DC’s Annual Thomas Sanakara Conference this Weekend

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Blaise Compaoré, Burkina Faso, Revival of Pan-Africanism Forum, Sankara birthday, Thomas Sankara

I will unfortunately not be able to attend the Thomas Sankara Conference, to be held this Saturday in Columbia Heights (Sankara family members to be present).  I attended a MLK Conference several months back convened by many of the same organizers.  It had quite a different vibe from the staid gatherings convened by places like the Brookings Institution and the Wilson Center.  I certainly wish that more individuals amongst these disparate crowds would mingle.

I’ve frequently railed against Sankara’s successor as Burkina Faso’s head of state and I’m very uncomfortable with the leadership role that the government of Blaise Compaore has been granted in the region, so am very sorry to miss this conference that commemorates one of Africa’s more intriguing and inspiring leaders.

The Chair of the AU and the Presidents of Burkina Faso and Somalia at the CBC’s Africa Braintrust

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Africa Braintrust, African Union, Blaise Compaoré, Burkina Faso, Congressional Black Caucus, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, Joseph Huggins, Karen Bass, Nii Akuetteh, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Somalia

I skipped work today to attend the 2013 Africa Braintrust (this was my second time in three years of DC residence). The Braintrust takes place each year during the Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus and convenes a large crowd.

I entered at the end of Panel I, ‘Looking Back at 50 Years of African Independence’, but I’ll focus my summary here on the individuals cited in the subject of this post.

The Despicable Esteem for Blaise Compaore & Guest Posts

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Blaise Compaoré, Charles Taylor, Ernest Bai Koroma, Rutgers University, SAIS, US - Burkina Faso relations, Wilson Center

Readers,

Next week has an array of African heads of state in town in association with the opening of the UN General Assembly.  Many will be making the rounds at public events, so many that I’m not going to try to list them all here, but check the public schedules of SAIS, the Wilson Center, and the World Bank for more info.  A congratulations to President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone who seems to be making a particularly strong effort to connect with the public.

I welcome guest posts on these events from readers, please just check in with me first.

I’ve previously railed about Washington’s false commitment to its professed agenda of democracy and governance on the continent – with Burkina Faso and Uganda being among the most notable examples (our relations with both the Congo and Rwanda are also likely in the mix).

A particular target of my ire has been Burkina Faso.  Thus, it is much to my chagrin that its President, Blaise Compaore, will speak on ‘Consolidating a Culture of Peace in Africa’ next Friday.  HOW THE HELL CAN A MAN WHO CAME TO OFFICE BY MURDERING HIS PREDECESSOR BE GIVEN A FORUM TO SPEAK ON THIS TOPIC?????  A few years later, this man  went on to play a crucial role in the Liberian civil war, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands.  Why is Charles Taylor in prison and Compaore being feted by the Wilson Center?

I won’t be able to attend, but dearly wish that I could.  Burkina Faso is ruled by a dictator who has controlled the state since 1987, it is one of the poorest countries in the world, yet it enjoys great relations with the US.  As an American, that relationship makes me feel ever so pathetic.

Why is the Regime in Burkina Faso Respected Abroad?

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Blaise Compaoré, Burkina Faso politics, Chad foreign policy, Djibrill Bassolé, Foreign Minister Burkina Faso, gold production in Africa, Sahel, Wilson Center

Unfortunately, my work schedule tomorrow will prevent me from hearing Djibrill Bassolé, the Foreign Minister of Burkina Faso, speak at the Wilson Center.  I did however hear the Minister speak there last Spring, just after the coup in Mali.

While he sounded all of the appropriate notes then, the rhetoric just does not match the reality.  Blaise Compaore come to power after leading a coup and killing Thomas Sankara, Burkina Faso’s visionary and personable leader who made great strides during a four year administration.  Compaore continues to meddle callously in African politics – Burkina Faso played a significant role in the civil wars in Liberia and Ivory Coast.  Despite this authoritarian heritage, Burkina Faso is well respected in the West and is looked to as a mediator of west African conflicts.

Although it is Africa’s 4th largest gold producer, Burkina Faso lags at the very bottom of the human development index, with the other states of the Sahel.  I resent the Wilson Center’s close relationship with the Compaore regime (as evinced by these repeated visits by Bassole) and I particularly resent the fact that the West has come to view Burkina Faso as an authority on west African foreign policy (why do we need a briefing on Mali’s elections from Bassole?  Are no Malians able to come to DC to do this?  Have we ceded that much ground to China?).

Through its military support of the French intervention in Mali, Chad looks to be joining those ranks as well.  These are not developments that one wants to see in the Sahel, the poorest region of Africa.

A Chat with a Recent GMU Graduate & Miss Burkina Faso USA

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Blaise Compaoré, Burkina Faso, Carol Zigani, George Mason University, jollof rice, Leopold Senghor, Miss Africa USA, Ouagadougou, Peace Corps, Thomas Sankara, USAID

I recently raved about the great night of entertainment that was Miss Africa USA in Silver Spring.  While most of the contestants represented a wide range of African nations and a large swathe of American geography, a few, such as Carol Zigani, were local.  Carol, who is based in Manassas, represented Burkina Faso and answered some of my questions on African politics, culture, and Africa in DC issues via e-mail.

ADNA/Emira Woods Vs. CGD/Todd Moss (Virtual Square Off)

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ActionAid USA, ADNA, Africa land grab, big business in Africa, Blaise Compaoré, Center for Global Development, Emira Woods, Meles Zenawi, militarization of Africa, Obama Africa trip, Obama deliverables, Todd Moss, US Africa Policy, Yoweri Museveni

I don’t want to talk about Obama’s impending Africa trip too much, as it seems to be more under the purview of a DC in Africa blog rather than Africa in DC.  That said, it is a relatively monumental development that is getting a lot of attention, so it cannot be ignored.  I’ll try to contribute to the conversation in my own (hopefully innovative) way.

Several progressive groups, including the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), ActionAid, and TransAfrica (collectively they constitute the Africa Advocacy Network, ADNA) will convene at the National Press club at lunchtime this Monday on the eve of Obama’s departure.  They will “release a policy briefing book and an open letter statement critical of the Obama Administration’s policy toward Africa and calling for a new approach to trade and investment, militarization, land grabs and more in the region.”

As Emira Woods of IPS notes in the press release, “President Obama’s trip is likely to focus on trade and investment, but actually U.S. policy toward Africa has been driven by militarization and land grabs (ed – I’d say that’s more true in some places than others).”

Meanwhile, Todd Moss, who I critiqued in one of my more popular posts, is asking “What’s on the Deliverables List?” for Obama’s trip.  Right off the bat, he buys into a Washington Consensus.  His opening sentence states,”for good or ill, high profile visits by the President of the United States always come with some major new announcements, AKA ‘deliverables’.”  He then lists some economic options on the table for Obama that “require no new money.”

Moss, didn’t hesitate to mince his words when criticizing ZANU – PF in his recent Congressional testimony.  I wish he would have had the same courage to challenge some of the basic tenants of US African policy.

I agree with the ADNA team.  The US supports many autocrats, such as Blaise Compaore and Yoweri Museveni (until his death Meles Zenawi was another great example) who may be friendly to international businesses, but have governance policies hostile to equitable development.

To conclude on an Africa travel note, our ongoing support for those leaders makes Obama’s reluctance to visit Kenya during his Presidency look ridiculous.