10 July 2009
Washington, DC — President Barack Obama's trip to Ghana, beginning today, will be rich in symbolism. But those hoping for a new direction in U.S. Africa policy are tempering their hopes with skepticism. The issue posed, parallel to that in other policy spheres, is to what extent change will remain symbolic or reflect substantive shifts, even if small, away from U.S. policies based on unilateral geostrategic goals or unexamined economic policy assumptions.
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains two documents highlighting key policy issues related to President Obama's visit to Ghana. The first, from Pambazuka News (http://www.pambazuka.org), is by Charles Abugre. Abugre, the head of global policy and advocacy for Christian AID (http://www.christianaid.org.uk), is a Ghanaian development activist who previously headed the Africa Secretariat of the Third World Network and the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC). Also included is an open letter from U.S. advocacy groups proposing a new framework for U.S. Africa policy.
Other recent related articles of likely interest to AfricaFocus readers include:
Exclusive pre-trip AllAfrica.com interview by Charles Cobb, Jr., with President Obama.July 2, 2009 [scroll down for commentaries, including an insightful dissection of half-truths in Obama's approach by Canadian author Gerald Caplan, dated July 9.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200907021302.html
For more AllAfrica.com coverage, including a youtube video of the interview, visit http://allafrica.com/usafrica/
Africa Action Talking Points on the G8 and Africa, July http://www.africaaction.org/newsroom/docs/G8TalkingPoints09.doc
What the G8 Leaders Say on Africa, July 9, 2009
http://allafrica.com/stories/200907090339.html
Kevin Kelley, "Ghana: There's More than Democracy in Obama's Visit", Daily Nation, Kenya, July 8, 2009
http://allafrica.com/stories/200907080871.html
Africa Faith and Justice Network, "Rewriting U.S.-Africa Policy," July 6, 2009
http://www.afjn.org / http://tinyurl.com/mcrbsd
Media Briefing Booklet on the occasion of President Barack Obama's visit to Ghana, July 10, 2009, by Foreign Policy in Focus and a coalition of allied organizations
http://www.fpif.org/pdf/reports/Press%20booklet-ObamaGhana.pdf
AfroPop's Guide for Obama's Ghana Visit
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on US-Africa relations, see http://www.africafocus.org/country/usa-africa.php
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on Ghana, visit http://www.africafocus.org/country/ghana.php
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The 'change we need'? Obama in Ghana
Charles Abugre
Pambazuka News, 2009-07-09, Issue 441
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/57585
Charles Abugre is the head of global policy and advocacy at Christian Aid.
As US President Barack Obama heads to Accra, Ghana, this week, Charles Abugre hopes a new 'wind for change' is blowing. Coming from a 'son of Africa' held with pride and esteem by Africans across the continent, Obama's speech will have major influence on the way the world regards Africa. For all the anticipated talk about 'good governance' and 'democracy', Abugre stresses, the US president should first acknowledge his country's historical role in undermining African countries' stability and progress. If Obama is to spark a new beginning in US-Africa relations based on genuinely mutual interests and respect, he must actively allay fears around US militarisation and seek to review US economic relations with the continent. Through building trust and commending Ghana's democratic successes, who better, asks Abugre, to understand the wind of change than Barack Obama?
That there is a carnival spirit in Accra, Ghana, ahead of Barack Obama's visit to this small West African country is to be expected. I recall the excitement on the streets of Accra in October 1994, when Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam led 2,000 blacks from America to Accra for the Nation of Islam's first International Saviours' Day. Crowds poured out on the streets to greet them. He came to preach awakening and redemption. In March 1998, amidst low approval ratings and sex scandals, the Clintons took Accra by storm. Bill Clinton was mobbed - much like a rock star - and later draped in colourful Ghanaian kente. He preached hope for Africa, offered aid but also apologised for America's standing by as hundreds of thousands were slaughtered in the Rwandan genocide. A decade later, President George W. Bush, suffering the lowest approval rating of any US president and the villain of an illegal and murderous war in Iraq, rolled into town. He was received as a hero, a saviour of Africa from diseases. He danced and was fettered. He preached freedom and democracy and promised to increase aid for HIV/AIDS and malaria, whilst denying an aggressive American agenda to militarise the continent in order to secure strategic access to petroleum resources.
So what is new about Obama's visit? The trip to Ghana will be his second trip to Africa in a month, only seven months into his presidency. He went first to Cairo, Egypt, early in June. This is a record and signifies that Africa is more than of passing interest. Second, there has never been an American president with roots in Africa, making his visit something of a homecoming, whether he sees it that way or not. Being a 'son of Africa' carries more meaning to Africans - not least pride, dignity and hope - than anything he might say or do. Yet the significance of what he says about Africa on this trip will carry significantly more meaning for this same reason. Third, Obama means more to the world than a mere US politician. He has become a brand, for which, like all brands, there is a massive contestation of the values and meanings underpinning it. He means hope, a 'wind of change', the triumph of common humanity, equality of peoples and cultures and many more. But he also means pragmatism, a manifestation of American power, responsibility and interests.
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DON'T BE FAKED OUT FOR FEAR OF NOT FITTING INTO THE HERD !!!! ( Matthew 24:4 )
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* 16 European Nations . Met And Plotted On How They Would Rob Africa Of Its Riches.
* They met during two(2) Periods of time in two(2) places
* The General Act Of Berlin Conference (Nov, 1884 to February, 1885)
* Brussels Belgium to finalize SECRET agreements ( Nov, 1889 to July 1890)
* The Book “King Leopold’s Ghost (1998) by Adam Hochschild documents some of This information.
The following Nations (Households)… [Read Full Text]
Just watching Obama in Ghana and I cannot help feeling impressed. I would like to say congractulations to Ghana.