African Union chief Moussa Faki was snubbed by the US during a recent visit to the capital, Washington DC, the Foreign Policy (FP) magazine reports.
Mr Faki had been invited to the city Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on the week of 17 April but Mr Tillerson’s office did not confirm the meeting and only got in touch as Mr Faki was departing to New York.
The State Department offered a meeting with a lower-level official, but Mr Faki cancelled his Washington visit entirely, FP reports.
Reuben Brigety, a former US ambassador to the AU interviwed for the piece said either the Trump administration was making “rookie mistakes” or they did not see a relationship with Africa as a priority:
This is ridiculous, particularly at a time when Africans are increasingly becoming more and more aware of their choices in partners around the world.” He added that it was not the first time the administration has spurned African officials.
In March, Rwandan President Paul Kagame visited Washington and no one at either the White House or State Department would meet with him, the report says.
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