Victoria Nuland meets with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia as Don Graves travels to Côte d'Ivoire

Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa covering President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. government, UN, IMF, World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington and New York.

United States Under Secretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland on Monday met with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud “to offer U.S. support for his security, reconciliation, and reform agenda.”

Meeting in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, Nuland also expressed continued U.S. support for Somali and African Union-led counterterrorism efforts.

“As Somalia faces devastating drought and food insecurity conditions, Under Secretary Nuland held a round table with Special Envoy for Drought Response Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame and UN agencies in Somalia including the Food and Agriculture Organization, UNICEF, and World Food Program,” the State Department said in a statement. “The Under Secretary noted current U.S. government plans to provide urgently needed food, famine prevention, and other humanitarian assistance for Somalia as part of nearly $105 million in new humanitarian aid for the Horn of Africa.”

Meanwhile, United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves will be in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), and Accra, Ghana, from June 12-16, 2022, “to meet with African government officials and private sector leaders and advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s priorities of values-driven, high standard, transparent and catalytic infrastructure initiatives through clean and green growth. Deputy Secretary Graves will also reaffirm the Department of Commerce’s strong relationship with Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and partners across the continent,” the Department said in a statement.

It added, “The Deputy Secretary will speak at the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on June 13 regarding mutually beneficial economic partnerships and joint initiatives that will strengthen commercial engagement between the U.S. and Africa. He will meet with both the President and the Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire and discuss opportunities for U.S. companies to support the goals of Côte d’Ivoire’s National Development Plan. He will also meet with leadership from the African Development Bank and both U.S. and African business leaders to identify projects in Côte d’Ivoire and throughout Africa that have the greatest potential to attract U.S. companies and investment.

“On June 15, Deputy Secretary Graves will attend a Women in Business Roundtable in Abidjan, where he will listen and engage with women business leaders about ways the U.S. Department of Commerce and American industries can support, encourage and collaborate with women leaders in West Africa.

“The Deputy Secretary will also provide keynote remarks at the U.S.-Ghana Business Forum luncheon on June 16 where he will speak about the U.S. Government’s desire to strengthen commercial engagement between both nations. He will also meet with Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia and various Ghanaian ministers to discuss key policy issues and bilateral commercial opportunities.”