Rwanda to host top US diplomat

Acting Assistant Secretary Yamamoto to meet Kagame

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Donald Yamamoto will spend two days on an official visit to Kigali between Dec.13 and 14.

It will be the conclusion of a two-week trip to four African countries and the UK in which he will hold bilateral talks with leaders, discuss regional security, food, and refugee issues according to a statement released by the U.S. Department of State. His itinerary included visits to Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and the UK.

Ambassador Yamamoto’s comes just weeks after the U.S. hosted over 37 African foreign ministers in Washington D.C in what is being billed as the largest African foreign policy event to date under President Donald Trump.

The event held on Nov. 16 and 17 included discussions on trade and investment, counterterrorism, and good governance.

Ahead of that event, Yamamoto told VOA’s Africa 54 program that the goal of the U.S. is to craft policy that goes beyond aid to build mutually beneficial partnerships.

“If you look at the United States and our approach to not just Africa, but in the other regions of the world, it’s a much more multidimensional, very complex approach,” Yamamoto said. “It is not just only humanitarian assistance, but also developing capacity infrastructure, and also we’re looking at capacity building. In other words, we’re looking at how we can have sustainable economic growth.”

In Rwanda, Yamamoto looks set to pursue the same agenda.  According to the State Department statement, he will be courting President Kagame ahead of his term as President of the African Union.

According to the VOA, Africa has unexpectedly come to the forefront of the Trump administration’s foreign policy following the killing in October of four Green Berets in a remote village in Niger, West Africa.

Following the attack, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said, “The war is headed to Africa. It’s beginning to morph. As we suppress the enemy in the Mideast, they are going to move.”

In the near term, the U.S. now plans to continue playing a lead role in training African partner nations. U.S. It aims to work with local forces to upgrade security and facilitate coordination across nations to guard against Boko Haram, Islamic State, drug trafficking and other threats, according to Yamamoto.

In the long term, however, security will come from economic growth and prosperity, Yamamoto said. To ensure this, the U.S wants to discuss strategies for reducing debt and eliminating barriers to trade within the continent.

“If we break down non-tariff trade barriers and barriers that prevent trade from happening between the countries, then what we are going to see is not only expansion of investments in trade and opportunities, but also economic growth, and that could be the spark, the basis for other trade and development,” he said.

In Somalia, Yamamoto attended the Somalia Security Pact Review in Mogadishu on Nov.04. The meeting was chaired by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo provided an opportunity for stakeholders invested in Somalia’s security and stability to discuss the development of Somali security institutions.

In Nairobi, Kenya between Dec.4 and 6, he met with representatives of the Kenyan government, as well as with Kenyan civil society. The objective was to encourage all sides in Kenya to participate in a national dialogue following a hotly disputed presidential election.

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Acting Assistant Secretary met with senior leaders of the Ethiopian government and of the African Union from Dec.7-9. In addition to continuing discussions on bilateral issues between the two countries, Yamamoto held talks with both Ethiopian government and AU officials about regional concerns, including food security, peacekeeping and refugee matters.

In London, Ambassador Yamamoto will participate in the twice yearly gathering of P3 Africa Directors meeting on Dec11 and 12 to discuss current policy issues with defense and development colleagues from France and the UK.