Obama's visit to Ghana: Establishing priorities

June 5, 7:15 PMLA Africa Issues ExaminerSam Brown

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the LA Africa Issues Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

In just over a month President Obama will make his first visit to Sub-Saharan Africa.  When Mr. Obama sits down with newly elected Atta Mills in Ghana on July  10-11, he will be doing much more than strengthening ties with an already staunch ally.  He will be sending a clear message to the world that Africa is high on the Administration's list of priorities. 

Presidents choose carefully when visiting foreign countries.  Visiting a country signifies either the importance of a country as an ally (ie Great Britain), or the country's relevance to US interests (ie China or Russia). 

Compared to recent heavyweights such as Egypt, Russia, and the G8 summit in Italy, Ghana is nearly irrelevant strategically.  The impoverished country of 23 million possesses neither a strategic location nor resources on par with a dozen other countries in Africa.  This raises a question: Why Ghana?

If President Obama were seeking access to oil, he would visit Nigeria or Angola.  If he wanted to craft alliances to influence the continent's politics, he would see President Jacob Zuma in South Africa. If he wanted to support a military ally in a strategic area, he would fly to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.  What Ghana lacks in realpolitik relevance, it makes up for by being a model democratic state with a vibrant civil society.  Ghana has two successful transfers of power under its belt since Jerry Rawlings stepped down as dictator in 1993.  It has also cooperated with Western partners in everything from peer reviews to IMF diktats. 

Thus President Obama is sending a clear message about his priorities in Africa: Democracy and respect for human rights first, and the rest will come later.