12 Ways Africa Will Remember Barack Obama, First Black US President

Barack Obama’s 2008 election as U.S. president inspired millions of Africans with hopes that strong ties to Kenya, country of his father’s birth, would mean increased U.S. involvement. Some believe Obama will leave office Jan. 20, 2017, falling short of those expectations. He has been blamed for not making African issues a top priority of his foreign policy. Others say he leaves a lasting legacy that will live on — especially in Africa’s young leaders.

Sources: BBC, DW, The Guardian, IB Times, and The Guardian.

Trade not aid

Obama’s eight years in office saw U.S.-Africa policy pivot away from aid and towards business. “Trade not aid” was the cornerstone of U.S. policy for Africa under Obama.

Source: BBC

Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative

One of Obama’s biggest commitments in Africa was to mentor entrepreneurship among its future leaders. In 2010, he launched the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) to help youth on the continent prepare for leadership by providing training, networking, and skills.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative, best defines the Obama legacy in Africa, according to Simbo Olorunfemi, a Nigerian communications consultant:

It is in choosing to touch the lives of young Africans, raising leaders and entrepreneurs who can impact lives and widen the net of impact that Obama leaves a legacy in Africa. It is in the symbolism of the audacity of hope that he planted a seed in the heart of many young Africans. It is the grace and panache with which he carried himself, going high when it was easy to go low, that he leaves a legacy for the world about the African spirit. There is so much that he could have done. There is so much that is left to be done. But he did do his bit. And I dare say, he did it well, as well. Obama has lit a lamp of hope in the hearts of many a young African. It might not be that visible at the moment but do not bet against its impact tomorrow.

 

Source: BBC, The Guardian

He inspired art and baby names

Obama’s portrait was painted on walls, buses and T-shirts across Africa. Restaurants, schools and children were named after him.

Source: BBC

He visited Africa a lot

Obama visited seven African countries during four trips to Africa – more than any other U.S. president. He also became the first sitting American president to visit Kenya and Ethiopia.

Source: BBC

He increased military support in Africa

The Obama administration increased military support to Cameroon, Chad and Somalia to fight al-Shabab and Boko Haram, and established military outposts in more than 10 African countries. Obama continued U.S. drone strikes against alleged Islamic militants in Somalia. His predecessor, President George W Bush, started the drone strikes. Military operations attracted criticism from human rights organizations for U.S. intelligence cooperation with countries including Sudan and Ethiopia.

Source: BBC, DW

He initiated Power Africa

In 2013 President Obama launched the Power Africa initiative with the goal of doubling access to electricity for sub-Saharan Africans using renewable energy. The target was to add 30,000 megawatts by 2030. The project has received criticism for generating 2,000 megawatts so far, seen as too little. Energy businesses operating in Africa say the program has boosted investor confidence, but its future under the Trump administration is in question.

 

Source: BBC,  The Guardian

He hosted the first-ever US-Africa Leaders Summit

The first U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in August 2014 brought 50 African leaders to Washington, D.C. There, Obama announced a $33-billion package of public and private investment. This represented a shift of U.S. policy moving away from a focus on humanitarianism and counterterrorism to growth and trade, according to Alex Vines of Chatham House. Obama’s Africa policy will be remembered for this, Vines said. “It will be trade rather than aid or security. That is President Obama’s key Africa legacy in my opinion.”

 

Source: DW

 

George W. Bush did more for Africa than Obama

Sudanese philanthropist Mo Ibrahim said in 2013 Africans were witnessing “a gradual but continuous withdrawal of the U.S. from Africa … all the more disconcerting that it is happening even when a son of our continent is in the White House.” Obama’s U.S.-Africa policy didn’t measure up to George W Bush’s, Ibrahim said. Under Bush’s administration, U.S. aid to sub-Saharan Africa increased four-fold, from $1 billion in 2002 to $ 8.1 billion in 2010, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Source: IB Times

Obamamania didn’t last

When Obama was elected the first black president of the U.S. in 2008, a wave of “Obamamania” swept across Africa and the diaspora. By the time Obama visited South Africa, Senegal and Tanzania in 2013, it had worn off. He did not pull off the unrealistic expectations that he would transform Africa’s fortunes. U.S. policy towards Africa lacked consistent Congressional support, and Africa was at the bottom of U.S. policy priorities.

Source: The Guardian

He increased HIV treatment and built hospitals for African Ebola victims

Obama increased the number of people receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS from 1.7 million in 2008 to 6.7 million by 2013. His administration also deployed a 3,000 military personnel to build hospitals in Liberia in 2014 to treat Ebola victims. The disease killed more than 11,000 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.

Source: The Guardian

He is accused of not expanding AGOA

Despite the much hyped African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), 52 percent of African exports to America in 2015 consisted of oil and gas.

Source: The Guardian

He is accused of failing to remake Africa

Africans gradually realized that even a powerful leader in Washington, D.C. with close family ties to Africa could not change decades of neglect on the continent, said Adekeye Adebajo, director of the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa:

“Obama has not only failed to remake Africa, he has also failed to change America and the world. Much of his key achievements – healthcare, the Iran nuclear deal, rapprochement with Cuba – will now almost certainly be dismantled by the incoming Donald Trump administration. The “dreams of our fathers” – recalling the title of Obama’s memorable 1995 memoirs – have now morphed into a ghastly nightmare that could reverse many of the gains of the civil rights struggle. Another “parting of the waves” may soon be needed. Where is our Black Moses?”

Source: The Guardian