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We Take Africa Very Seriously – U.S. Envoy
- By Williams Ekanem
- Published June 22nd, 2010
- Washington File
- Unrated
ASSISTANT Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, Ambassador Johnnie Carson says President Barack Obama is not complacent about Africa.
Making the remarks at the Diplomacy Briefing Series Conference recently, Carson pointed out that the administration is determined to forge a deeper and more lasting impact of its relationship with the continent, not just through words, but through concrete action.
As evidence of this commitment, Ambassador Carson said that Vice President Biden just concluded a week-long trip to Africa.
Giving a run down of the vice president’s engagements during the trip, Carson who was part of the delegation said although the media focused on the World Cup as the centerpiece of this Africa visit, but the trip was more about substance than sport.
According to him, the Vice President used this trip to focus on one of the Administration’s highest priorities in Africa: the current situation in Sudan. In Egypt, the Vice President met with President Mubarak and other senior government officials to discuss Sudan policy. In Kenya, Biden met with Salva Kiir, the President of the Government of South Sudan and other South Sudanese leaders. And in South Africa, the Vice President had an extended meeting with Thabo Mbeki, the AU’s point person on Sudan.
The Ambassador pointed out that the Vice President’s trip was just the most recent example of high-level engagement by this Administration in Africa.
Besides the Vice President’s recent visit to Africa, Carson stated that the President’s visit to Ghana last July, the earliest visit made by a U.S. president to the continent, underscored Africa’s importance to the U.S. And last September, at the UN General Assembly, the President hosted a lunch with 26 African heads of state.
According to him, over the past year, he has also met in the oval office with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, President Kikwete of Tanzania, President Khama of Botswana, and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangarai of Zimbabwe. And during the Nuclear Summit in April of this year, the President also met with President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and President Zuma of South Africa.
All of the President’s senior foreign policy advisors have followed his lead by traveling to Africa. The U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice visited five African countries last June, including Liberia and Rwanda. Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew traveled to Ethiopia and Tanzania in June 2009, and was in Mali and Nigeria just last month.
Making the remarks at the Diplomacy Briefing Series Conference recently, Carson pointed out that the administration is determined to forge a deeper and more lasting impact of its relationship with the continent, not just through words, but through concrete action.
As evidence of this commitment, Ambassador Carson said that Vice President Biden just concluded a week-long trip to Africa.
Giving a run down of the vice president’s engagements during the trip, Carson who was part of the delegation said although the media focused on the World Cup as the centerpiece of this Africa visit, but the trip was more about substance than sport.
According to him, the Vice President used this trip to focus on one of the Administration’s highest priorities in Africa: the current situation in Sudan. In Egypt, the Vice President met with President Mubarak and other senior government officials to discuss Sudan policy. In Kenya, Biden met with Salva Kiir, the President of the Government of South Sudan and other South Sudanese leaders. And in South Africa, the Vice President had an extended meeting with Thabo Mbeki, the AU’s point person on Sudan.
The Ambassador pointed out that the Vice President’s trip was just the most recent example of high-level engagement by this Administration in Africa.
Besides the Vice President’s recent visit to Africa, Carson stated that the President’s visit to Ghana last July, the earliest visit made by a U.S. president to the continent, underscored Africa’s importance to the U.S. And last September, at the UN General Assembly, the President hosted a lunch with 26 African heads of state.
According to him, over the past year, he has also met in the oval office with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, President Kikwete of Tanzania, President Khama of Botswana, and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangarai of Zimbabwe. And during the Nuclear Summit in April of this year, the President also met with President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and President Zuma of South Africa.
All of the President’s senior foreign policy advisors have followed his lead by traveling to Africa. The U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice visited five African countries last June, including Liberia and Rwanda. Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew traveled to Ethiopia and Tanzania in June 2009, and was in Mali and Nigeria just last month.
