American Diplomacy: Washington Can Really Do Better in Africa

Despite his African roots, Barack Obama has not favored the continent’s heads of state in his meetings.

“When he received us, President Obama told us that he wanted to build relations with the United States of Africa on a transparent base through the U.S.’ agencies and institutions, rather than to enforce personal networks,” Gondeu Ladiba recalls. This 33-year-old scholar was part of one hundred young African leaders invited to the White House in August 2010. They were not there for their knowledge of the United States, but rather for their local commitment. It was a meeting desired by Barack Obama to mark the renewal of ties between the world’s leading power and sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, Barack Obama has not put his own network to work, but instead has favored action-oriented embassies. In his five years of office, he officially went there only twice.

South of the Sahara, John Atta Mills is the only African head of state to have received the U.S. president at his home in Ghana because of his good governance. Few African leaders have had the privilege of an official reception. Symbolic of a healthy democratic change for Obama, Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast, Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, Alpha Conde of Guinee and Boni Yayi of Benin were received at the White House in July 2011. However, the U.S president hadn’t neglected the economic interests of his country, as in June, he hosted two leaders of oil states, Ali Bongo of Gabon and Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria. As for the favorite of the U.S. administration, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was received in May 2010. The African Iron Lady, who is a Harvard graduate and Nobel Peace Prize winner, is also the only one who had the honor to receive the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton twice: in Monrovia in August 2009 and January 2012, just after her re-election.

Observation

In the Maghreb, since the uprisings of spring 2011, the Americans must deal with new teams in power. Accordingly, in October 2011, Barack Obama met then Tunisian Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi during the transition from the Tunisian Revolution. But he has not seen any of the new leaders for now. His secretary of state, however, has made five trips to North Africa, two of which were in post-revolutionary Tunisia.

In February 2012, Hillary Clinton held talks with new Tunisian leaders, including President Marzouki and representatives of youth and women’s associations. She then moved briefly to Algiers to meet with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in addition to members of civil society, which showed her willingness to interact with diverse interlocutors. Finally, in Morocco, where she inaugurated the new U.S. Embassy in Rabat, she was received by former Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri, an old friend in Washington. At the time, Mohammed VI, who is attentive to relations with America, was in a private visit with the United States.

Expensive Relationships

Barack Obama’s attempts to limit these relationships’ influence at the White House have been in vain. Lobbyists remain ubiquitous, with 12,600 of them in 2011, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Informal in Africa, lobbying is legal in the United States. The First Amendment to the Constitution grants everyone the right to represent its interests by sending petitions to the government. Since 2006, lobbyists have had to provide details of their activities to Congress to be published on the internet for greater transparency.

From 2001 to 2011, U.S. spending in this area has increased by over one billion dollars to $3.32 billion. African countries, meanwhile, have invested approximately $150 million over the same period, according to consulting firm GwethMarshall. Oil states such as Nigeria, Angola and Gabon are the quickest to invest. As for the African French-speaking countries, Senegal, Cameroon and Burkina Faso are at the top of the list.