Obama Spent $100 Million on an African Sightseeing Tour?

Obama, known as “The Son of Africa,” took a quick 22-hour tour of Ghana during his first term. Obama has demonstrated far less concern for Africa than his predecessors, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

From June 26 to July 3, Obama took the first family on an official visit to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania, but avoided his father’s birthplace, Kenya. His 90-year-old grandmother was still alive there at the time, but he still did not stop by. This is difficult to understand for Africans. People criticized Obama for deliberately snubbing Africa and completely neglecting Kenya. CNN even ran a story titled “Did President Obama Snub Kenya?”

At the same time, the United States has criticized Obama for spending $60-100 million on an African “sightseeing tour” when America has been suffering from economic difficulties and has made substantial spending cuts.

One indeed wonders why somebody would spend so much money on such a visit.

According to the U.S. Department of State, this amount was mostly spent on security measures. In order to protect the safety of the American president and his family, the United States sent hundreds of Secret Service agents to the three countries in order to assure absolute safety. They dispatched an aircraft carrier that was equipped with a rescue center and amphibious attack ships to stand by in the sea, just in case. They also dispatched military transportation planes and transported 56 special vehicles, including 14 luxury cars and three trucks equipped with bulletproof glass. In order to protect the first family, the windows of the hotel they stayed in were covered with bulletproof glass, fighter jets were dispatched above this presidential residence and a 24-hour constant patrol was enacted so that any errant aircrafts in the vicinity could be immediately intercepted.

According to relevant regulations, these security measures were taken in order to protect the safety of the United States’ commander-in-chief, which is consistent with the necessary arrangements needed during any presidential visit. Not long ago, Obama’s visit to Northern Ireland and Germany also cost quite a bit in terms of logistical scheduling.

For various reasons, planning for this visit to Africa was a lot more complex, which caused it to become one of the most expensive presidential visits.

The first family’s visit to the three countries from June 26 to July 3 was an extended stay. Within this time period, the United States government needed to provide almost all of the resources, instead of too much coming from the local government sector.

Obama and the first lady had planned on stopping by Tanzania to take a safari tour. For safety, the United States would have needed to send a special presidential guard carrying a rapid-fire sniper rifle. Afterward, they visited a prison — Nelson Mandela’s Robben Island.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush had a history of visiting several different African countries, with each visit requiring similar laborious preparations. Bush visited Africa with his wife in 2003 and 2008. He took his two daughters with him on the first trip, where they went on a safari trip at a game preserve on the border between Botswana and South Africa.

Government agencies took across-the-board spending cuts this year, with the Secret Service removing $84 million from its budget. This spring, the White House closed public tours to save $74,000 per week in overtime.

Clinton’s 1998 trip to Africa cost $42.7 million, the majority of which was in military spending: A total of 98 airlifts were made in order to transport personal items and vehicles. In addition, temporary medical centers were established in five African countries.

First Lady Michelle Obama visited South Africa and Botswana alone in 2011, which also required additional security and transportation to be arranged beforehand.

Among the 56 vehicles in the trip were limousines for the presidential couple, a special communication vehicle to ensure secure connections through phone and video, a truck that interfered with radio frequencies, a fully equipped ambulance for biological or chemical contaminants and a truck containing x-ray equipment.

Since Senegal is in western Africa, South Africa is in southern Africa and Tanzania is in eastern Africa, the short duration of the trip made it too late to move around the transportation equipment. Therefore, it was necessary to plan individually for transportation and equipment in each of the three countries.

In visits to most developing countries, the U.S. Navy has to be nearby on the sea with aircraft carriers or amphibious attack ships in the vicinity, as well as a prepared temporary mobile hospital. No matter who is president at the time, these security measures are still necessary to protect the president.

Obama’s visit to Africa originally aimed to strengthen economic relations between the U.S. and African countries in order to expand exports to Africa, which would be for companies seeking investment opportunities. On June 30, Obama promised in South Africa that over the next five years, the U.S. will provide $7 billion in aid to sub-Saharan Africa in order to improve its power supply. This is the first major gift that the president has given to the region throughout his term.