Blinken Unveils Strategy for Africa: Flatters Ruling Elite, Ignores China Threat

Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered a speech Monday at the University of Pretoria in South Africa in which he purported to outline the Biden administration’s new strategy toward Africa — though he simply recycled old platitudes.

Blinken began with a series of well-worn clichés about South Africa’s transition to apartheid — nearly 30 years ago — and completely ignored the country’s current challenges: crime, corruption, chronic electricity shortages, and economic stagnation.

The Secretary of State then outlined four priorities in America’s relationship with the African continent: “openness,” “the promise of democracy”; recovery from COVID; and helping with  “clean energy transition” to deal with climate change.