The Trump administration plans to eliminate most of the state department’s operations in Africa in its planned restructuring to the State Department, the New York Timesciting an executive draft that can be signed this week and to which the publication would have had access.
The proposed order provides for the closure of embassies and consulates throughout Africa, according to the report. It would replace the Bureau of African affairs, which supervises politics in Sub Saharan Africa, with a much smaller special envoy office for African affairs, which would report to the White House National Security Council and focus on a limited number of questions, including coordinated counter -terror operations, said the Times.
Other changes include closing departments that work on topics such as democracy, human rights and refugee issues, according to the report.
The signing of the Order by President Donald Trump, whose elements can still be changed, would be accompanied by efforts to dismiss career diplomats and civil service staff, Times said, citing current and former US officials.
The State Department and the White House National Security Council did not immediately commented on the newspaper about the order early Sunday morning.
