As he watched the signing of contracts worth more than $1 billion in Senegal’s capital Dakar on Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed his country was investing in Africa without imposing unsustainable amounts of debt.
The agreements between four American companies and Senegal are being marketed as part of Senegal’s proposal to assist Africa to construct infrastructure through transparent and long-term agreements.
Blinken said during a visit to Nigeria on Friday that international negotiations were too frequently opaque and coercive, but he avoided openly criticizing Chinese infrastructure projects, which have multiplied in the last decade.
During the signing ceremony with Senegal’s Economy Minister Amadou Hott, Obama emphasized that the US is investing “without saddling the country with a debt that it cannot handle.”
He noted that the agreements will help enhance infrastructure, create jobs, and strengthen public safety and climate resilience.
Blinken’s three-country trip of Africa concludes in Senegal, following stops in Kenya and Nigeria, where he attempted to set a fresh tone from the reign of former President Donald Trump, who disparaged certain African countries and prohibited travel to six of them.
