allAfrica.com
By Reed Kramer
Donald Yamamoto, who has extensive diplomatic experience in Africa including two tours as a U.S. ambassador, will take office as Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Africa on 5 September.
He is the second career official tapped for a senior policy position on Africa in the Trump administration.
News of Yamamoto’s appointment – first reported by @allAfrica on Twitter – was welcomed by Africa policy watchers.
“Having someone with Don Yamamoto’s experience in that post is very important,” Mel Foote, Constituency for Africa president, told AllAfrica. “As Africa confronts many challenges, we want to see responsible U.S. engagement in partnership with African governments and civil society organizations.”
Earlier this month, senior CIA analyst Cyril Sartor was named senior director for Africa at the National Security Council – after two previous attempts to fill the post failed.
@reedkramer Senior diplomat & ex U.S. ambassador to #Ethiopia Don Yamamoto to be acting Assistant Secretary for #Africa @StateDept
“With no dyed-in-the-wool Trumpian Africa hands available, the administration appears ready to cede Africa policy making to career civil servants and a few mainstream Republican appointees,” Matthew Page wrote earlier this month. “U.S.-Africa policy has been adrift,” said Page, formerly the State Department’s top Nigeria analyst and author of a forthcoming explanatory book on Nigeria by Oxford University Press.
Yamamoto has a one-year assignment. Naming him as acting Assistant Secretary gives the administration more time to decide who to formally nominate for the position – which requires Senate confirmation – while putting the Africa bureau in knowledgeable hands. He holds the rank of Career Minister. Among his honors is the Presidential Distinguished Service Award.
“Don Yamamoto has broad knowledge and experience, both in the field and in Washington,” says Ambassador Johnnie Carson, who served as assistant secretary for Africa during President Obama’s first term. “He will be able to provide the leadership needed to address the range of issues that the Bureau has to address.”
