Blinken says the U.S. is investing in Africa without unbearable debt to Reuters

By the hand of Bate Felix

DAKAR (Reuters) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that his country was investing in Africa without setting an unsustainable level of debt, as he saw him sign contracts worth more than $ 1 billion in the Senegalese capital Dakar.

Agreements between four U.S. companies and Senegal are being billed as part of their country’s pitch to help Africa build infrastructure with transparent and sustainable agreements. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/blinken-vows-avoid-opaque-coercive-africa-infrastructure-deals-2021-11-19

Caution not to directly criticize China’s proliferation of infrastructure projects over the past decade, Blinken said during a visit to Nigeria on Friday that international agreements were too opaque and restrictive.

The U.S. is investing “without putting up debt that the country cannot manage,” Amadou Hott said at a signing ceremony with Senegalese Economy Minister.

He said he was deeply concerned about the stability of neighboring Mali, which has experienced two coups in the last 18 months, and said that the upcoming elections should follow the calendar worked out by the ECOWAS regional bloc.

Earlier this month ECOWAS, West Africa’s main political and economic bloc, imposed sanctions on Mali’s transitional leaders after informing the organization that they would not be able to hold presidential and legislative elections in February.

“We hope to resume the full range of support as soon as this democratically elected government takes office,” Blinken told reporters.

Reuters reported in September that Mali’s military junta was discussing the deployment of a Russian military contractor, the Wagner Group, to Mali to deal with a growing Islamist insurgency.

“It would be particularly unfortunate for outside actors to make things even more difficult and complicated and I’m especially thinking of bands like the Wagner Group,” Blinken said.