Africa Up Close

In September, the Wilson Center’s Africa Program hosted an event and witnessed from afar another one that illustrated how intimately connected and causative these things can be. On September 20, we had the honor to host the Somali president for a public event titled, “Somalia: A Conversation with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.” This was his first major policy address in Washington, although he would proceed to New York the following week to address the Security Council at the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

Sometimes I take this space, the monthly Director’s Discourse, to look at thematic issues like regional integration or the AGOA renewal, and seldom dwell on a single country situation.   However, this month I am going to do something different and look specifically at the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).  The history is well-known to most Africa UP Close readers, so I won’t focus on that here.  I might recommend as a good reference on the context, history and current situation in the DRC, a wonderful article by Congo expert Jason Stearns.  His insightful and comprehensive piece, “Helping Congo Help Itself,” can be found in Foreign Affairs and was published August 22, 2013.

Looking Back as Our Anniversary Approaches

Africa UP Close came online in September 2012.  As I stated then, it was an attempt to not just follow news and analysis of events and trends in Africa, but to do so through an Africa “voice.” It called heavily on the Wilson Center’s Southern Voices Network, other friends and contacts from around the continent, and expatriates working on the ground in key sectors in Africa.  I wrote in my first posting back then that “This blog hopes to capture the innovation, creativity, problem solving, and experience that is inherent in the people of Africa. Whether it is thoughtful analysis of policy issues, on-the-spot reporting of current developments, sharing of fact-based, empirical research and findings on global problems, field experience and lessons learned in conflict and post-conflict settings, or just ‘slice of life’ reflections of Africa, we will try to cover it all.”

My Experience as a Foreign Service Officer in South Africa during the Apartheid Era

I knew Nelson Mandela long before I met him – not an uncommon feeling amongst those who had lived and worked in South Africa.  I arrived as a young political Foreign Service officer at the American Embassy in Pretoria in 1976.  I was assigned to cover “black political affairs,” which meant getting to know and interacting with the majority population and its leaders during the height of the racist Apartheid government’s rule.

I came to know dozens of important and influential African leaders at this time, such as Steve Biko, Mamphela Ramphele, Cyril Ramaphosa, Smangaliso Mkatchwa, Barney Pityana, Nthatho Motlana, Winnie Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Frank Chikane, Murphy Morobe, and a myriad of township and student leaders.  I visited many individuals in prison, like Percy Qoboza or Enoch Duma, or in internal exile like Ramphele, Biko, or Winnie Mandela.

As the President and First Family wing their way home today from their last stop in Africa, I have to start any post-mortem analysis with a confession.   Like many observers on the continent and here in Washington, I was a bit cynical about the Obama tour d’Afrique. I thought this trip was scheduled too late in his presidency, was structured in such a way as to avoid addressing the difficult issues facing the continent or between U.S.-Africa relations, and lacked a focus on the Africa Union (AU) and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) which a stop in Addis Ababa would have rectified.  I also knew there were groups in Africa who disagreed greatly with U.S. policy on Afghanistan, Iran, Libya and a number of other issues, and would make their concerns known.  And, as we all watched in sadness the physical deterioration of Africa’s greatest son and a world icon of leadership and reconciliation, I recommended caution and sensitivity on how the Obamas would handle that situation, which so easily could distract from the primary purposes of the trip.

On Wednesday night, June 26, President Barak Obama begins his long- anticipated trip to Africa.  While he has made two earlier visits to the continent – as a Senator in August and September 2006, when he visited five African Countries, and one-off stops in Egypt (June 2009) and Ghana (July 2009) as President – this is the first trip as President that incorporates stops in multiple countries – Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.  The significance of this trip compared with the others is that it provides a unique opportunity for the President to outline and give impetus to his Administration’s Africa policy, which is what most Africans and those of us who follow African policy are waiting for.

May has been a busy month for us at the Wilson Center, with a trip to Kenya that served to convene new and original members of our Southern Voices Network, as well as hosting a number of local events. One major conference held here in DC on May 1 was on the subject of technology and innovation as tools to elicit social change amongst women and youth populations in Africa. A report of the whole conference can be found on the Wilson Center website, as well as some related interviews of conference.

This month’s blog posts reflect this theme through the eyes of a practitioner, African scholar, and mentor.   First, you will find a piece from one of our partners in the Southern Voices Network, “Paying It Forward: How to Sustain New Generations of Female and Youth Leaders in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in Africa,” by Edith Kirumba of the African Technology Policy Studies Network.  Along with Edith’s piece include a submission by Liz Ngonzi, titled “Mentorship, Coaching, Board Service, Sponsorship…How Will You Pay it Forward TODAY?” and “Transformative Effects of Women, Youth and Technological Innovation” by Gregor Young of Management Systems International.   Our monthly “Lessons from the Field” column was provided by Vivian Lowery Derryck titled, “Mali Matters.”

However, the big news this month, of course, is the President and First Lady’s trip to Africa in June, including a trip by Secretary of State John Kerry.  In a short, precise statement issued last week, the White House announced that he and the First Lady would visit Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania from June 26 – July 3.  The stated purpose of the trip was to “reinforce the importance that the United States places on our deep and growing ties with countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including through expanding economic growth, investment, and trade; strengthening democratic institutions; and investing in the next generation of African leaders.”  It further stated the President would meet leaders from  “government, business, and civil society, including youth, to discuss our strategic partnerships on bilateral and global issues.”   There were no further specifics, just a confirmation of the United States’ desire to cooperate in advancing “regional and global peace and prosperity.”

 April’s Last Word

“Looking Back at AGOA’s History to Inform its Future”

by Steve McDonald, Director, Africa Program and the Project on Leadership and Building State Capacity

Recently, I gave a presentation on Capitol Hill on the development and hopefully continued support for the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA (Title I, Trade and Development Act of 2000; P.L. 106–200). AGOA was approved by the U.S. Congress in May 2000 and then signed into law by President Clinton with the purpose to assist the economies of sub-Saharan Africa and to improve economic relations between the United States and the region.   The original language of the bill touted trade and investment as not only promoting economic development, but for encouraging broad participation in a political process in “which freedom can flourish.”  It stated:

“Increased trade and investment flows have the greatest impact in an economic environment in which trading partners eliminate barriers to trade and capital flows and encourage the development of a vibrant private sector that offers individual African citizens the freedom to expand their economic opportunities and provide for their families.”

By Steve McDonald
Director, the Africa Program and the Project on Leadership and Building State Capacity 

This month has seen some remarkable events on the continent, all with wide ranging implications.  They include the death of the “novelist laureate” of Africa, Chinua Achebe, the seizure of Bangui by rebels and flight of the president in the Central African Republic (CAR), the arrest of former Zambian President Rubiah Banda, the constitutional referendum in Zimbabwe, and the first round of the Kenyan elections.

By Steve McDonald
Director, Africa Program and Leadership Project, The Wilson Center

I want to remark this month on the directions of U.S. policy on Africa under the new Administration team in Washington, but I would like to begin by a little self- examination of our blog and an appeal to readers.   A review of the outreach that Africa UP Close has made is revealing.  Since January, we have had a total of 2,025 visits, with 264 new visitors.  That almost doubles our total of 1,081 total visits in the last three months of 2012.  Quantitative measure is an important gauge, so we are very pleased that so many readers are clicking on us.  Just this month, we will undergo another major design and format change, which should make this site an even more useable and useful product.  And you can now follow us on Twitter where we will engage our followers in online discussion and debates.