Greetings from freezing but undaunted Minneapolis, where The Africa Report is in the trenches this week with an African diaspora that is feeling the brunt of President Donald Trump’s immigration raids.
We’ll be collecting on-the-ground testimony from Somali-Americans and other affected communities on how they’re coping with – and resisting – the escalating showdown with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
If you’d like to share your stories, please contact me via email at j.pecquet@theafricareport.com.
Back in Washington DC, the Senate had been expected to follow the House’s lead in voting this week on a one-year renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) duty-free scheme as part of broader legislation to fund the federal government past January.
The massive winter storm that hit the region over the weekend and Democrats’ outrage over a second killing by immigration agents in Minneapolis, however, could delay those plans.
One US official who managed to escape the storm is Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.
The State Department’s Number Two is on his first official trip to Africa this week, travelling with new US Africa Command (AFRICOM) leader Dagvin Anderson to Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti between 24 January and 1 February.
The trip comes two-and-a-half weeks after Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visited Ethiopia, Tanzania and Lesotho as part of China’s traditional start-of-the-year engagement with the continent.
A former US ambassador to Mexico in the first Trump administration, Landau has emerged as a key player in African affairs, as his boss, Marco Rubio, juggles multiple assignments as secretary of state, national security adviser and Trump’s point man on Latin America.
Starting his trip in Egypt, Landau on 25 January met with foreign minister Badr Abdelatty to discuss the commercial relationship and regional developments, including Gaza, Sudan, the Horn of Africa, and Egypt’s problems with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Regional peace and security
From Cairo, Landau is slated to travel to Addis Ababa for meetings with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as well as African Union (AU) Commission chairman Mahmoud Ali Youssouf to discuss regional peace and security issues amid the lingering war in Sudan and escalating tensions with Eritrea.
The trip comes as President Trump last week reinserted himself in the GERD dispute during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Davos.
Landau will also travel to Kenya to discuss “commercial engagement, counter-terrorism cooperation, Kenya’s contributions to security in Haiti, and broader regional issues”, according to the State Department.
The trip comes as the UN Security Council is slated to vote this week on a draft resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) prior to its expiration on 31 January.
Landau will wrap up his trip with a visit to Djibouti, where President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh is running for a sixth term in April.
With the East African nation clinging to its neutrality as it hosts US, French and Chinese troops, the Pentagon has been looking south to the port of Berbera and recognition of Somaliland as an option.
Landau’s trip caps a surge in US travel to Africa this month, with the Africa bureau’s new senior official Nick Checker flying to Guinea for the inauguration of President Mamadi Doumbouya on 17 January, and Under Secretary of State Allison Hooker visiting Nigeria this past week to “support the administration’s efforts to protect Christian communities, counter terrorism, and expand US investment opportunities”.
Stateside news
Back on Capitol Hill, the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday holds a nomination hearing for US Army Lt. Gen. Joshua Rudd to serve as director of the National Security Agency.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday will hold two nomination hearings: one for Frank Weiland, who is headed for the Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs position, while Gregory LoGerfo is set to serve as Coordinator for Counterterrorism.
The House of Representatives is out of session this week, but lawmakers remain active.
Somali-American Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is holding her first town hall on Tuesday in Minneapolis, ground zero for Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Over at the UN, this month’s Security Council president, Somalia, today convenes a high-level open debate on ‘Reaffirming international rule of law: Pathways to reinvigorating peace, justice, and multilateralism’.
The signature event of Somalia’s month-long presidency, the meeting is expected to be chaired by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, with Secretary-General António Guterres, AU Commission chairman Youssouf and former International Court of Justice (ICJ) judge Abdulqawi Yusuf of Somalia all expected to brief.
On the think tank side, barring a winter storm postponement, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies will host a fireside chat on Tuesday on ‘The Future of AGOA: Building American Prosperity Through African Partnership’.
Panelists include Senator Raphael Warnock, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Trade, Customs and Global Competitiveness, and Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade Chairman Adrian Smith.