US Vice President Kamala Harris was greeted by school children, dancers and drummers as she arrived in Ghana on Sunday for the start of a week-long visit to Africa aimed at deepening relations with the United States amid global competition for the future of the continent.
“We looked forward to this trip as yet another statement of the long and lasting relationship and very important friendship between the people of the United States and those who live on this continent,” Harris said.
The children cheered and waved Ghanaian and American flags as she stepped off her plane after an overnight flight. The vice president smiled broadly and placed a hand over her heart as she passed the dancers.
“What an honor it is to be here in Ghana and on the African continent,” Harris said. “I am very excited about the future of Africa.” She said that she wanted to promote economic growth and food security and welcomed the opportunity to “witness first-hand the extraordinary innovation and creativity that is happening on this continent.”
Ghana is one of the continent’s most stable democracies, but Harris comes at a time of grave challenges for the West African nation. His economy, one of the fastest growing in the world before the COVID-19 pandemic, faces a debt crisis and runaway inflation that is driving up the cost of food and other necessities.
Ghana, with a population of 34 million, is also wary of threats of instability in the region. Burkina Faso and Mali have each suffered two coups in recent years, and local branches of extremist groups al Qaeda and Islamic State operate in the area known as the Sahel, which lies in northern Ghana. Thousands of people have been killed and millions more displaced.
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