Why Obama rolled carpet for Africa’s good, bad and ugly BY BENON HERBERT OLUKA Africa has taken on a new significance to America When US President Barrack visited the Ghanaian capital Accra in July 2009 on his first presidential visit to sub-Saharan Africa, his speech focussed on “four areas that are critical to the future of Africa and the entire developing world.” The first of those four areas was democracy, with Obama quipping that “Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.” The US president also spoke about opportunity, saying, “wealthy nations must open our doors to goods and services from Africa in a meaningful way.” Obama also spoke about strengthening public health and the need for peaceful resolution of conflict, in a speech that was touted as the line in the sand that he had drawn on how his administration would deal with African governments. Five years since that speech, some significant dynamics have changed on the global stage, forcing the US president to lower the bar in his dealing with African leaders. Where Obama had promised to shun leaders who were not democratic, the unconditional embrace of African leaders by emerging powers in the Far East has seen the US cast envious glances across the ocean. At this week’s summit, Obama hosted at least six African presidents who have been in power for 20 years or more, many with questionable election victories over the years. He also hosted Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, who is indicted by the ICC over the 2007 deadly election violence, despite US officials warning before his election last year that ‘decisions would have consequences’. New scramble From 2009, as Obama was throwing down the gauntlet to African leaders, emerging economies such as China, Russia, Turkey, Brazil and India were quietly taking the lead in the economic race. China, for instance, has surpassed the US as Africa’s leading trading partner, chipping away at some of the opportunities that, in another era, the world’s biggest economy would have easily taken up without breaking a sweat. Last year, according to various American news agencies, the US earned about $85 billion in bilateral trade with Africa. China, on the other hand, scooped $210 billion – more than double what the Americans registered. In Uganda, China currently accounts for 30 per cent of all the country’s foreign trade. In the 2011/12 financial year, according to statistics from the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), China overtook Britain as Uganda’s leading business partner. Since 2000, China has held five China-Africa summits to market itself to the continent. Three of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summits were held in Beijing, China, while the others were held in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt). Similarly, countries such as Japan, Brazil, India, Russia and France have intensified their engagement with Africa. Many of them held summits with African leaders. According to Makerere University historian, Mwambutsya Ndebesa, the emergence of the new powers and re-emergence of old ones has tilted the scales against the USA. “There is now a new scramble for Africa like the one at the end of the 19th century. There are now different blocs scrambling for Africa,” he said. Change pf heart It was, therefore, about time that the US upped its ante. Speaking at the summit, Obama explained why Africa has taken on a new significance to America and its people.7 “We come together this week because, even as the continent faces significant challenges, as I said last night, I believe a new Africa is emerging. With some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, a growing middle class, and the youngest and fastest-growing population on earth, Africa will help shape the world as never before,” he said. To the Obama administration, Africa – with six of the 10 fastest growing economies – is “a continent of opportunity.” As such, the US has decided to “look beyond the crises of the moment to the opportunities that the next 10 to 15 years have in store” – as one White House official put it. At the summit, Obama announced steps that the US intends to take to boost its economic ties with Africa. These include a renewal and enhancement of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), construction of infrastructure to boost African economies, and the increase in efforts to help African countries trade more with each other. Last year, during a tour of Africa, Obama also announced the launch of the Young African Leaders Initiative, and at the summit he said his government would continue to empower young African and business leaders through such programmes. Currently, there are 500 young African leaders in the US, including a number of Ugandans, who are participating in the Mandela Washington Fellowship. By the end of the summit, both the US government and the American private sector had committed a total of $37 billion towards investment in Africa. In his speech, in which he quoted a young Ugandan woman’s quest for trade, not aid, Obama emphasised that the US was no longer keen on giving handouts to Africa but, rather, offering opportunities. Ndebesa said Obama’s speech signified a change of policy towards Africa, partly due to the importance of African leaders in the fight against terrorism in Somalia, Nigeria and Arab nations on the continent. “US foreign policy is determined by strategic economic interests, strategic security interests, and the export of their values,” he said. “It seems economic and security interests are overriding democratic values, and that is why he has toned down the language. It seems the young Obama who was more motivated by democratic values and ideals has now toned down to be more interested in security and economic interests.” Notable financial promises to Africa After summits Country/Region Summit Date Amount USA US-Africa Summit August 2014 $37 billion European Union EU-Africa Summit March 2014 $39 billion Japan TICAD V June 2013 $32 billion China Fifth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation July 2012 $20 billion India India-Africa Summit May 2011 $5 billion [email protected]
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 22:13:26 +0000
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