Obama Visits East Africa

For the first time since becoming president, Barack Obama visited Kenya, the birthplace of the President’s father, and Ethiopia, the country with the second-largest population in Africa. The trip, which took place in late July, marked the latest of U.S. attempts to reinforce and promote security in East Africa. It also illustrated U.S. efforts to counterbalance China’s strong ties with many African nations, although America appears to be late in the game.

Before this visit, Obama had only visited a handful of African states on just two trips. One took him to Ghana in 2009, while the other one in 2013 included Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania. Obama’s most recent voyage demonstrated U.S. interest in supporting East Africa, one of the most politically tumultuous regions on the continent.

The problems faced by Kenya and Ethiopia are illustrative of the security concerns common across East Africa. Kenya displays high levels of corruption. According to a study carried out in 2010 by Transparency International, 45 percent of those interviewed reported paying bribes sometime that year. Likewise, in Ethiopia, political corruption represents the main issue: the recently elected president won over 99 percent of the votes in parliamentary elections; the opposition party did not receive a single seat. Moreover, in both countries, the threat of Islamic terrorism, perpetrated by the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab, which controls large swaths neighboring Somalia, presents a  constant threat.

In several speeches during the visit, Obama advocated for improvements in the level of democratic governance in both countries, lauding transparency as the only way to gain legitimacy, and reinforcing this support with strong commitments against terrorist efforts.

The topic on the minds of global commentators was the Obama administration’s underlying geopolitical strategy in counterbalancing Chinese influence in the region. In Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia and home to the African Union’s headquarter, which was built by a Chinese company, Obama called for more commercial and economic partnerships between the African nations  and the U.S.. 

Despite some domestic criticism toward Obama’s visit, the U.S. continues to forge closer ties with the continent. This visit marks a follow-up to the American efforts that began with the U.S.-Africa Summit in August 2014 when Obama hosted most African heads of state in Washington, D.C..