Washington, DC — The message U.S. President George W. Bush says he is bringing to Africa is that America cares about Africa's future and that it is in the U.S. national interest for Africa to become a prosperous place.
Bush will visit five African nations over six days next week, starting in Senegal, continuing to South Africa, Botswana and Uganda and ending up in Nigeria.
"We come as a nation that believes in the future of Africa. We've got great relations with leaders and countries on the continent of Africa which will not only enable people to realize their dreams, but also make the world more safe," he told journalists, Thursday.
In the White House's Roosevelt room, Thursday, Bush briefed four Africa-focused journalists about his trip to the continent. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice and her deputy for African affairs, Jendayi E. Frazer, sat on either side of the president. Putting the questions were Charles Cobb Jr of allAfrica.com, Dame Babou of Senegal's daily paper, Sud Quotidien, Deon Lamprecht of South Africa's News 24.com and Laolu Akande of Nigeria's Guardian newspaper.
Bush fielded questions on issues arising from his trip, ranging from whether he would sustain pressure on President Museveni to stop backing militias in the eastern Congo (yes, he would), to his stance on Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe ("the world needs to speak with common voice in insisting that the principles of democracy are adhered to by the ruling party in Zimbabwe"). And he repeated other favourite viewpoints, including his belief that Africa must make use of biotechnology to enhance its food production.
Bush has made the war against terror a plank of his relationship with African nations and he reiterated its importance: "Parts of Africa have got ongoing terrorist threats. And the good news is we are working closely with those governments to deal with those threats. We've got very good intelligence sharing."
Perhaps aware of disappointment and criticism in Kenya that he will not be stopping there, Bush made a point of acknowledging Kenya's struggle against terrorism: "Kenya is a great country, and it has been a place where there've been threats. Everybody knows that. Not only threats, there's been an attack in the past. And the government of Kenya has been very responsive. And we are helping them."
But Bush brushed off reports suggesting that support for the United States has nosedived in Africa following the war with Iraq. Told that in Nigeria one recent survey by the Pew Research Centre found that 44 percent of the population trusts Osama Bin Laden to "do the right thing in world affairs," Bush responded: "If I conducted our foreign policy based upon polls and focus groups, we would be stumbling all over ourselves. That's not the way I do things. I base our foreign policy upon deep-seated principles."
"Obviously," President Bush said, "there needs to be an education program" in Africa because there has been "a kind of an attachment" between the words 'America' and 'war'.
"They are going to find out the word 'freedom' and 'America' are synonymous... If there's a constant effort to describe America as a non-caring country, then people are going to have a bad attitude about us. I think people, when they know the facts, will say, 'Well, this is a great country.'"
Asked to respond to the accusation that U.S. oil interests drive Washington's Africa policy, Bush was even more dismissive: "That's one of the most amazing conspiracies I've heard. Heck, no one has ever made that connection," he said, going on to outline the varying engagement his administration had pursued with African countries. "We've been talking about Africa since I was sworn-in as President," he said.
With Nigeria in the grip of a national strike over fuel prices and the threat that oil production and export might be disrupted, Bush was asked whether his visit to Nigeria might be cancelled. No, said Bush, although he hoped it got settled peacefully. "If I have to, I'll make my own bed in the hotel, but I'm going."
Keeping promises
Although the tone of the briefing was one of confidence, President Bush is undoubtedly aware that he will encounter a complex continent to which great promises have been made although fulfillment has lagged behind.
The US$15bn Aids initiative he proposed in his State of the Union address this year, the US$5bn Millennium Challenge Account, the US$600m education initiative as well as the US$100m fund to fight terrorism in East Africa promise more money than the nations of the continent have ever received in aid. But little of that money has actually been - in the language of Washington budgets - appropriated, or actually set aside.
Most certainly, say many analysts, part of the reason for this trip is to give better shape to the term 'compassionate conservative' that Bush uses to describe his political orientation. In a world that has grown increasingly critical of much of his foreign policy, Africa offers a clear, though not easy, opportunity.
"We care deeply about the plight of the African citizen," Bush said. "When this nation sees suffering we will not turn away. There is tremendous suffering on the continent of Africa... When we see starvation, we don't turn our back, we act."
Some administration officials have suggested that Bush wants to use this trip to prod Congress to act on appropriation for the first year of money for his HIV/Aids initiative, although almost no one thinks he will press Congress for the US$3bn first year appropriation his US$15bn 5-year plan would seem to call for.
Nonetheless, Bush says he will be beating loud drums on the Aids issue while traveling in Africa. One reason he is going to Uganda, he says, "is to make sure that people around the world, and particularly on the continent of Africa, understand that dealing with HIV/Aids is possible... it's a remarkable record of Mr. Museveni and his government in dealing with the pandemic of Aids."
Bush will also push for "Agoa 3," say administration sources, or at least for an extension of the broadly popular African Growth and Opportunities Act past the 2008 deadline when preferential treatment for African products is currently scheduled to end.
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In comments seemingly aimed at critics of the US' trade stance, particularly regarding agricultural subsidies, Bush defended his administration's record: "I spoke out early on free trade with Africa... We built on the AGOA initiative... [taking] the free trade argument to the halls of Congress and got trade promotion authority, which was not an easy vote, by the way... There's a protectionist element in our country that works beneath the political surface. But I feel strongly that trade is an engine of opportunity for developing countries."
But there are conditions attached to some of this help. For example, one factor determining a country's eligibility for Agoa benefits is whether or not such country engages in activities that undermine United States national security or foreign policy interests.
And speaking of the Millennium Challenge Account, Bush said: "We'll reward those countries which make correct choices on behalf of the people of the countries -- countries which are not corrupt, countries which focus on the health and education of the people, countries which adopt market-oriented policies..."
But it won't all be hard economic realities. Bush revealed that while in Senegal, he intends to set out his views on the sensitive issue of race during a visit to the island of Gorée, once a key slave holding facility and port. "I'll be giving a speech about race, race in the world, race as it relates to Africa and America... we're in the process of writing it. I can't give you any highlights yet because I, frankly, haven't seen it. But I'll be fine-tuning the speech. It's an important speech for me to give and it's one I'm looking forward to giving."
