Renson Mwakandana
The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was hosted by Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister on Wednesday, March 15. The senior American ambassador will first meet with Tigrayan representatives and federal officials in Addis Ababa before traveling to two African nations.
He will talk about both humanitarian assistance and the execution of the peace agreement that put an end to the fighting in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray province.
The United States suspended certain preferential trade deals with Ethiopia because to the crisis, thus that subject may potentially be on the agenda.
“It’s very, very good to be back in Africa, especially to be in Ethiopia at I think a very important moment, a moment of hope given the peace in the north that is taking hold and that continues to move forward,” Blinken stated at the beginning of the conference.
Blinken will also meet humanitarian partners and civil society actors to address humanitarian aid delivery, food security, and human rights according to a news release from the U.S. department of state. He will meet with the head of the African Union Commission when he is there as well.
On March 16, Secretary Blinken will meet with President Mohamed Bazoum and Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou in Niamey during the first-ever visit to Niger by a U.S. Secretary of State.
