Obama in Ghana: Partnership with Africa

Posted: Monday, July 13, 2009 Author: Natalie Matthews

President Obama’s address in Ghana had a theme of responsibility which was acknowledged by both Western and African news outlets. He began his speech with “the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans.” Obama spoke of a partnership between the United States and Africa, and he described it as “grounded in mutual responsibility and mutual respect.” He acknowledged the role outside powers have played in contributing to Africa’s current situation but placed responsibility on Africans for the problems that resulted in such things as the diverging fortunes of South Korea and Kenya.

Obama highlighted democracy, opportunity, health and the peaceful resolution of conflict in his speech. On the subject of conflict resolution, Obama welcomed the steps the African Union and ECOWAS have taken and encouraged “the vision of a strong, regional security architecture that can bring effective, transnational forces to bear when needed.” He placed genocide in Darfur and terrorists in Somalia in perspective as a global security challenges demanding a global response. Obama used this as an opportunity to clearly state, “Our Africa Command is focused not on establishing a foothold in the continent, but on confronting these common challenges to advance the security of America, Africa, and the world.”

Though Obama’s speech will not silence the critics who assert his visit to Ghana was motivated by its recent discovery of oil and desire to establish a military base, the focus of his speech on democracy and good governance should assuage the fears of Africans worried about a militarization of US policy. The themes of Obama’s speech fit the hopes of writers like Salim Lone for a US focus on civil society that will “encourage the emergence of a progressive group of African leaders who can become indigenous models for democratic, accountable and inclusive governance- which alone will ensure African, as well as global and American, security.”