AFCON: US secretary of state Blinken visits Ivory Coast

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Ivory Coast on Monday, the second stop on his four-nation tour of African countries.

During the visit Blinken went to the Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara D'Ebimpé in Côte d’Ivoire for a Admiral's Cup of Nations soccer game, where he was presented with a shirt bearing his surname.

Speaking at the event, Blinken complimented the Ivory Coast for "the extraordinary organisation of this tournament" and spoke of the power of sport for "building connections between people".

"it's great to be, um, a small part of this year to honour the incredible work that the Ivory Coast is doing in bringing all of these countries together, bringing all of us together. And it's another way of building bridges between the United States and Africans, the United States, the Ivory Coast, we're we're doing a lot of actual building, um, infrastructure. But this is building connections between people, sports does that as well as anything. It's a pleasure to be a part of this tonight" he expressed.

Blinken is on a tour of four African countries as the Biden administration tries to keep its eyes on all corners of the world while being consumed by crises in Ukraine, the Mideast and the Red Sea.

He arrived in Ivory Coast after visiting Cape Verde, and will also be visiting Nigeria and Angola for talks focused on regional security, conflict prevention, democracy promotion and trade.