Barack the American

Relations based on trade and partnership rather than aid and assistance: This is what President Barack Obama wishes for the United States and Africa from now on; this is how he redesigned the new cooperation between his country and Africa. “The time has come to change things by emphasizing trade and partnership,” he said.*

Obama justified his trip to Africa by the fact that the continent is “poised to take off,” and he does not want the U.S. to miss the opportunity to widen and deepen its relations in the region. At the head of a delegation of around 600 people, the president of the United States, throughout his stay in Africa, seems to have wanted to tell the Chinese and others who are very visible on the continent that the U.S. is never far from where there already exists, or there could exist, good business. Also, maintaining that the U.S. is once again interested in Africa is a polite understatement. Indeed, faced with the redistribution of the world’s economic and geopolitical cards, Washington has very quickly realized that it would have to review its relations with the African continent. This is a strategy of offense, dictated particularly by advancements made by China in trade, especially in sectors as important as mining and energy. Whereas the Americans have shown themselves to be particularly critical of the nature of the political regimes and general business climate in Africa, the Chinese are less emotional and rather blind to what they see as the “internal affairs” of the states and have reinforced their presence in Africa. Africa, the continent where strong economic potential remains intact and which has been characterized in recent years by consistently increasing growth rates, leaves no one unmoved, especially not a president of the United States. Today, the Yankees need the continent just as much as it needs America.

Obama does not have to justify himself to Africa. He did not come to the continent to preach the good word. It is good to know this and to accept it once and for all.

There are more and more Africans disappointed with the president of the United States of America, Barack Obama. Born of an American mother and a Kenyan father, his election as leader of the greatest world power had been welcomed as good news for Africa. The public jubilation across the black continent when Obama’s 2008 victory for his first presidential mandate was announced is proof of this. The U.S. president’s re-election did not arouse the same enthusiasm. With the effect of time, many Africans ended up understanding that Barack Obama, though born of an African father, is an American first and foremost, elected by the Americans to preside over the future of the United States of America. So what could be more normal than his own country remaining his top priority? Those who saw him as some sort of cowboy or sheriff who would come to Africa to play Zorro or Monsieur Gangster** were somewhat disillusioned. No, Barack Obama has no ambition to be a hero in Africa or for Africa. He wants to be a good and great U.S. president. And his second tour of Africa strengthens this view. He did not go with arms full of gifts, suitcases full of dollars, or a mouth full of promises to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. No, he went as a U.S. president on tour in the African continent, a president come to do business.

The “providential” man, the “messiah,” the “prodigal son,” the “savior” of Africa will perhaps come one day. One thing is sure: It will not be Barack the American. He is too busy leading the great America and governing the whole world. He has no time to worry about African domestic problems. “We were not expecting a fantasy Barack Obama,” said Fadel Barro, a representative of Senegalese civil society. “We wanted above all to show the president of the most powerful country on the planet a different side of Africa. We were not expecting an indifferent reaction on his part.”*

*Editor’s note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.

** Editor’s note: Literally, this expression translates to “gun-slinging uncle,” an allusion to the 1963 French film titled “Les Tontons Flingueurs,” known as “Monsieur Gangster” in English.