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Africa’s Expectations from Obama

By Hany Besada (*)

WITH the US administration marking its 100 days in office, Barack Obama has raised sky-scraping expectations for his term as president, not only at home in the US, but also abroad in Africa. The 44th American President is the first with an African lineage and, not surprisingly, his rise to power has triggered a wave of hope amongst Africans as they look towards the West in anticipation of new beginnings in US foreign policy and diplomatic relations.

Examples of African reverence for Obama abound. Kenya has declared 5 November a national holiday in recognition of Obama’s election. Parallels were drawn world-wide between Obama’s inauguration ceremony in Washington earlier this year, as being eerily reminiscent in scale and scope of Nelson Mandela’s inauguration as South Africa’s first black president in 1994.

Will President Barack Obama be able to deliver in accordance with the super-hero status that Africans are bestowing on him?

In the coming months, Obama will be expected to address Africa’s most pressing crises: Sudan’s six-year conflict in Darfur continues unabated with UN forces being woefully understaffed and underfunded, despite former President Bush labeling it as “genocide”; Somalia has now been without a central government for 18 years and has lost more than one million people to civil conflict and famine; and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is struggling to end a five-year conflict with a death toll deemed the world’s highest since World War II. And, of course, there are the longstanding issues across the continent of food security, corruption, access to clean water and basic health care, and the looming threat of climate change.

There will be some tough decisions ahead in deciding on priorities and whether to drill down on development or security. If the President remains true to the objectives identified in his election campaign, then three items could be expected on his African agenda: accelerate Africa’s integration into the global economy; enhance peace and security in Africa; and strengthen relations with African governments to deepen democracy and accountability.

Already, Obama is making strides towards building good relations with Africa. In recent weeks, the President has surrounded himself with top African advisers —foremost amongst them is the appointment of Susan Rice, former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the Clinton administration, to the post of UN Ambassador. Obama had been in touch with South Africa’s former interim President Kaglema Motlanthe about the ongoing political crisis in Zimbabwe.

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