Vice President Kamala Harris is set to spend a week in Africa at the end of March, her office said Monday.
“The trip will strengthen the United States’ partnerships throughout Africa and advance our shared efforts on security and economic prosperity,” her spokesperson, Kristen Allen, said in a statement.
The move is the latest by the White House to lengthen its outreach to the continent amid global competition, notably from China.
In December, President Biden wrapped the U.S.-Africa Summit by announcing to the leaders of 49 African nations that he intends to visit the continent sometime in the future, though he was not specific about which nations he would visit, or when he would make the trip.
In February First Lady Jill Biden embarked upon a five-day trip to Namibia and Kenya, accompanied by the Bidens’ granddaughter Naomi.
Harris plans to visit Ghana March 26-29, then Tanzania March 29-31. Her final stop will be in Zambia March 31-April 1. The Vice President has a personal connection to Zambia; as a young girl she visited her grandfather who was working there.
According to Allen, Harris plans to talk with “young leaders, business representatives, entrepreneurs, and members of the African Diaspora.”
“Our administration will be guided not by what we can do for Africa but what we can do with Africa,” Harris said during December’s U.S.-Africa summit.
Although the White House visits come amid heightened tension between the U.S. and China, the Biden Administration is reportedly trying to calibrate its approach to Africa so that its leaders don’t feel as though they’re caught in the middle of a geopolitical contest.
According to one senior Administration official, the White House wants to put forth an “affirmative agenda” that incorporates concerns about China, as well as ripple effects from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but is not dominated by these issues.
