US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy in Europe and West Africa

It took the Trump administration an unusually long time to appoint an Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. When the nominee was ultimate chosen, it was Tibor Nagy, a retired Foreign Service officer who had served as ambassador to Guinea and Ethiopia. His swearing-in took place in September (see his remarks from that ceremony here).

Nagy is now on his first trip overseas (I think) since taking his post. Lasting from 29 October to 10 November, the trip will take him to the United Kingdom, France, Togo (November 1), Guinea (November 2-4), Mali (November 4-7), and Nigeria (November 7-10). From the official statement, let’s just excerpt the part about Mali and Nigeria:

In Bamako, Mali on November 4-7, Assistant Secretary Nagy will hold meetings with Malian government officials, host a trade and entrepreneurship roundtable, and meet with YALI alumni.

The final stop on the trip will be Abuja, Nigeria. Assistant Secretary Nagy will have meetings with government officials, members of the American business community, religious leaders, civil society organizations, youth groups, and he will deliver a speech at Baze University on U.S.-Africa relations.

I was not previously familiar with Baze University, which is located in Abuja. Its website is here.

Nagy laid out more of his agenda in a blog post. After describing his past experiences in/with Africa, he wrote:

On this trip, I have set out four themes as part of my engagement. The first is to promote stronger trade and commercial ties between the United States and Africa by creating a level playing field across African markets for all companies, regardless of where they come from.

This means placing an emphasis on rule of law, transparency, recourse for investors, and fighting corruption.

My second priority is harnessing the potential of Africa’s youth as a force for economic ingenuity and prosperity.

[…a section on demographics follows…]

My third goal is to advance peace and security through partnerships with African governments and regional mechanisms. The transnational challenges of terrorism and extremism in the Sahel, Northern Nigeria, Somalia, and now in Central Africa, and the rise of Boko Harem [don’t blame me – AT], Al Qaeda in the Magreb, ISIS West Africa, and Al Shabaab, require new, determined regional approaches to counteract these groups. This includes better-trained and paid African security and law enforcement.

I look forward to engaging productively with the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, and what I hope will be an inclusive and re-energized Intergovernmental Authority for Government.

Finally, I want to set the record straight – the United States has an unwavering commitment to the continent and its people. From the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief to Power Africa, to the African Growth and Opportunity Act, Feed the Future, the Young African Leaders Initiative, and numerous other development and exchange programs, the United States has stood side-by-side with African nations since de-colonization to improve livelihoods, increase life expectancy, open our markets to African exports, promote democracy and human rights, and elevate Africa’s place in the world.

 

Read more on Sahel Blog

WHO WAS BEHIND AFRICA’S FIRST COUP?

Why You Should Care: Because French meddling in African affairs has left a lasting, debilitating legacy.

“The night may be long but the day comes. And that big day, so much desired, now has arrived …”

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Sylvanus Olympio, the first president of the independent Republic of Togo, was a gifted orator. This was clearly on display when he led the Togolese in the celebration of their independence in April 1960. He gave a fiery speech with ringing phrases like “masters of our destiny.”

Some people did not like his rhetoric, or him, at all. And 33 months later, they struck.

OLYMPIO WAS NEVER OUR FRIEND. JACQUES FOCCART, FORMER ADVISER ON AFRICAN POLICY TO THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT

The Atlantic Ocean sends its waves crashing onto the beach of the Togolese capital, Lomé, just as it did on the night of Jan. 13, 1963, when President Olympio was either sleeping or working on a speech he was going to deliver to his counterpart in Liberia, William Tubman. His house was separated from the beach only by a single road.

Versions of this story differ on details. But the main lines are clear.

Olympio, either sleeping or working, is disturbed, shortly after midnight, by a noise outside his gate. There is a heated discussion between his guards and up to 10 armed men in combat fatigues. The guards are quickly overwhelmed and Olympio, sensing danger, instructs his wife and other family members to hide. He leaves the house, climbs a wall and lands on the other side, which happens to be the garden and parking lot of the U.S. embassy. He hides in a car.

Meanwhile, the armed men — rebel soldiers, as it turns out — enter the house, find Dina Olympio and ask where her husband is. She doesn’t know. Elsewhere in the city, the coup is well underway: Almost the entire cabinet of ministers is under arrest, and the military camp of Tokoin has been in rebel soldiers’ hands for hours. But where is Olympio?

Still in that car.

The soldiers conclude that the president cannot be far away. Four of them scale the wall and head straight for the car where Olympio is hiding. They pull him out and, as day breaks, demand that he exit the grounds of the American embassy. He refuses, and an irritated officer shoots him three times. The first president of Togo was shot dead at around 7 in the morning. The rebel soldiers eventually put his brother-in-law, Nicolas Grunitzky, in the empty chair.

Who shot Olympio? A sergeant by the name of Étienne Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who was part of the predawn search party. There are other versions of the president’s death, but the identity of the assassin is widely accepted, especially since he admitted he had committed the crime to French and American reporters. The more controversial question: Who guided the rebel soldiers to that car?

And this is where things get murky.

Read more on OZY

Photo: of Togo, Sylvanus Olympio, poses at New York International Airport. SOURCE EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS/GETTY