President Obama is set to arrive in Ghana this weekend for his first trip to Sub-Saharan Africa. Symbolically this is probably an important moment but in terms of actual policy, or even politics, it probably means very little. Ghana is, as Texas in Africa points out in this smart synthesis of the previews of Obama’s visit and the coverage of it, a safe place for a first trip, but as a result is probably not an especially meaningful, or at least tangibly impactful, one.
Ghanaians are nonetheless excited for Obama’s visit and preparations have been underway for some time. As is, natch, Bono. For all of the excitement, though, it does seem right to ask what Obama plans to do for Africa, or for Africans, or for individual African nation states, or however you want to phrase it. And perhaps Obama will use Ghana as a backdrop to announce future initiatives or to expand on the promises he and other leaders made to poor nations at the just wrapped G8 summit in Italy.
Obama kanga from Tanzania
The image (also from Texas in Africa) is of an Obama kanga from Tanzania, which is available for purchase from Simply Tanzanian.