US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Niger on Thursday for a rare visit to a country seen as a bastion of support for Western military operations in a region where Russia is making inroads. Blinken is the first US official at this level to visit the former French colony, where both France and the United States maintain forces to battleinsurgencies in the troubled Sahel region. He was greeted in Niamey by Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
Blinken is expected to announce more US support to Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, which returned to stability in 2011 after a history of coups.
A senior US official travelling with Blinken said the trip was meant to support the efforts of Niger under President Mohamed Bazoum, a vocal critic of Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries.
“They are making the right choices, we think, to help deal with the types of threats that are common across the Sahel. So, we are trying to highlight a positive example,” the official told reporters en route to Niamey, on condition of anonymity.
The United States also wanted to help Niger “professionalise” its armed forces to reduce civilian casualties when responding toviolence, she added.
“Frankly, Niger is in a very difficult position. Despite all those challenges, the leadership is really trying to do the right thing.”
She also pointed to environmental threats. Niger is one of the countries worst hit by climate change, losing 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) of arable land each year to desert.
Speaking Wednesday on a visit to Ethiopia, Blinken said his trip to the two countries was part of President Joe Biden’s pledge to be “all in on Africa, and all in with Africa”.
“That means the United States is committed to deep, responsive and genuine partnerships on the continent,” Blinken told reporters.
The Biden administration launched its bid for greater engagement in Africa in the face of rising investment by China, seen as the top rising challenger to the United States, but concerns have grown more recently about Russia.