In Accra, Ghana on Monday, she will announce a $139 million aid package for the West African country for 2024 as she meets President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Kamala Harris, the US Vice President, has kicked off her week-long trip to some countries in Africa as the country seeks to improve its relationship with the continent.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that Harris shunned Nigeria when she announced the countries she would be visiting during her trip to Africa.
In Accra, Ghana on Monday, she will announce a $139 million aid package for the West African country for 2024 as she meets President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Reuters reports that the US Vice President’s trip to Ghana and other African countries including Tanzania and Zambia is part of Washington's drive to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence on the African continent.
China has invested heavily in Africa in the last two decades, particularly in infrastructure, mining, timber and fishing, while Russian private military contractor Wagner Group is providing security assistance in some countries.
It was reported that earlier this month, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, visited Ethiopia and Niger Republic, where he announced $150 million in humanitarian aid for Africa's Sahel region.
The Reuters report added that Harris will announce a $100 million package to support conflict prevention and stabilisation efforts in Benin Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo.
“The plan is intended to address regional threats of violent extremism and instability in Coastal West Africa," the vice president's office said in a statement.
Harris’s office stated that Washington will also deploy an adviser to Ghana from its Office of Technical Assistance to help the country improve its "debt sustainability and support a competitive, dynamic government debt market."
Ghana defaulted on most of its $29 billion external debt in 2022 as interest payments and inflation soared, and it still needs to negotiate a resolution with its private international bondholders and bilateral creditors.