Not even a relatively peaceful election earlier this year is enough to tempt Obama back to his ancestral homeland. The big problem is the winner, Uhuru Kenyatta, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity at the international criminal court (no matter that the US is yet to sign up to the ICC).
Tanzania is hailed for its democratic ideals, but more so for its relative peace and ethnic harmony among its more than 100 tribes. Senegal is hailed as a key US ally in West Africa, and successful elections and transition last year reinforced the country’s reputation as a beacon of hope in the region. South Africa is of
course the biggest economy in the continent, with about 14 times the size of Kenya’s economy, and it’s not hard to see why it could not be ignored.
However, many also feel that Obama-and by extension the US- has neglected Africa, and so far, he has spent less than 24 hours in Sub-Saharan Africa- a trip to Ghana in 2009.
"He's totally neglecting Africa," says Koffi Kouakou, a Johannesburg-based political commentator who spent eight years in the US. "There's not enough time to catch up. It's a strategic neglect that is going to be costing America big time, Koffi tells The Guardian newspaper.
China, in particular, has been both a driver and beneficiary of Africa's economic growth. It overtook the US as Africa's biggest trading partner four years ago and its blunt infrastructure-for-minerals approach has won friends and influenced people. Some governments have welcomed a lack of "preaching" on human rights, pointing out that America's own record is chequered.
However, at the same time, in the past few months, aid from
the US
has increased. Through the USAID, Kenya
is set to receive 50 million dollars to improve governance at the county level,
and tens of millions of dollars will also be donated by the US government to improve reading and literacy
skills in Kenyan Primary school children. So, is it a
case of the US publicly
shunning Kenya,
while privately supporting it?
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