Wrapping up Obama in Africa

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Africa is a Country, Africa Society, Africa trade, Barack Obama Africa, Bernadette Paolo, Beyonce Africa, Rosa Whitaker, Whitaker Group

Yesterday, I noticed two opinion pieces discussing Obama’s recent Africa trip on AllAfrica.com from DC-based Africanist luminaries.

Bernadette Paolo of the Africa Society states that “President Barack Obama has made a profound and impactful visit to Africa.”

Conversely, Rosa Whitaker, who heads a leading Africa-focused consulting firm that bears her name, proclaims that Obama’s trade announcements amount to “little more than a repackaging of policies established by President Bill Clinton and expanded by President George W. Bush.”

I tend to agree with this slightly more rigorous view.  As I noted previously, all of the countries that Obama visited have also been visited by George W. Bush.  Obama’s new engagement is encouraging.  However, I don’t think that by merely using the word ‘partner’ as noted by Ms. Paolo, there is a “paradigm shift…clearly evident.”

And what about when Africa heads of state come to DC?  As Africa is a Country tells us, “it’s like meeting Beyonce, but you get to call it a state visit.”

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Obama’s Africa Legacy #2: Nationalism and Electricity

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Africa energy gap, Africa energy poverty, Africa is a Country, African Arguments, Liberia electricity, MCC, Obama Africa electricity, Power Africa Initiative, Todd Moss, USAID

Todd Moss of the Center for Global Development must be ecstatic with joy.  After opining that Obama should make electricity his “signature development achievement” in Africa, Obama has announced a Power Africa Initiative that does just that during his recent Africa trip.

Power Africa focuses on 5 Anglophone African countries and Ethiopia.  Amazingly, the group includes Liberia, where the US Ambassador went on record less than a year ago as stating that electricity was ‘not a priority’ for her Embassy. After emphasizing US values and human development, does this marked shift to infrastructure development reflect the stunning success of Moss’ op-ed or is it a concerted effort to enrich US companies and counter Chinese influence on the continent?

Several major Africanist media outlets, including African Arguments and Africa is a Country have cautionary pieces on Obama’s announcement (‘With President Obama’s new initiative, this [energy provision] can increase by roughly 18 more minutes if implementation was perfect’).  Devoted Africa in DC readers may recall my three point rebuttal to Moss back in February.  I stand by it for the most part.  While much needed, I’m doubtful that in the long run, US private sector engagement in the provision of electricity to Africa is helpful for the continent (after all, I remember my grandmother telling me that light bulb technology in this country was purposely degraded for decades so that companies would be able to move more product, true or not, I think that’s meaningful). However, it is good to see various US government agencies, from USAID to MCC collaborating on the initiative.

We don’t allow Muslims to run American ports – I wonder what Africans will think of private American companies making money from providing them with electricity?