US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank Garcia is on his second official trip to the continent since taking the job in June.
It is the latest bid to underscore the Trump administration’s commercial diplomacy push with African policymakers. Garcia will visit Zambia, Ethiopia, and Kenya from Aug. 30 to Sept. 10, just weeks after his inaugural tour of Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Mali.
Garcia is expected to attend President Hakainde Hichilema’s Sept. 1 inauguration in Lusaka before heading to Ethiopia and wrapping up in Nairobi, likely at the US-East Africa trade forum.
The trip offers an early test of whether Washington can turn its “trade over aid” rhetoric into real deals. Zambia is particularly sensitive amid tensions over US health assistance and mining, while Kenya is pursuing deeper US trade and investment. The bigger challenge will be the capacity to deliver results with a US diplomatic apparatus weakened by staffing cuts and vacancies.