Africa Visit: Tillerson To Focus On Population, Institutions, Human Rights – U.S

Ahead of the visit of the United States Secretary of State, Mr. Rex Tillerson’s visit to Nigeria, Chad, Djibouti Ethiopia and Kenya, the Acting Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Don Yamamoto, has listed areas of focus during the visit.

In a telephonic conference with journalists on the continent from Washington, Yamamoto, said the visit will focus on Africa’s demographic growth, issues of economic growth like unemployment and how the continent could be helped in its democratic journey.

“You know, the Secretary is an engineer, so he has a very scientific approach, and I’m a biochemist by background, so I think we kind of mesh together very well and we ask a lot of good questions about what is Africa going to look like in the year 2100 and beyond? If Africa is going to have a population of about 40% of the world’s population, over 30% of the world’s labor force, but more important is that it’s going to be really hugely youthful. Over 70%, probably, under the age of 25.

“But more important is the potential for high rates of unemployment if we don’t position ourselves now to look at how we can develop Africa and be a part of that development and really the opportunity. You know, we call Africa the “final frontier” for freedom and opportunity, and really that is the answer. If you look at Africa today, you see so many other countries in the Congo and other places, looking at the rare earth minerals and metals.”

According to Yamamoto, the U.S. looks is more interested in how it can we help African states and countries benefit from their own resources? “How can the African states and populations continue to grow and develop? And really that’s our main focal point.”

Another area of interest is how the U.S. assist African countries play a really predominant role in growth, as well as building institutions, stressing that there cannot be real “robust economic development and addressing the ingenuity, the creativity of the people of Africa, unless we have strong institutions, governance, strong economic institutions that will really ignite and stimulate growth. And of course, human rights is also another important issue.”

The Secretary of State is expected to touch down in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital on Wednesday and will be meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, members of the National Assembly and civil society.