I would caution that countries should not engage with countries that have been sanctioned by the US.”

THERE WAS A SUBTLE THREAT THAT COUNTRIES NOT IN LINE WITH THE US VIEW COULD FACE CONSEQUENCES

Naledi Pandor, the international relations and co-operation minister, said last week the Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act, which looks set to be passed by the US Senate, could lead to such sanctions, which could directly affect SA. It was apparent from her public remarks during the strategic dialogue on Monday that there had been a robust discussion with her US counterpart on the topic.

Pandor repeated her criticism against “some of our partners in Europe and elsewhere” strong-arming SA into siding with Ukraine in the war. “I certainly will not be bullied that way, nor will I expect any other African country worth its salt to be treated that way,” she said.

She hinted that SA cannot be bought by either Russia or the US. “Our trade with Russia is less than $4bn annually compared to $20bn with respect to the US, so this fear that we exist under some push is a totally unfounded belief.”

Meanwhile, the embassies of China and Russia declined to react to the contents of the strategy document.

The Chinese embassy, however, issued a statement objecting to Blinken’s telling eNCA in an interview that US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week was a peaceful visit.

“Pelosi’s illegitimate visit to Taiwan has grossly infringed on China’s sovereignty, interfered in China’s internal affairs, violated the commitments made by the US side, and jeopardised peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits,” the Chinese embassy said.

Blinken’s visit, which includes stopovers in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, followed closely on that of deputy secretary of state for Africa Wendy Sherman in May. Blinken’s first visit to Africa in his current position as secretary of state was to Nigeria, Senegal and Kenya in November, which SA would have read as a snub, Wekesa said.