The United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is set to meet the presidents of Nigeria and Ivory Coast on Tuesday in a bid to forge a united front with key African democracies as crises engulf the world.
In Abidjan, Blinken will meet Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, a veteran leader who has won US praise for consolidating democracy, before heading to Abuja to see Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, elected last year on a platform of economic reforms.
The two West Africa powers, one English-speaking and one French-speaking, have largely stood by the United States despite unease in much of the continent over the Western focus on arming Ukraine and, more recently, US support for Israel in its war with Hamas.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, and Ivory Coast as well as Kenya in East Africa joined the United States in a United Nations vote in 2022 to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Their stance stands in contrast with another heavyweight, South Africa, which the United States has accused of allowing arms shipments to Russia and which most recently annoyed Washington by bringing a genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice.
