America should not spend one dime in Africa unless it furthers our interests. All these spedning on social programs only makes Africans dependent on US money. It doesn't win hearts and minds and doesn't further our interests economically or otherwise. Barack Obama's policy should be to help those who want to help themselves in a true partnership. Let's stop this insanity. OBAMA '08

I am hoping to hear a new US policy that articulates a strategic partnership with Africa and for that matter all third world countries. This partnership will define a new direction and engagement. America will help Africa build schools, hospitals, roads and other processiong infrastructures that would eliminate exporting raw materials at low cost and import the finished products at cut throat prices. This new approach would be mutually benifical, especially to the USA if the assistance is conditioned on buying the building goods from America. The British,Japanese,Germans and the Danes did it in The Gambia when they extended assistance to The Gambia Government/GUC. Just imagine the volume of steel, cement etc that needed. Building factories to process agricultural raw materials would also help the farmers stay in their farms. I am quite sure Sene-Gambian farmers would find it very difficult to be able to produce enough groundnuts for a peanut oil processing plant that targets let's say the West African market. A permanent state of ground buying season. Remember also that factories have to be built to process the secondary by-products into soap, cattle feed, glycerine etc. This wpuld resuscitate the near comatose economy beacuse the steel, cement and other factories would be on twenty four shifts. Additionally, the new strategic partnership should signal to all the propped up dictators that business will not be as usual. Remember President Bush's recent visit to Africa where he was seen dining and dancing with the very presidents who have reduced their people to destitution.