Niger republic is hosting the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken who arrived in Niamey Thursday on a 2-day working visit.

Blinken’s trip to Niger is the first such visit by a top-ranking official of the Joe Biden administration to the country.

The secretary was upon arrival, received by the Nigerien minister of state for foreign affairs Hassoumi Massaoudou.

According to him, the U.S. is donating 150 million in new humanitarian assistance for the Sahel region to provide life-saving support to refugees and others impacted by conflict and food insecurity in Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Mauritania.

Sankulleh Janko completes the story.