Vice President Kamala Harris made her triumphant arrival in Ghana on Sunday as she begins a weeklong stay in Africa in an effort to help deepen the “enduring” ties to the United States.
She and the second gentleman Dough Emhoff emerged from Air Force Two to the warmest of welcomes in the capital city of Accra, where officials literally rolled out the red carpet for the U.S. delegation as drummers performed alongside members of the Ghana Dance Ensemble.
Harris has a busy schedule while she’s in Ghana, including a meeting with its President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday, followed by a press conference, according to the Associated Press.
On Tuesday, Harris is scheduled to deliver a high-profile public address at Black Star Square, a historic location in Accra that is typically where events like military parades take place. Later the same day, Harris is expected to visit Cape Coast Castle, the place in Ghana where shackled Africans were held in squalid dungeons before being shipped off into slavery in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Before Harris got down to official business, she gave a gracious thanks to Ghana for the welcome and expressed how much of a priority she said Africa is to the U.S.
“What an honor it is to be here in Ghana and on the continent of Africa,” Harris said. “I’m very excited about the future of Africa.”
Harris added: “We are looking forward to this trip as a further statement of the long and enduring very important relationship and friendship between the people of the United States and those who live on this continent.”
Some of the issues Harris is expected to discuss with Ghanaian officials include economic growth, food security and innovation, all of which she said she wanted to “witness firsthand” while she is there.
The trip is very much political in nature and comes at a time when China is making gains in Africa, something which the U.S. hopes to “counter,” the Associated Press reported.
Harris and Emhoff will also be traveling to Zambia and Tanzania following their stay in Ghana. They depart for Tanzania on Wednesday, when they’re scheduled to “meet with women entrepreneurs and Emhoff will tour a chocolate company that was founded by two sisters,” the Associated Press reported. “The name of the company, ’57 Chocolate, is a reference to when Ghana became independent.”
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They return to Washington next Sunday.
Until then, keep reading to find some great photos of Harris’ arrival in Ghana. And be sure to check back as we’ll be updating this with additional images and videos throughout her stay in the Motherland.
