(The Guardian) Biden announces Africa visit
Joe Biden will soon visit sub-Saharan Africa, he announced on Thursday. It came at the conclusion of a three-day summit with African leaders in which he announced hundreds of millions of dollars in investment in the continent for infrastructure, technology initiatives and supporting free elections.
A day earlier, the president said he was “all in” on strengthening US relations with African countries, which was why he had sent many of his top advisers there, including secretary of state Antony Blinken, treasury secretary Janet Yellin and commerce secretary Gina Raimondo. “I’m looking forward to seeing you in your home countries,” Biden told the leaders of 49 African countries on Thursday about what will be the first visit there of his presidency other than a brief stopover in Egypt last month, the Associated Press reported.
He did not state which countries he will visit or when the trip will happen.
Biden on Thursday pledged $165m in US funding to support peaceful, credible elections in Africa next year as his administration looked to underscore the importance of fair voting in countries where it sometimes has been blighted by violence.
