He arrived in South Africa in part to unveil a new U.S. strategy for sub-Saharan Africa, which is in the midst of a population growth surge that could propel African societies to economic and political heights. "By 2050, 1 in 4 people on this planet will be African," he said. "So this is the future, quite literally. And what we’re investing in is that future."
Blinken touted that investment while attempting to surmount the impediments left by the history of Western imperialism in Africa, a legacy that China and Russia routinely invoke while advancing their strategic interests in the region. South Africa's foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, acknowledged that Blinken "confirmed that America is not asking us to choose" sides in a new geopolitical struggle, but she didn’t hide her displeasure for a House-passed bill that would require the State Department to assess and "to hold accountable the Russian Federation and African governments and their officials who are complicit in aiding such malign influence and activities," as the legislation put it.
"In terms of our interaction with some of our partners in Europe and elsewhere, there has been a sense of patronizing bullying toward ’you choose this or else,’ and the recent legislation passed in the United States of America by the House of Representatives we found a most unfortunate bill that we had hoped the media would say more about," Pandor said. "Because when we believe in freedom — as I’m saying, it’s freedom for everybody — you can’t say because Africa is doing this, you will then be punished by the United States."