United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives South Africa today, in what analysts have said is an attempt to counter Chinese and Russian influence in the region.
Relations between the U.S. and South Africa became strained during President Donald Trump’s time in office. President Joe Biden has taken pains to repair them, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has proved contentious.
Blinken’s second trip to Africa, and his first to South Africa — the continent’s most developed economy and a key democratically — comes after a flurry of visits to the region by top Chinese and Russian officials.
Analysts have said that after disregarding Africa for some time, the U.S. is now playing catch-up and trying to counter the growing influence of Beijing and Moscow in the region, in what some say has elements of a new “Cold War.”
Washington also wants to build support for Ukraine, as many African governments have been loath to condemn Russia’s invasion, in part due to the Soviet Union’s support for African liberation movements during the years when the continent threw off European colonial rule.
Head of the African governance and diplomacy program at the South African Institute for International Affairs, Steven Gruzd said he doubted South Africa would be pushed into criticising Russia, its partner, along with China, in the BRICS group of countries. “I think Secretary Blinken is not going to find a receptive audience for his message that South Africa must come down on the side of the West, and the U.S. in particular, on the Ukraine-Russian conflict,” Gruzd said.
Meanwhile, the director of the African Centre for the Study of the United States at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, Bob Wekesa noted that China’s influence in Africa has grown considerably, and many African leaders look to Beijing for no-strings-attached infrastructure investments.
