US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit Ethiopia and Niger from March 14-17 to discuss peace in northern Ethiopia and different ways to advance partnerships with the United States in Africa. 

Blinken scheduled a trip to Ethiopia on March 15 to address the execution of peace treaties and transitional justice in the country's northern Tigray region, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

The US top diplomat will also meet with Ethiopian and Tigrayan officials to discuss a cease-fire, but will not halt in Mekelle, the Tigray regional capital, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee said during a press briefing.

Blinken will also meet with African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat in Addis Ababa to discuss shared global and regional priorities, as well as follow up on promises made at the US-Africa Leaders Summit on food security, climate, and global health, according to Price.

Read next: US-Africa Summit attempt to assert competition against China: Experts

He aims to emphasize the United States' support for African permanent participation in multilateral organizations, according to Price.

Price said that Blinkien will arrive in Niger on March 16, marking the first visit to the country by a US Secretary of State, and will meet with Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum and Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou in the capital city, Niamey.

He said he would discuss methods to advance the US-Niger partnership in diplomacy, democracy, development, and defense. Blinken will also engage youths from Niger's conflict zones, as well as expand US-Africa Leaders Summit cooperation on global and regional peace and security problems.

Blinken stated in December that several US officials, including President Joe Biden, would tour Africa in 2023. Blinken stressed the importance of following through on promises made during the US-Africa Leaders Summit.

US vs. China in Africa

Chinese influence continues to grow across the Middle East, making it "unavoidable", according to a new analysis featured in ModernDiplomacy (MD), an international magazine that characterizes itself as a "leading European opinion-maker."

As part of the argument that China became highly influential across Asia and Africa, the MD piece set the premise that China played a role in Middle East affairs, as shown in the most recent and successful Iran-Saudi agreement, as well as the approach to show interest in mediating the "Palestinian-Israeli conflict" seeking a two-state solution. 

Earlier last year, Ovigwe Eguegu, a Nigerian policy advisor at consultancy Development Reimagined, observed that the US would "continue to increase its pressure campaign on China and try to recruit African countries to partake in Western-sponsored UN resolutions and proposals also in the United Nations, the Human Rights Commission, to try to use the UN system to exert pressure on China. And that is likely to increase both. There's a concern that African countries are not going to play along,"