Under Secretary of State John Bass says the US faces competition from Russia and China on the continent
The US State Department does not have enough personnel or financial resources to promote Washington’s interests and foreign policy in Africa, Under Secretary for Political Affairs John Bass has said.
The senior official made the remarks during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday to discuss the importance of countering China’s influence in Africa and growing terrorism threats on the continent.
“We don’t have sufficient resources to capitalize on all of the opportunities we have across the continent and to get the balance right between the essential work that we have to be doing to respond to and help address the wide range of crises on the continent, and also to take advantage of proactive opportunities to deepen relationships,” Bass said.
He was responding to a question as to whether the State Department had enough funding and personnel to fully engage with African countries, as well as how proper resourcing factors into Washington’s ability to position itself as the preferred partner on the continent.
“When I speak to insufficient resources, it’s both on the programmatic side in terms of foreign aid systems and the ways we can use that and also on the operational side, where we’re digging out of a hole that we’ve experienced for the last five to ten years, in particular our ability to fully staff our missions overseas. That hole disproportionately impacted our embassies in Africa,” the diplomat stated.
Washington and its EU allies have been working in recent years to intensify their engagement with Africa, where they have expressed concerns about China and Russia’s growing presence. Western influence has dwindled in several African countries, particularly in the Sahel region, where military authorities have revoked a number of agreements, including those involving defense with foreign partners such as France and the US. Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic – all embroiled in long-running jihadist insurgencies – have strengthened military ties with Russia, with Moscow promising to assist them in stabilizing the region’s security situation.
China, the world’s largest investor in Africa, has been expanding its influence through infrastructure, investment, and loans, among other initiatives, despite US pushback. At the China-Africa Cooperation Summit (FOCAC) in Beijing last week, the Chinese government announced plans for $50 billion in African projects in green technologies, education, health, security, and agriculture.
In April, the US Institute of Peace (USIP) proposed a series of measures to Washington, including strategic investment in mineral supply chains, to counter Beijing’s dominance in key African markets.
During the hearing on Wednesday, John Bass referred to Russia and China as the US’ strategic rivals, who are driving African nations down paths of “death, negative growth, and exploitative security relationships.”
In July, former Nigerian presidential hopeful Adamu Garba II told RT that no responsible African would abandon Russia, China, or BRICS in favor of Western interests because Western powers lack moral authority when they try to impose their values on the continent.
