By The FirstFirst Lady Jill Biden touched-down in Africa this week for a five-day tour of Namibia and Kenya, her sixth international visit without President Joe Biden.
“This whole trip will be exciting, and we have a lot to accomplish,” Biden said to reporters moments before leaving the White House.
“On a broad policy level, it’s been a long-standing issue that the West’s influence on the African continent has been eroding as China has been increasing their engagement there,” explained Matt Carotenuto, a professor of African history at St. Lawrence University, as reported by the Washington Post. “If you look at Kenya, they’ve gotten huge loans from China to fund infrastructure over the last 15 to 20 years. Kenya’s been a great strategic ally and supporter of the U.S., but this is an area where the administration does need to double down if they want to maintain that influence as money has flowed from other areas.”
