In his first visit to Nigeria since the beginning of the Biden administration, Blinken spoke Thursday of America’s commitment to building stronger ties as well as supporting democracy and governance in Africa’s most populous country.
He followed up Friday in a speech before the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with the announcement that President Joe Biden would be hosting a US-Africa Leaders Summit at a date yet to be determined “to drive the kind of high-level diplomacy and engagement that can transform relationships and make effective cooperation possible.”
However, Matthew Page, an associate fellow at Chatham House and former US intelligence official, doesn’t seem convinced. “Secretary Blinken missed an opportunity to fix Washington’s weak, dissonant approach toward Nigeria,” Page tells The Africa Report. “His talk of Washington’s ‘strong partnership’ with an
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