In a renewed effort to battle insecurity and terrorism, five West African countries will get $100 million aid from United States (U.S.), Vice President Kamala Harris announced yesterday in Ghana

Harris is on a weeklong three-nation African tour, which kicked off in Ghana.

The is to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence on the continent.

“President [Joe] Biden and I have made clear the United States is strengthening our partnerships across the continent of Africa,” Harris said during a joint news conference with Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo.

China has invested heavily in Africa in the past two decades, particularly in infrastructure, mining, timber and fishing while Russia’s private military contractor Wagner Group is providing security assistance in several countries.

Akufo-Addo, who alleged in December that its embattled neighbour Burkina Faso had hired the mercenaries, reiterated that he was concerned about Wagner’s presence in West Africa.

“It raises the very real possibility … that once again our continent is going to become the playground for great power conflict,” he said.

Several countries across West Africa and the Sahel region have been struggling to quell violence by armed groups that have caused humanitarian disasters and fuelled discontent, which contributed to military coups in Mali and Burkina Faso.“We appreciate your leadership in response to recent democratic back-sliding in West Africa,” Harris told Akufo-Addo.