Frank W. Garcia Jr., a veteran Republican Congressional aide with limited Africa experience, has been nominated by President Trump to lead the Africa Bureau at the State Department.
Since Trump's Inauguration a little over a year ago, three successive officials have been in charge of the Bureau, which manages U.S. relations with 49 sub-Saharan countries. The latest is Nick Checkers, a former CIA analyst who took over as Senior Bureau Official on January 6.
READ: Former CIA Analyst Now Top U.S. Africa Official at State
The announcement comes as Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wraps up a four-nation Africa tour to "promote President Trump's priorities of rebalancing trade, ensuring a positive business environment, and promoting security and peace," the State Department said. Landau, whose first stop was Egypt and also included stops in Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti, is the highest level official to visit sub Sahara Africa in Trump's second term.
Garcia, whose nomination to be Assistant Secretary for Africa was submitted to the Senate by the White House on Thursday, is currently senior advisor to House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) chair Rep. Rick Crawford (Arkansas). Previously he served for four years as staff director for the Intelligence subcommittee that oversees Defense Intelligence. During an earlier stint as professional staff for the Intelligence Committee from 2006 to 2014, his responsibilities included oversight of technical intelligence collection.
Most previous Africa Assistant Secretaries have been career diplomats, but Trump and his administration are making policy differently, relying far less on professionals and communicating decisions through social media posts. The Africa Bureau is currently one of four regions at the State Department headed by an unconfirmed Senior Bureau Official.
From 2016 to 2021, Garcia was president of Via Stelle LLC, a technology consulting firm specializing in the U.S. Government (Defense and Intelligence) market, according to Garcia's LinkedIn profile. He has degrees from the Naval Postgraduate School, the National War College, the University of Rhode Island and the University of South Carolina and spent two years at the National Reconnaissance Office as a Captain in the U.S. Navy.
'To put it bluntly, Africa is a peripheral – rather than a core – theater for US interests.' - Nick Checker
Shortly after moving into the top job at the Africa Bureau last month, Checker circulated a memo calling on U.S. diplomats to "unabashedly and aggressively" herald "the American people's generosity in containing HIV/Aids or alleviating famine," according to the Guardian, which obtained a copy of the internal email. "It's not gauche to remind these countries of the American people's generosity in containing HIV/Aids or alleviating famine," the email reportedly said. "Rather, it's essential to counter the false narrative that the United States isn't in many cases the largest donor and to ensure that we can more effectively leverage that assistance to advance our interests."
"To put it bluntly, Africa is a peripheral – rather than a core – theater for US interests that demands strategic economy," it says. "Framing Africa as 'strategic' has often historically served bureaucratic and moral imperatives, not hard interests," Checker is quoted as writing.
In recent weeks, Checker has focused on resetting U.S. ties with Sahelian states where recent coups have fractured bilateral relations. On January 18, Checkers represented the United States at the inauguration ceremony of former coup leader and newly elected Guinean President Mamadi Doumbouya in Conakry, for "productive sidelines with key government ministers, regional partners, and private sector leaders focused on strengthening U.S. commercial ties and advancing deals across the region that support American jobs and growth."
On Friday, the State Department announced that Checker is traveling to Bamako in west Africa "to convey the United States' respect for Mali's sovereignty and desire to chart a new course in the bilateral relationship and move past policy missteps."
During the same period, Massad Boulus, the U.S. Senior Advisor for Arab and Africa – who does have ties with and knowledge of the region – has been on whirl-wind travels across northern Africa. A week ago he traveled to Tripoli to address the Libya Energy and Economic Summit and meet with Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dabaiba and then to Benghazi for talks with the leaders of the rival faction that holds power in the east of the country. "The United States is committed to working with Libyan leaders and the private sector to support growth, attract investment, and deliver tangible benefits for both the Libyan and American people," Boulos said in a post on X.
He also visited Algiers, where he discussed "deepening our robust commercial and defense ties" with Algeria, and Tunis for "constructive discussion on regional security issues, immigration, and opportunities for investment" with Tunisia.
For most of the past year, Boulos has served as point man for the administration's most visible diplomatic initiatives, most notably the efforts to end the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, that included a signing session in Washington in December hosted by President Trump with DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda's Paul Kagame – a peace accord that has not yet brought an end to the fighting. He has also been the U.S. lead for the 'Quads' initiative on Sudan involving Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE that has failed to bring about the cease-fire proposed in the joint statement issued in September as the war reaches 'catastrophic levels".
Tshisekedi is returning to Washington this week to attend the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday. Along with his mining minister, Louis Watum Kabamba, the Congolese president is scheduled to attend the first Critical Minerals Ministerial convened by Secretary of State Marco Rubio with participation by a coalition of mineral-rich and industrial nations. Senior officials from Guinea and Kenya are also slated to take part in the meeting, which the State Department said is aimed at "strengthening critical mineral supply chains with our international partners."
While in Washington this week, Tshisekedi will face pressure to move forward with the stalled peace process - but the focus will be on U.S. access to critical minerals.
While in the U.S. capital, Tshisekedi and his high level delegation are expected to face pressure to move forward with the stalled peace process. Opening a hearing on the DRC-Rwanda Accords convened last week by the House Africa Subcommittee, Chairman Chris Smith (Republican – New Jersey) called for stepped up pressure on Rwanda "to demobilize" combatants in eastern Congo and said the DRC government must disarm and relocate those actors who are posing a threat to Rwanda and to the peace accords both sides agreed to implement.
For Garcia, confirmation as Assistant Secretary by the Senate may take several months. The usually lengthy process begins with a review and a hearing by the Foreign Relations Committee followed by a vote in the Committee and on the Senate floor, where a majority of Senators present and voting must assent.
