US Policy in West Africa: Senegal and Ghana as Models | Politics

U.S. policy toward West African countries is based on geopolitical and economic interests. In recent years, the United States has experimented with new strategies to promote economic development and political and security reform in West Africa, seeking to strengthen its influence through the implementation of the Millennium Challenge Corporation project.

In this context, the US State Department announced the visit of US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell to Senegal and Ghana in July 2024 in order to strengthen its strategic presence in the region, which is suffering from the regional crisis after the establishment of the three countries: Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso (the Confederation of Sahel States), which in turn seeks to achieve Russian interests in West Africa.

This article provides an overview of US policy towards West African countries, particularly Senegal and Ghana, from a political, security and economic perspective.

America directs its policy towards Senegal and Ghana

In the Senegalese context, the United States has had diplomatic relations with Senegal since 1960, bilateral cooperation is strong, and Senegal is a regional partner on economic and security issues. The partnership between the two countries is based on shared ideals of democracy and economic prosperity.

On this basis, the President of the Republic of Senegal, Bassiro Dioumay Faye, received the Deputy Secretary of State of the United States of America, Kurt Campbell, at the Palace of the Republic on July 16, 2024. Their discussions focused mainly on the bilateral cooperation that Washington intends to strengthen with Dakar.

The visit aimed to underscore Senegal's commitment to democracy, discuss U.S. investment offers, finalize the $550 million Millennium Challenge Corporation energy compact, an $81 million loan for the hotel sector, and discuss information technology solutions for economic growth and environmental challenges.

The importance of the visit lies in the fact that it explains the American political orientation towards the West African region, and specifically towards Senegal, which is distinguished by its balanced foreign policy and democratic leadership in the region. The visit also gives a clear indication of the efforts of the new Senegalese leadership to preserve the diplomatic and political legacy, just as it clarifies the extent of the American leadership’s interest in growth and investment opportunities in West Africa.

On the Ghanaian side, the United States established diplomatic relations with Ghana in 1957, after Ghana gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1961. The US State Department announced a visit by the US Deputy Secretary of State to Ghana on July 16, 2024; however, the visit may have been postponed due to the lack of official coverage. Its goal was to improve the partnership between the two countries to promote democracy and security in West Africa, in addition to supporting trade and investment, and discussions on US investment in digital technology.

America's Experience in Economic Reform in West Africa

Politically, West Africa is strategic in its global geopolitical dimension; Senegal is the closest partner in this region to the United States, which has made it concerned with its political stability and democratic vitality.

Ghana is a beacon of democracy in West African politics, and the US political presence in both countries contributes significantly to calming political tensions in the region and, through diplomacy, helps it manage political dialogue between regionally conflicting countries.

The US Deputy Secretary of State met with the President of the Republic of Senegal, and discussions took place between them on encouraging cooperative relations between the two countries in order to stabilize peace in the West African region. The meeting renewed diplomatic ties sponsored by the United States of America to care for political interests and confront security challenges in the region.

On the security front, the United States has developed a 10-year plan to promote stability and prevent conflict in West Africa from 2022 to 2032, and has committed to expanding security partnerships with Senegal and Ghana by engaging with both countries to manage internal information through digital technology support. This is in light of the increasing cross-border terrorist activity in coastal areas, which in turn threatens the political representation of the United States in the region and deprives it of economic participation.

The US’s efforts in West African security affairs were strengthened once it realized the Russian threat to US and European interests in the region and the negative repercussions of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which made it determined to move quickly towards West African capitals.

On the economic and developmental level, a financing agreement was signed on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, following the visit of the US Deputy Secretary of State, between the Senegalese Ministry of Finance and Budget and the International Finance Corporation for Private Sector Development, affiliated with the US government, to build two hotels in a strategic area in (Al-Madi).

The hotel complex project represents the largest hotel investment ever in West Africa, covering an area of ​​5 hectares and costing a total of $162 million (about 100 billion CFA francs). The Millennium Challenge Corporation’s $550 million energy compact and an $81 million loan for Senegal’s hotel sector were also completed. In addition, the United States and Ghana signed two cooperation agreements in an effort to support Ghana’s nuclear energy program.

US influence to achieve political balance and confront Russia

Senegal and Ghana, in their quest for political balance with the military regimes in West Africa, face repercussions in their ability to positively influence politically and economically according to their strategic partnerships with the United States of America, which work to combat terrorism and protect common borders from security, political and economic challenges.

The US policy focuses on avoiding the failure to find a consensus charter between the regional institutions in West Africa, because this will cause a conflict of interests between the countries of the region, where equality is the prevailing state in relations, which will serve the interests of Russia, which has begun to conclude security and military agreements with the newly established Sahel Confederation. The United States of America is working on these security concerns in the region, through its frequent visits to the West African region, to put in place security steps to confront Russian influence, the most prominent of which are:

• Intensifying security follow-ups by giving priority to military and security agreements in implementation; Senegal and Ghana are considered two main models for achieving the joint mission, given the major political and economic interests that link them with the United States of America.

The visit was a catalyst for the development of security agreements between Senegal and the United States.

• Mediation in managing the political dialogue between ECOWAS and ICE to reconcile the interests of West African countries, as the United States of America recognizes the freedom of countries to choose their international partnerships; however, the Russian presence in the region remains a concern for America, as the Russian advance is based on competing with the interests of America and Europe in the region.

It is clear from the American policy to support the politically balanced and most stable countries in regional blocs such as Senegal and Ghana, for example, to maintain political and security stability in West Africa. In return, Russia markets itself as a strategic partner that can be trusted to achieve political stability and control the national security of West African countries.

This approach highlights the existence of international entities fighting for their interests in the region; upon which the United States built its strategy to determine its foreign policy with Senegal and Ghana, in order to rely on them for more influence in order to confront the movements of major countries such as Russia and China.

African leadership should not rush into taking a political position or decision that would lead to the loss of the national interest.