OBAMA SPECIAL: At the end of it all, Obama leaves a mixed legacy in Africa

The first African American to be elected President of the United States

What you need to know:

  • Analysts say because of American economic and security interests, other regions of the world took precedence during Obama’s time in office
  • After eight years at the helm, the 44th President of the United States of America leaves a mark across the globe, but in his father’s homeland what this man has and has not achieved remains a contentious issue

Dar es Salaam. Eight years ago, exactly this month, Africans across the world were full of pride and excitement. The son of the continent, Barack Obama, took over the helm of the most powerful country in the world.

In Kenya, where Obama’s father came from, his victory was welcomed by a public holiday to celebrate his success and ties to the country. There was euphoria across the continent that was seasoned with the hope that with Obama in the White House, the continent’s welfare will receive due attention.

Now, as he is packing his belongings and vacating the White House to give room to President-elect Donald Trump, all eyes are focused on his legacy, including what he has accomplished for Africa.

The pertinent question is, has Obama’s presidency lived to the expectations of the majority of Africans?

Africa’s expectations from Obama “are valid,” Michael Orwa, a development and international affairs expert at the United States International University-Africa in Nairobi told Quartz Africa magazine recently. But Obama, he says, was not “an African envoy to the US”, but the US president whose primary responsibility was to the American people and US strategic interests.

“These he has delivered on, even when they seem to conflict with Africa’s best interest,” Mr Orwa said.

According to Prof Mwesiga Baregu, a political science and international relations don at the St Augustine University, Africans went overboard to expect that as a president of US Obama would bring about key changes in Africa’s development challenges. 

“At the end we can vividly see that George W. Bush did more for the continent, in terms of aid, than Obama. Unlike the majority’s expectations, Obama has failed to leave behind even half of the mark that the people of Africa had dreamed of eight years ago,” he said.

Prof Baregu also took an issue with Obama for his role in the Libyan crisis and the downfall of Muammar Ghaddafi.

“The US fueled the Libyan unrest, and the country disintegrated into pieces. Now Libya has gone down from an economic boom to a state of lawlessness. It has become another Somalia and Obama can’t escape the blame for the way he meddled in the conflict and the mess he is leaving behind,” Prof Baregu who has authored a book and written academic papers on regional conflict analysis and resolutions, said.

Foreign affairs lecturer from the Mozambique-Tanzania Centre for Foreign Relations (CFR) Amani Gonde said some Africans expected the impossible from Obama.

 “In Kenya they celebrated his victory by holding a public holiday, something which was not even done in the US. Africans completely opted to forget that Obama was an American [and not an African by nationality], standing for his country’s interests and not otherwise,” he said.

According to Mr Gonde, Obama was liberal president who was more interested in maintaining stronger diplomatic and business ties and only dish out development aid where it was really needed.

“He was also controlled by his country’s interest and foreign policy preferences, and that is why he kept on pouring defence and security support to Africa mainly for the defeat of terrorists,” he said adding, “The Libya unrest is a complicated matter, and it’s not fair to cast all the blame at Obama. There are some African countries which even voted for the no fly zone and invasion of Libya. The western powers under the umbrella of Nato were all determined to oust Ghaddafi.”

According to a CFR lecturer Innocent Shoo, when Obama was taking office in 2009, the US was coming out of its worst recession since the 1930s Great Depression.

“As a result, he devoted his energy and time to fix the American economic problems by stimulating the economy back to the line. He had to ensure jobs are created and companies are not closing down. At the same time, he had to significantly cut down the development aid budget and Africa became the first victim,” he said.

According to estimates funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for democracy assistance to Africa has declined more than 40 per cent since 2009.

Mr Shoo, however, notes that as early as in his first visit in Sub Saharan Africa visit in Ghana on July 2009, Obama laid bare what kind of Africa he wanted.

“The Africa that would provide solutions to African problems without waiting for support from the West. The Africa that would become US’s trading partner and not just aid recipient.” he said.

“We must start with a simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans,” said Obama as he was addressing the Ghanaian parliament adding that “The West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants.”

He went on in other occasions to say the continent needs strong institutions and not strong men.

Just like his predecessors who started flagship projects like the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) under President Bill Clinton (which has been extended to 2025) or the creation of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM)—the US military headquarters for the continent—by President George W. Bush.

Obama engaged the continent youth by establishing the Mandela Washing Fellowship, aimed at nurturing the continent’s future leaders and policy makers.

Also there’s a flagship Power Africa project operating 35 countries aiming at connecting more people with electricity. The aim is to make 60 new million connections in Africa and generating 30,000 Megawatts (MW). In Tanzania alone, transactions worth $212.2 million (Sh445.6 billion) have been made in three projects, Kinyerezi (gas) Kiwira (hydro) and NextGen/Kigoma (solar) and when they all became operational in late 2017 they will generate a total of 165MW.