‘Africans Don’t Need us to Bring Anything…We’re Just the Catalyst’: Bureau of African Affairs Head Speaks at Nigerian Embassy

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Ade Adefuye, Africa Society, Bernadette Paolo, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Embassy of Nigeria in US, Goodluck Jonathan, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Nigeria, Peter Tosh, Power Africa, South Sudan, Trade Africa, US - Africa Summit, YALI

Yesterday, the Africa Society hosted Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, at the Embassy of Nigeria.  The event was originally slated for December, but postponed when the Secretary traveled to the Central African Republic to deal with the crisis there. Although I was fatigued from a new job and illness I ventured out in the evening after work to hear if there would be any interesting observations given the recent suspension of Nigeria’s highly suspected Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi, state criminalization of homosexuality in Nigeria, and the appearance of increasing autocracy from Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.

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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.”

The State Department Values African and Diaspora Youth

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Africa Society, African youth, Bernadette Paolo, Cyrille Oguin, David Gilmour, Young African Leaders Initiative

I was pretty critical of the Africa Society for honoring Chinua Achebe in an event at the Nigerian Embassy sponsored by Chevron.  However, the Africa Society hosted a great networking event tonight to introduce its anticipated Youth Advisory Committee.  I’m under 30, so it’s good to feel appreciated and I think that’s particularly important in the African context, where elders are often excessively venerated or cling too posiitons that should be forwarded on to the next generation.

Two representatives from the State Department were on hand to discuss Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (while I laud it, I do think that it gets an excessive amount of attention from the administration) and Cyrille Oguin, the Ambassador of Benin gave some brief remarks as well.  He mentioned that Benin has a youth Service Corps that was inspired by the US Peace Corps (although I imagine that the AmeriCorps would be a better example).

While their flyer doesn’t indicate this, Bernadette Paolo, the Society’s Director did intimate that the Society is looking mainly for those in the Diaspora to join the Committee.  I was intrigued to see that the crowd was primarily composed of individuals born in or very recently removed from the Continent.  While that’s certainly good, it does concern me about the level of interest America has in Africa.

David Gilmour from State repeated an increasingly used line about developing Africa to promote America’s economy.  Read a piece on AGOA where I touch on this and expect another post on this theme (via US participation in the World Economic Forum in South Africa) in the coming days.

In the meanwhile, let me know if you agree with the idea that ‘what is good for America is good for Africa.’

Ali Mazrui, Chevron, and the Embassy of Nigeria Honor Chinua Achebe

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Adebowale Adefuye, Africa Society, Ali Mazrui, Biafra war, Chevron, Chinua Achebe, Johnetta Cole, Nigerian Embassy

In what was probably not the most fitting of tributes, the Embassy of Nigeria and Chevron teamed up to support the most recent edition of the Africa Society’s Andrew Young lecture series.  The noted academic, Ali Mazrui, who I first became aware of while perusing the University of Ghana’s bookstore as an undergraduate, was the featured speaker for an event honoring the recently deceased African literary dean, Chinua Achebe.  Perhaps the most interesting point, which will please the Afro-pessimists out there, is that both of these African scholarly giants

DC Corridors of Power – Fashionable Mali

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Africa Society, Al-Qaeda, allafrica.com, Mali, Sahel crisis

With some extra time over the long weekend, I was able to spend a bit more time on the comprehensive Africa news service, AllAfrica.com than usual.

One of the more interesting pieces I stumbled across was a guest column by Bernadette Paolo of the Africa Society and Vivian Lowry Derryck of the Bridges Institute.  While I have briefly met Ms. Paolo (she is a prominent presence at the more mainstream, high powered African events inside the beltway), I must confess to complete ignorance of the existence of the Ms. Derryck and the later organization.

The column, “Mali: Test of US Will in Mali Conflict”, while somewhat redundantly titled, does indeed discuss the curious lack of American involvement in the current situation, which is curious, given that for several years (even before I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Sahel) US military forces were training Malians in counter-terrorism tactic.  Rather predictably, the Paolo-Derryck piece combines appeals to the humanitarian (mention of refugees) and the security conscious (mention of Al-Qaeda).

Unfortunately, and symptomatic of much political analysis, the opinion piece does not discuss much more than that.  While one certainly recognizes space limitations, ignoring the precarious nature of the interim government in Bamako and the prior US support for counter-terrorism efforts in the Sahel and Mali in particular is a significant omission.  This omission is symptomatic of the typical US efforts in the region – supporting engagements that respond to the scenarios en vogue at the moment (an ‘Invisible Children Doctrine’).  Will should be long term, not merely in response to drastic events.