Obama’s week-long tour ‘to begin Wed’

Dar es Salaam. The White House has laid out the itinerary for President Barack Obama’s week-long trip to Africa, which starts on Wednesday focusing on economic development, democracy building and private sector investment.

Among the highlights for the president will be bilateral meetings with the leaders of Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania, visits to Senegal’s Supreme Court and the Symbion power plant at Ubungo in Dar es Salaam.

There will also be tours of a slave museum in Gorree Island in Senegal and the site of the prison, where Nelson Mandela was held for two decades on Robben Island.

The centrepiece of the trip will be the president’s speech at the University of Cape Town, where he will deliver a message that the United States intends to significantly boost its presence on the continent, White House officials said.

“The questions we get are, ‘Why has the president not been to Africa more?’” asked deputy national security director Ben Rhodes. “That tracks with our belief that there is extraordinary potential on the continent. If we look back in 20 years, 30 years from now, we may see this as a potentially pivotal moment in which Africa took off.”

Ms Michelle Obama, too, will have a full schedule. She will speak to girls at a Senegal middle school and with students at a South African high school, and she will participate in a First Ladies summit hosted by the George W Bush Institute in Dar es Salaam.

Former First Lady Laura Bush also will participate, along with First Ladies of African nations, officials said. The trip marks Obama’s first extended visit to sub-Saharan Africa since he took office in 2009.

His only other visit was a one-day stop in Ghana that year. White House aides emphasised that the administration sees the continent as a fast-emerging region where other nations, including China, Brazil and Turkey, have vastly expanded their investments. Six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies are in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mr Obama will bring along several of his top economic aides, including US trade representative Michael Froman, and also a group of business leaders to help promote trade and investment.

The White House rejected the notion advanced by African policy experts in Washington and in Africa that the administration’s economic and diplomatic initiatives had been overshadowed by the US military’s increased focus on counterterrorism operations, including new drone bases on the continent.

“It’s a holistic approach to strengthen democratic institutions, including economic growth and security and development,” said Mr Grant Harris, director of African Affairs for the National Security Council.