To position itself as a more advantageous partner than China, which has made significant investments in the area over many years, Vice President Kamala Harris will begin a week-long journey to Africa this weekend.
Senior U.S. sources said Harris will talk about China’s participation in debt restructuring as well as its involvement in African economic and technological crises that the United States finds troubling.
The first African nation to default on its sovereign debt during the COVID-19 crisis and currently negotiating a deal with its creditors, notably China, is Zambia, one of the three nations Harris will visit.
A senior official stated that the U.S. has “serious concerns about some of China’s activities in Africa” and its “opaque” business deals, but stressed that we are not forcing our allies in Africa to pick.