United States’ Vice President, Kamala Harris, has arrived in Accra, Ghana, on Sunday, kicking off a week-long historic trip on the continent that will also take her to Tanzania and Zambia but excluding Africa’s most populous nation – Nigeria.
However, taking to her Facebook page on Monday, VP Harris said the trip was in recognition that African nations were critical to global prosperity and security, adding that the continent’s ideas and innovations will also benefit the world.
Harris wrote: “My weeklong trip to the continent of Africa is in recognition that African nations are critical to global prosperity and security — and their ideas and innovations will benefit the world.”
The trip will focus on investment and empowerment.
Harris, the first Black woman U.S. vice president, is making her first trip to Africa while in office.
She arrived Sunday in Air Force Two with the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, and was greeted by Ghana’s Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia.
The welcome ceremony included a gift of flowers, dancers and drummers as she walked down a red carpet and a large group of children gathered to the side of the stage where she made brief remarks.
“What an honor it is to be here in Ghana and on the continent of Africa,” she said on the tarmac of Kotoka International Airport.
“I’m very excited about the impact of Africa on the rest of the world,” she said, pointing to a future in the coming decades in which the population – with a current median age of 19 – would help put African nations at the center of international relations.
While on her trip, Harris said she wants to promote “increasing investments,” the “economic empowerment” of women, girls and young businesspeople, “digital inclusion” and food security in light of mounting challenges from climate change.
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