One Year Later: President Obama and U.S. Policy in Africa

Ray Walser / January 20, 2010

The election of President Barack Obama resonated loudly throughout Africa. His victory raised expectations that Africa would assume a more prominent place in U.S. foreign policy. This was not in 2009 to be the case.

To its credit, the Obama Administration has in its first year done a good job reminding Africans of the challenges they face. In July, the President spent a day in Ghana and delivered strong messages in his Africa policy speech. He talked about importance of good governance, stronger institutions, and ending festering conflicts. The future, the President emphasized, depends on Africans taking charge of their continent’s future.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on a seven nation African tour in August also spoke bluntly. Nigeria, she observed, is “a country that has the fifth-largest supply of petroleum and gas, so many riches, and yet the number of people living in poverty is growing. Nigeria is now further away from achieving the Millennium Development Goals than they were ten years ago. That is a travesty.”

What is missing from this dialogue are new solutions, which many expected from President Obama. The chief policy tools thus far advanced are continued support for development assistance and of Clinton- and Bush-era programs like the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). (more…)