US investing in Africa without imposing unsustainable debt: Antony Blinken
- The US secretary of state witnessed the signing of contracts worth more than US$1 billion in Senegal’s capital Dakar
- The deals between four US companies and Senegal are being billed as part of a US pitch to help Africa build infrastructure with sustainable deals
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday his country was investing in Africa without imposing unsustainable levels of debt, as he witnessed the signing of contracts worth more than US$1 billion in Senegal’s capital Dakar.
The deals between four US companies and Senegal are being billed as part of his country’s pitch to help Africa build infrastructure with transparent and sustainable deals.
Careful not to directly criticise Chinese infrastructure projects, which have proliferated in the past decade, Blinken said during a visit to Nigeria on Friday that international deals were too often opaque and coercive.
The US is investing “without saddling the country with a debt that it cannot handle,” he said during the signing ceremony with Senegal’s Economy Minister Amadou Hott.
He said he had a deep concern for the stability of neighbouring Mali, which has experienced two coups in the last 18 months, and that the upcoming election there must follow a timetable drawn up by the regional bloc ECOWAS.