US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is set to visit Ethiopia in a bid to renew bilateral relations with Ethiopia and discuss the implementation of a peace deal ending the conflict in the northern part of the East African nation.
Secretary Blinken will travel to Ethiopia next week as part of his mini tour to Africa which also involves a visit to Niger.
“This visit will be part of our ongoing and dynamic engagement with the Ethiopians to help consolidate that peace,” US Assistant Secretary for Africa Molly Phee told reporters via teleconference on Saturday.
The two year conflict ended following the cessation of hostilities agreement signed between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in Pretoria.
State Secretary Blinken plans to meet the federal government officials including Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and the Tigray region.
“I do not expect a stop in Mekelle, though,” Assistant Secretary Phee said.
The visit could be a positive sign for the country, which was hit by US sanctions including a ban on Ethiopian products from duty-free access to the US market under Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA.) over the conflict, weakening the ties between the once close allies.
Following the peace deal, the two countries held several high level discussions on various occasions including during the recent Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s visit to Washington for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.
Still, Assistant Secretary Phee says she is “not sure to use the phrase back to normal” to describe the current status of the Ethiopia-US relations but said Washington’s objective is to take the ties back to where they were previously.
“What we’re looking to do is refashion our engagement with Ethiopia. You know historically we’ve had a strong partnership with Ethiopia,” Phee said, responding to a question if the AGOA sanctions or other trade deals are on the discussion table during Blinken’s visit.
MG/APA