Nairobi — Where is no doubt at all that US Senator Barack Obama is, by all accounts, a man worth noticing. And I do not just mean for his good looks. As a celebrated political figure in the United States and a man on whom some peg a future presidency, Obama stands out. Words like "political celebrity" describe him frequently and in Africa, where he is currently on a five-nation tour, he is favourably considered a son of the continent.

This past Thursday, and to much ululation, Obama touched ground in Kenya - the place to which he traces his roots. Cows, slaughtered in preparation of him, filled excited mouths. Hands, tightly gripping wish lists, awaited him. Quite possibly they did not notice his official plane and its implications. Obama's visit is not a homecoming but one of an American on a business trip. The purpose of his trip, his spokesman has said, is to underscore that the fate of African nations has an effect on the US "especially when it comes to stable governments, terrorism, energy, security and humanitarian crises such as genocide and Aids. Africa deserves a more prominent position in the American view, for reasons of self-interest," says Obama. "We ignore Africa at our own peril."

From the trip, it has been reported, the Senator intends to help further establish and improve on important relationships the US has in Africa. And it is clear why. While continuing to unleash her economic force on the world, China has increased her global competitiveness and, in contrast to the US, taken it one monumental step further by appreciating and strengthening her ties with Africa. Just this past June, for instance, China and South Africa (one of the two major countries his trip focuses on) signed a series of bilateral agreements ranging from cooperation in agriculture to minerals and energy. China additionally has been homing in on Kenya's oil and gas deposits.

The US is a major consumer of these two with an approximate 15 per cent of US oil imports coming from Africa and plans to import as much as one in five barrels of oil consumed from Africa, in the next few decades. East Africa, no longer "the other side of the fish pond," has received petroleum investments of over $100 million in just the past two years. In a nutshell, Africa is important to America's energy security and Obama, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations sub-committee on Africa, is aware of that. And terrorism, disease and the lack of democracy place a threat on this. Earlier this year, Obama attached an amendment to a pending Bill that would allocate upwards of $52 million to the Congo provided it make progress towards diplomacy.

When he reached Kisumu, he took an HIV test to fight against the HIV/Aids stigma and, while still on his Kenyan sojourn, he will also visit "a group of Kenyan women aged 50 and older who have adopted children suffering from Aids" who, with personal funds ($14,000) made from a children's book deal, he has helped through a microcredit programme. Small loans can have a big impact, we have seen, and with these, these women have afforded sewing machines, bicycles and crop purchases for small business. But to the masses seeking alternative aid and to the politicians looking to leverage off him, Obama has been clear. Not only can he not "deliver the largesse of the US government" but the "United States can't help Africa if its own leaders are undermining the possibilities of progress."

With that we agree, for our continent has suffered over corruption and, notwithstanding its natural resources and human capital, lagged behind over such greed. But just what can Obama achieve in such a short period and how much can he realistically expect to learn in such a short, micro-managed trip?

Unless it is tagged parachute diplomacy - the arriving, shaking hands and then leaving we've forever seen, his visit must show more. It must demonstrate the hard-edged activism that would, in this regard, prompt Obama to deliberate over and act upon his experiences in Africa. Will he do that? Only time will tell.

When Obama makes it back to the US, it will be a few days before the Senate reconvenes on September 5 to continue debates on H.R. 5631, the contentious Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld request for billions more for US war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will be curious to see if he will focus on the war or if he will press for Africa now that he has been here. It is hard to say but here is an agreeable hint from him - "Ultimately, Africa is responsible for [sic] itself."