Africa: What is America's Agenda?
Thursday, 09 July 2009 17:08
Abdikadir Abdallah (Business Daily)
As he prepared for his visit to Africa, President Barack Obama gave an interview in which he outlined his reasons for the choice of his first stop in Sub-Saharan Africa. He said he had chosen Ghana because, he argued, it is a beacon of democracy and good governance.
Veteran observers of US policy towards Africa may take a more cynical perception of this explanation because it is hard to recall a time when American policy towards the continent was shaped by such "good intentions" as pure promotion of democracy.
To the contrary, the list of countries which the US gives generous amounts of foreign aid in Africa and beyond is long and the election of the new administration has not done much to change this. Egypt and Algeria, for example, are anything but models of good governance.
Struck oilTurning to Ghana, it is hard to ignore the obvious attractions it has for the United States. There is the fact that the country struck oil recently.
America is famously resource hungry and few would be prepared to believe that there is no link between Ghana's ever closer ties to the US and the decision by Mr Obama to strengthen those ties by visiting.
Ghana is also situated very close to Nigeria, one of the United States' most important sources of oil.
But Anglo-American interests in that country have come under frequent attack from rebels, primarily those associated with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.
Considering Nigeria is one of the most important sources of oil exports to the US after the nations in the middle east, it would be no surprise if the Americans will want to use Ghana to secure their interests in the region
Considering Nigeria is one of the most important sources of oil exports to the US after the nations in the middle east, it would be no surprise if the Americans will want to use Ghana to secure their interests in the region
It cannot be a coincidence that Ghana has been mentioned as a possible host for the proposed Africa Command (Africom), the American military unit that focuses on Africa.
Only very optimistic observers would argue that the frequent visits that the US most senior diplomat on African affairs , Johnnie Carson, makes are purely geared towards generating good governance in Africa.
It is hard not to see the Africom agenda in these moves.
Let us not forget that American foreign policy in Africa and in many places around the world has been shaped above all by the need to secure American interests, despite the human rights record of the leaders involved.
That is why former President George W Bush maintained close contacts with Uzbekistan, despite the very poor human rights record of its leader Islam Karimov who heads a strategically important country in a volatile region of the world.
There is also another quiet possible reason for the choice of Ghana for President Obama's first visit to the continent in which his father was born.
Let us not forget that the US has been on a global diplomatic push to get countries to recognise the breakaway republic of Kosovo, which is a firm US ally.
Ghana is one of the countries in West Africa which have not recognised Kosovo. This is evidently something which the US hopes to change and the perception is that a visit by the US president will help to change that.
Own objectivesBut the truth is that Mr Obama's visit will have positive consequences for the US and its own objectives but few benefits for the continent.
If Ghana agrees to host Africom, it will be agreeing to be home to thousands of US troops who cannot be held to account for their crimes in that country because the US is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court Rome Statute.
If Ghana on the other hand agrees to recognise Kosovo, it will be setting the trend for encouraging separatist movements across the continent, a trend which can only be bad for Africa.
This visit is therefore one that will be filled with promise for America, but will not be similarly advantageous for Africa.
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