United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the U.S. would provide an additional $45m to West African nations as part of a plan to battle instability, bringing total funding under the year-old programme to nearly $300m.
In a four-nation tour of African democracies, Blinken met separately Tuesday with President Bola Tinubu and Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.
The trip was to discuss US-African partnerships over trade, climate, infrastructure, health, security and other issues. It follows a summit in Washington with African leaders in December 2022.
Blinken sought progress combating coups and extremism in West Africa in talks with two key leaders, as he pointed to Ivory Coast as a model.
Blinken promised to boost cooperation on the ground with Ivory Coast, largely through training of its security forces.
