In Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia, Harris will be closely watched as the first person of color and first woman to serve as America’s vice president
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will try to deepen and reframe U.S. relationships in Africa during a weeklong trip that is the latest and highest profile outreach by the Biden administration as it moves to counter China’s growing influence.
Harris, who is traveling with her husband, Doug Emhoff, plans to visit Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia, focusing on economic development, climate change, food security and a rising youth population. She is scheduled to arrive in Accra, Ghana’s capital, on Sunday.
“For too long, the U.S. foreign policy establishment has treated Africa like some kind of extra credit project and not part of the core curriculum,” said Michelle Gavin, an Africa expect at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former U.S. ambassador to Botswana. “I see a big effort to change that thinking now. But it takes time.”
In Africa, Harris will be closely watched as the first person of color and first woman to serve as America’s vice president. Her mother was born in India and her father was born in Jamaica; Harris was raised in California.
“Everybody is excited about Kamala Harris,” said Idayat Hassan, director of the Centre for Democracy and Development in Abuja, Nigeria. “You can be anything that you can think of — that’s what she represents to many of us.”
A centerpiece of Harris’ trip will be a speech in Accra and a visit to Cape Coast Castle, where enslaved Africans were once loaded onto ships for America. Harris also plans to meet with leaders of each country she…
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