WASHINGTON – First lady Jill Biden will travel to Namibia and Kenya this week, part of the Biden administration’s effort to strengthen ties in sub-Saharan Africa and regain trust amid growing influence from China in the region.
Later trips by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are also in the works.
In Namibia, the first lady will focus on the role of young people in strengthening democracies, according to a senior administration official who previewed the trip on condition of anonymity. She will be the most senior U.S. official to visit the country since a brief stop by Vice President Al Gore in 1996, the official said.
In Kenya, Biden will draw attention to the food crisis caused by drought and by the disruption of food exports from the war in Ukraine.
Biden is expected to focus on women’s empowerment issues in both countries.
“This whole trip will be exciting and we have a lot to accomplish,” Biden told reporters before leaving Tuesday.
The trip, which runs Wednesday through Sunday, will be Biden’s sixth to Africa throughout her time in public service. She will be the first top official to visit sub-Saharan Africa since the start of the Biden administration.
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During a U.S.-Africa Business Forum the administration hosted in Washington in December, the president told African leaders they would be seeing a lot of top administration officials “because we’re deadly earnest and serious about this endeavor.”
He announced new investments in Africa focused on boosting trade and infrastructure and called for the African Union to be admitted as a permanent member of the Group of 20 nations that lead the world’s largest economies.
White House officials say greater African representation is needed for “international conversations” on the global economy, democracy and governance, climate, security and health.
Africa is the fastest growing and youngest region in the world.
