Kamala Harris, the United States’ (US) first female Vice-President, departed Washington on Saturday evening and is expected to arrive in Ghana Sunday afternoon, March, 26, for a three-day working visit.
In a statement, Harris’ Press Secretary, Kirsten Allen, said the Vice-President’s trip will “strengthen the United States’ partnerships throughout Africa and advance our shared effort on security and economic prosperity”.
Her visit is in line with the Biden Administration’s outreach to African countries.
Previewing the Vice-President’s agenda on a call with reporters on Thursday evening, Senior Administration Officials said Kamala’s first engagements would take place on Monday, beginning with a bilateral meeting with Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
This will be followed by a visit to a local recording studio in Accra, Ghana’s capital city.
On Tuesday, March 28, she is set to deliver a “major speech to an audience of young people”, tour Cape Coast Castle and “speak about the brutality of slavery and the African Diaspora”, from that location as well.
Also in Accra on Wednesday, Harris will meet with women entrepreneurs and discuss the economic empowerment of women, according to her itinerary.
During that meeting, the Senior Administration Officials said Harris is expected to announce a “series of continent-wide, public and private sector investments to help close the digital gender divide and to empower women economically more broadly”.
The US State Department said in her discussions with leaders, students and business owners, Harris intended to talk about issues related to democracy, technology, economic growth, food security, and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
A statement issued by the US Embassy in Ghana, a copy made available to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said the US Vice-President would leave the country and travel to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Wednesday afternoon and on Thursday, start the day meeting with President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
On Friday, March 31, Harris would depart Tanzania for Lusaka, Zambia, where she would meet with President Hakainde Hichilema.
She would arrive back in Washington on April 2.
The Vice-President’s trip is the latest show of support from the Administration amid President Joe Biden’s push to engage closer with the African continent.
At the U.S.-Africa summit in Washington last year, Biden said the United States was “all in on Africa and all in with Africa”, adding that the continent “belongs at the table in every room” where global challenges were being discussed.
Biden announced then that he was “eager” to visit the continent himself.