Obama’s Beautifully-Packaged Policy toward Africa

President Barack Obama made a beautifully-packaged keynote speech in the Ghanaian parliament on July 11 using the words “democracy, good governance, development and peace.” Public opinion is that Mr. Obama’s speech drew the main outline for American policy toward Africa, and his intent was to come out in splendor, to aim for the United States’ interest.

The four beautiful key words

“Democracy,” “good governance,” “development” and “peace” were four key words used in Obama’s speech in Ghana. They drew a beautiful outline for the U.S.’s policy toward Africa, and were in fact inherited from the U.S. government’s past fundamental stances towards the continent.

During the near 30-minute speech, Obama used almost half of the time to expound on the relationship between “democracy,” “good governance” and Africa’s national development and prosperity. At the same time, he also criticized some of the existing totalitarianism and rampant corruption in African nations.

Obama said that the reason he chose Ghana as the destination for this visit was to deliver this message to all of Africa. It is exactly because it implemented “democracy” and “good governance” that the Ghanaian government is stable, its economy prosperous, and its society safe. It is fully worthy to be an example to the African nations. If African nations wanted to grab the current opportunity for advancement, they have to recognize that development is determined by “good governance,” especially since “good governance” had been long lost by many African nations.

With regards to peace on the African continent, Obama pointed out that Africa had been through too many wars and conflicts. The differences between African nations should not have been the root of conflicts, but as a motivation for realizing unity and peace. He welcomed the efforts of regional organizations like the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in trying to play a more significant role in realizing peace in Africa.

Obama promised to help Africa to realize development through means like increasing financial assistance and investments as well as creating more trade opportunities.

In addition, Obama has also made relevant promises to help Africa in areas such as overcoming epidemics and reducing the negative impacts of climate change on Africa.

Influencing African politics

Analysts believed that Obama’s repeated use of “democracy” and “development” reflected the U.S.’s wish to influence African politics with its own set of values.

In the past few years, there were upheavals in the politics of some African nations. Kenya, a major East African nation reputed as the symbol of African democracy and stability, held its presidential election at the end of 2007, but large-scale riots and bloody conflict that arose because of the election caused thousands of deaths and more than 300,000 to lose their homes. The election crisis caused widespread concern within the international community, and also damaged Kenya’s international image.

Since the second half of 2008, there have been many military coups in many parts of Africa. There was a military coup in Mauritania in August that year which overthrew the first democratically elected president; soldiers in Guinea-Bissau attempted two separate coups in November and December: the former was suppressed in time by the army, and the latter overthrew the democratically elected president. There had also been a coup in Madagascar in March of this year that overthrew its democratically elected president.

In Somalia, at the Horn of Africa, the conflict between anti-government military factions and government forces intensified. The anti-government military factions occupied virtually all the territories outside of the capital of Mogadishu, and the newly-established interim Somali government was in a precarious position.

The U.S. was cleverly making use of opportunities present in the political changes in some countries. In the Ghana speech, Obama gave African nations a clear signal: the U.S. government would only provide financial assistance to responsible nations. Obama emphasized that the partnership between the U.S. and Africa was built on the grounds of mutual responsibility. The U.S. has the responsibility to support responsible nations and individuals, and at the same time to isolate irresponsible nations and individuals.

He warned that the African mainland was currently in dire need of democratic institutions and not rulers with iron fists. Analysts thought that Obama exhibited strong desires to influence and change Africa, and the strength of his posture greatly exceeded that of his predecessor.

African nations’ prudent response

As Obama’s speech in Ghana was the official U.S. government’s policy toward Africa, to ensure that the message would reach every corner of Africa promptly, the U.S. had invited not only important figures from other African nations as well as representatives from the African Union, it had also requested relevant representatives of embassies and salient cultural organizations to either tune in to or watch Mr. Obama’s speech.

A Kenyan scholar who did not wish to be named told the media that even though Obama was called “Africa’s son” because he has Kenyan blood in him, African nations should not have expectations that are too high because he still represents the interests of America.

The scholar also said that Obama had promised to increase aid to Africa, but that Africa development did not merely depend on external assistance. Furthermore, the United States’ capacity to fulfill its promises was still in question.

There were also opinions that there was a limit to Obama’s promise of peace in Africa. Until now, the U.S. government had yet to be able to do something about the conflict in the Congo. The intent and objective of America’s policy toward Africa warrants deeper consideration.