Africa Up Close

President Obama has returned from his Africa tour without setting foot in Kenya, a fact that has been the source of much consternation in the land of his father. That a ‘son of the soil’ failed to visit his motherland in his first term as President of the U.S. was bad enough. Now with the tail end of his presidency in sight, a second trip to Africa without Air Force One touching down in Kenya was, to many, almost a slap in the face. From a geo-political point of view, many here held the expectation that the ‘leader of the free world’ would recognize his Kenyan roots and that finally a ‘homecoming’ might be held in his father’s Kogelo village.

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.

Press release by the White House Office of the Press Secretary

Full text from the original press release today:

“On June 29,  in front of an audience of more than 600 dynamic young leaders from South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda, President Obama announced the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, the new flagship program of the President’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). Beginning in 2014, the program will bring more than 500 young African leaders to the United States each year for leadership training and mentoring. It will also create unique opportunities in Africa for Fellows to use their new skills to propel economic growth and prosperity, and strengthen democratic institutions.”

After all the clamoring for U.S. President Barack Obama to visit Africa and South Africa especially, he has finally embarked on what is much more than the token stop he made in Ghana a few years back. This visit could not come soon enough as patience for Obama and what is seen as his sidestepping of Africa has grown paper thin. On top of that, the piled up controversies animating America’s relations with the rest of the world have begun thickening the residue of anti-American feeling lurking beneath the black South African political surface. This sentiment has begun to emerge in a few cases as unwelcoming hostility as Obama embarks on his first real safari to the continent since becoming America’s first black president and, to boot, one with African origins that most African-Americans cannot speak of.

 

United States diplomatic relations with Africa could take a significant turn this week as President Barack Obama travels to Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania. The Obama visit comes at the heels of growing criticism of the U.S. over a perceived discourteous posture and benign neglect towards Africa since President Obama took office in 2009. Signs of American realpolitik expansionism associated with its foreign policy activities, and in particular with respect to the debacle over Africom, have not endeared the U.S. to some of the key states in the African continent. Instead, it has cast a negative light over perceived U.S. security encroachment over the continent.

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.”