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'Carrot & Stick': Ties With US Are 'Futile' for Africa, Analyst Says

17:24, 29 January 2024

Muhammad Nooh Osman

Writer/Editor

On January 21-26, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded his four-nation tour of Africa. Blinken's tour included visits to Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, and Angola. According to the US State Department, the purpose of the trip was to promote a "future-focused" economic partnership between Washington and the African continent.

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Africa is increasingly realizing the futility of relations with Washington, which only cares about its economic interests, and is reorganizing its relations with the world for the sake of the continent's revival and development, Sudanese political analyst Khaled al-Feqi told Sputnik, commenting on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's recent tour of a number of African countries.

Blinken embarked on a four-nation tour of Africa last week. The trip included stops in Angola, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria.

"The US has sensed the danger of Russian, Chinese and Turkish expansion on the African continent and is now trying to find new formulas for entry, which is why it sent Blinken there," Al-Feqi said. "Washington has greatly neglected the African issue in the recent period. The Americans have always dealt with African countries in a carrot-and-stick manner, which means they did not care about the security crises spreading on the continent. All they wanted was to realize their economic interests in a country they considered rich."

In light of the events and changes at the global level, Washington's foreign policy has become useless, the Americans themselves have many problems at home, they also have enough problems at the level of foreign relations as well as in the economy, al-Feqi noted.

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"Africa, on the other hand, now wants to redraw its geopolitical map and establish favorable international relations that will contribute to its revival and development," the Sudanese political expert said.

Al-Feqi added that "Washington's failure" to stop the bloodshed in Sudan, despite its great diplomatic influence, has demonstrated "this futility of relations between the American administration and the African continent as a whole."

In April 2023, violent clashes broke out between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Since then, the warring parties have declared a number of temporary nationwide ceasefires, but none have helped resolve the conflict.

"Russia, on the other hand, has a different strategy in its relations with African countries," al-Feqi said. "Unlike the Americans, Moscow has more flexible economic solutions, and its plans are usually aimed at establishing mutually beneficial relations with other nations and investing in areas that benefit the whole world."