Blinken’s trip is the latest in a series of visits to Africa by US government figures as Washington seeks to boost ties with the continent
16 March 2023 - 23:44US secretary of state Antony Blinken meets AU commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat at the commission’s headquarters, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 16 2023. Picture: TIKSA NEGERI/REUTERS
“It will help provide life-saving support to refugees, asylum seekers, and others impacted by conflict and food insecurity in the region,” Blinken said in a statement about the new aid, which will go to Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Mauritania, as well as Sahelian refugees in Libya. Groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State have carried out dozens of attacks in southwestern Niger, including some in which dozens of Nigerien soldiers were killed, but the violence has not spread across the whole country as it has done elsewhere.
The official praised Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum for speaking out against Russia’s private Wagner group of mercenaries, which has been hired by Mali’s junta to help fight insurgents there. Mali describes the Wagner personnel on its territory as “trainers”.“It’s not just we know this is going to end badly, we’ve already seen it end badly in a number of places,” Blinken said.
When thousands of French soldiers were kicked out of Mali during a dispute with the junta there last year, they moved their base into Niger.
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