WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 23: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivers remarks at the opening plenary of the 19th International AIDS Conference July 23, 2012 in Washington, DC. The International AIDS Conference, the world's largest one, is held in the U.S. for the first time since 1990. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement that Clinton will use the speech in Dakar to laud Senegal’s democracy and “highlight America’s approach to partnership” across Africa.

Other officials said she would call on Africa’s elites and people to recognize that their best chances for achieving good governance and better living standards lie with cooperation with responsible partners, like the U.S.

From Senegal, Clinton will traverse the continent to visit South Sudan, Uganda and Kenya.

In South Sudan, she will congratulate leaders on the anniversary of the creation of their country after it split with Sudan. But she also will stress the need for the nascent state to make “progress in negotiations with Sudan to reach agreement on issues related to security, oil and citizenship.”

Worsening relations between Juba and Khartoum have threatened to re-ignite what had been Africa’s longest-running civil war when it ended with a historic peace treaty in 2005. Clinton will be visiting as the United Nations debates possible new measures to ease unresolved tensions that have risen steadily since South Sudan became independent.

In Uganda, where the U.S. recently has deployed a small number of special forces troops to help African militaries combat the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army of Joseph Kony, Clinton will return to the security theme.