Kamala Harris Vows to Send Country Billions From US

By Andrea Cavallier for DailyMail.Com and WIRES

U.S. VICE PRESIDENT Kamala Harris has told China to cancel Zambia's debt as she vowed to send the country billions from the US.

The VP touched down at a $1bn airport in Lusaka on Thursday built by Beijing which serves as a reminder for the vast influence that China holds over the African state.

Harris said the government in Lusaka had put in place measures to strengthen its economy and should be supported with debt relief. She was speaking at the start of a two-day visit to Zambia on the last leg of her week-long tour of Africa.

The VP also took time to visit the site of her maternal grandfather's home in Lusaka, where he lived as an Indian public servant in the 1960s.

Zambia has been looking to restructure its debt since becoming the first African country to default during the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2020. Its debts crept higher at the end of last year, figures published by the finance ministry this week showed. China is its largest bilateral creditor.

'We are continuing to reiterate our call on official bilateral creditors to provide meaningful debt reduction to Zambia,' Harris said at a press briefing when asked what the United States was doing to push China to restructure Zambia's debt.

Africa has emerged as a focus for Washington as it aims to position itself as a partner to countries in the region amid competition with China, which has sought to expand its influence by funding infrastructure projects on the continent.

Harris said her visit to Zambia was intended to strengthen existing relations between the two countries and not to counter the Chinese presence in Africa.

'Let me be clear. Our presence here is not about China. It's about our independent understanding of intertwined histories of our nations,' said Harris, who also spoke warmly of visiting her grandfather while he was working in Zambia when she was a child.

Speaking at the same briefing, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said delays to debt restructuring were hurting the economic gains that Zambia had made.

Good relations with the United States did not preclude good relations with China and vice versa, he added.

'When I'm in Washington, I'm not against Beijing. Equally, when I'm in Bejing, I'm not against Washington,' he said.

When Harris arrived in Zambia on Friday, she touched down at an airport that´s doubled in size and features glittering new terminals.

Rather than a symbol of promising local development, it's a reminder of China´s deep influence. Beijing financed the project, one of many that has expanded its footprint on a booming continent that's rich in natural resources, often generating goodwill among its citizens.

The global rivalry between the United States and China has been a recurring backdrop for Harris' journey, and nowhere has that been more apparent than Zambia and her previous stop in Tanzania.

Besides the airport, China built a 60,000-seat stadium in Lusaka, plus roads and bridges around the country. Zambia is on the hook for all of the development with billions of dollars in debt.

Tanzania is a major trading partner with China, and it has a new political leadership school funded by the Chinese Communist Party.

The developments have alarmed Washington, and President Joe Biden´s administration is worried that Africa is slipping further into Beijing´s

13 sphere of influence.

Harris has played down the issue on her trip, preferring to focus on building partnerships independent of geopolitical competition.

However, she has acknowledged there´s limited time for the U.S. to make inroads on the continent, telling reporters earlier in the trip that there is a 'window' that is 'definitely open now' for American investments.

The VP paused Friday during the whirlwind diplomatic swing for something much more personal: A visit to the site of her maternal grandfather´s home in Lusaka.

P.V. Gopalan was working with the newly independent Zambia government six decades ago on refugee resettlement and lived at 16 Independence Ave., where Harris visited as a little girl.

The home no longer exists; rather, an office building now stands on the plot of land. The location was identified using plot numbers in public records and land surveys, according to a White House official.

Harris on Friday said it was 'very special' to go back, and she described her grandfather as 'one of my favorite people' with a lasting influence on her life.

'He believed in the nobility of public service, he

US Vice President Kamala Harris (L) and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema (R) are seen at the State House in Lusaka on March 31, 2023 during a press conference AFP via Getty Images believed in fighting corruption,' she said. 'These are things he would talk about a lot, and I don´t think until I was older I realized how that subconsciously influenced the way I think.'

Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Lusaka pored through public records, spoke with Zambian and Indian authorities, and reached out to former Zambian government officials to identify the precise location of Gopalan's home.

Harris' family members also offered memories about the home, which helped with the embassy's search, the White House official said.

The confirmation came just in time for Harris' weeklong trip to Africa; the U.S. embassy identified the location while Harris was in Ghana, the first stop of her visit to the continent, a few days ago.

The Zambian Ministry of Lands confirmed that 16 Independence Ave. was indeed Gopalan's home, through a March 9, 1967 public lands document.

As Harris toured the location, U.S. embassy official Elizabeth Norikane told the vice president that she had been searching for the precise spot for a year.

Zambia has celebrated Harris' childhood ties to the country. On the drive from the airport into the city, Harris was greeted by signs that read: 'Welcome back to Zambia.' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ article-11925681/Kamala-Harris-tells-Chinacancel-debt-Zambia-vows-send-country-billionsUS.html

IDRIS ELBA, BLACK SHERIF , Sheryl Lee

Ralph and other celebrities joined Vice President Kamala Harris in Ghana as she visited the Vibration studio at the freedom skate park in Accra, Ghana. Harris visited the community recording studio with the stars as part of her weeklong tour of Africa. The visit was a step towards highlighting the growth, talent and evolution of African creatives and the creative industry in Africa. Other notable figures who joined Harris on the tour included Baaba J, Ria Boss, and Moses Sumney.

In the past, British actor Elba, whose mother is Ghanaian, has been vocal about the West supporting and investing in African creatives. Earlier in March, he joined forces with Nigerian media mogul Mo Abudu to launch a joint film and TV venture that would support new projects from rising African talent in the continent and the diaspora.

While talking with the press, the “Luther” actor said that he and his wife first met Harris at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit last year.

“[Harris] said, ‘Hey, I really want to come to Africa. And we said we’d love to do that,’” Elba told

Idris Elba, Black Sherif and Sheryl Lee Ralph Join Kamala Harris in Ghana

By Sughnen Yongo

White House press reporters in Ghana, according to The Hill.

“If you ever go to Africa, let me know,” Elba said. “So here we are.” https://www.okayafrica.com/celebrities-joinkamala-harris-in-ghana/

The Golden Globe winner also mentioned that the creative talent pool in Africa is rich, and it was a good idea that Harris had visited.

“I think it’s a great signal for VP to come to Ghana, to come to Africa and be that interface to show the rest of the world that actually it is a fantastic place to sort of look at in terms of partnership and investment,” said Elba.

During the event, which gathered a crowd of creatives, Lee sang “Endangered Species,” after which she addressed the attendees.

“You must invest in yourself, in your art, first. And then you birth it out to the world,” Ralph said.

After her visit to Ghana, Harris will make a stop in Tanzania and then wrap up her African tour in Zambia.