RACE FOR AFRICA

As it turned out, many books about Africa - fiction, documentary and even academic ones - have virtually identical cover design: a lonely acacia against the background of a blood-and-orange-coloured sunrise (or sunset). They are sometimes supplemented with no less lonely human figures (often with a spear or a pitcher). This was spotted by a Simon Stevens who tweeted his observations triggering heated debates in the media on the subject of stereotypes, Orientalism and the theory of "otherness". Africa is perhaps the only continent which is perceived to such an extent through a set of various cliches and, unfortunately, most of them are utterly negative in nature. To an ordinary person from the West, the Black Continent is a mishmash of diverse associations with wildlife, the colonial era, tribes at war with one another, incurable diseases, famine, huge refugee camps, endless interethnic wars and coups. There is practically no romantic and positive image of Africa in our heads. 

Meanwhile, there has been another firm and good association with Africa for a long time. It is incumbent US President Barack Obama, the first Black head of the White House in the history of the country, whose father was born in Kenya. Although Obama never lived in Africa and this is his first visit to Kenya throughout his presidency, the visit of the current Oval Office holder to the Black Continent is an event of absolutely special character. It is all the more so as this time Obama did not neglect the homeland of his father. He talked to his numerous relatives and danced Kenya's traditional dance with President Uhuru Kenyatta, his wife and other officials to the music of the local group Sauti Sol. Many of Obama's critics say that he has not done much for Africa, maybe even less than his predecessors in the presidential office. Nonetheless the attitude towards Obama in Africa is one of esteem and even reverence. Suffice it to mention that the mothers of several newborn boys in Kenya named them in honour of the US president's aircraft: Air Force One Barack Obama. One of the women explained her decision saying that she wanted to remember Obama's visit to Kenya as, according to her, it is a great blessing. A few girls were named in honour of Obama's wife and daughters. In their coverage of their president's visit, US media emphasized that the US president's tour of Africa means not mere talking about but also willing to act towards change. Therefore it is important that Barack Obama speaks to Africans in a language they understand: not as a man from the West who has come to teach them how to live but one who is vitally interested in prosperity of the continent. 

Indeed, Obama was speaking a lot about prosperity to which Africa still has a long way to go, especially during a business summit sponsored in Kenya by Americans. Being rich in minerals including rare metals, diamonds, oil and gas, the continent has a record high number of poorest states. According to the US president, Africa is one of the most rapidly growing regions in the world but this is not felt at all in real life and 70 per cent of its population live below poverty line. African countries fail to depart from the colonial type of the sectoral and territorial structure of their economy which is mainly represented by agriculture and mining industry. The USA promises not to leave Africa in trouble. Observers write that US business that previously focused mainly on the Asian-Pacific zone, Latin America and Europe, is now expected to turn towards Africa. Thus for instance, during his trip, Obama told about plans for free economic growth in Africa, creating new jobs, combat against corruption, investments in education, health care and women's rights. There is nothing sensational in those statements though as such things were voiced before. The same things were said during Obama's tour of Africa two years ago when he visited Senegal, the RSA and Tanzania. Last year, US companies said they were ready to invest more than 30bn dollars in energy, infrastructure, banks, construction and other sectors. This statement was made during a US-Africa summit in Washington which was attended by 40-plus African representatives. Back in 2012, Obama declared a new African strategy of the USA. Since 2013, a new multibillion project - Power Africa - was officially launched which has not started generating power yet. The US initiative is aimed at generating power in countries located to the south of Sahara, primarily Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Liberia, Tanzania and Nigeria. Insufficient power generation in Africa is one of the factors restricting economic growth and investments in most countries of the continent. It is said though that success is hampered by all kinds of red tape, rivalling interests and a number of other factors. 

Meanwhile the Americans have serious rivals in the continent, the Chinese, who are currently the main sources of direct foreign investments for African countries and, as Chinese media wrote, it is just Beijing's activity that scares and urges the USA to take drastic actions. The Chinese need the rapidly growing market of Africa because, despite poverty, deceases and wars, the continent is featuring huge population increase which means about one billion potential consumers, more than 40 per cent of them being younger than 15. The Chinese also have an interest in hydrocarbons and rare-earth metals, a shortage of which can slow down their own economy and they are trying to avoid this. It is noteworthy that China has a number of internal advantages over the USA in its expansion in Africa. The USA cannot issue any orders to their companies whereas Chinese private companies act at the bidding of their government and with powerful support from the state. The Chinese do not care what political regime there is in one country or another or the human rights situation in a country. Businessmen from China focus on short-term projects but often bring their own personnel who then bring their families. Many Chinese like it quite well in Africa. They say that there is much more space and the air is much clearer there. China is involved in long-term projects, too, such as for instance the construction of a railway in Eastern Africa across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. 

Economy is not the only problem on the African-US agenda though. Closely linked to it is the issue of ensuring security. After Kenya, Obama visited Ethiopia where the headquarters of the African Union is based. The US president met leaders of Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan, Kenya and the African Union. They all tried to reach agreement on an action plan in case of failure to meet the time frame of ceasefire in South Sudan which has been torn by a civil conflict since 2013 and is on the brink of humanitarian disaster. The sides discussed sanctions that may be imposed if the opposing sides fail to conclude a peace accord by 17 August. No agreement was reached, which is only natural because an arms embargo can be circumvented while sanctions will most probably hit common people who are already suffering. 

Against this background, Western media are broadly hinting that visiting not too democratic, in the US opinion, Ethiopia and Kenya is a forced measures for Washington (quite recently Kenyan President Kenyatta was charged by the International Criminal Court with crimes against humanity but now the charges have been dropped). In fact, only Kenya and Ethiopia can be relied on in terms of providing security in the region torn by internal conflicts and in which different terrorist groups play the master in cooperation with al-Qa'eda and Islamic State, such as Al-Shabab and Boko Haram. During Obama's visit, blasts went off in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, killing 13 people. The armies of Kenya an Ethiopia which are among the most stable ones in the continent, are in permanent combat against militants in neighbouring Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan. Having ninety million residents, Ethiopia is Africa's second most populated country and it has a chance of becoming a regional military and economic leader. This is especially noteworthy in the light of developments of 30 years ago when famine killed about one million people in the country. The construction of a hydropower station is currently under way in the upper reaches of the Blue Nile - Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam which is to be completed in 2017. That hydropower station will be the biggest on the continent and one of the most powerful in the world. That will definitely set the pace for economic development in the region. It is quite important that Kenya and Ethiopia say that they need US "help with security".

During his first visit to Africa in 2009, Obama said that Africa does not need strong leaders but it needs strong institutions. After six years though, it looks like not everything is so unambiguous. Indeed, strong institution can only be in strong states but there are no truly strong states on the Black Continent now, states having geopolitical resources, capable of giving an example and leading the rest of Africa. During this visit, Obama voiced a new opinion about Africa, namely that the future of the continent is in the hands of Africans themselves. "For too long, I think that many looked to the outside for salvation and focused on somebody else being at fault for the problems of the continent," Obama said.

Indeed, for many years, all troubles of Africa have been blamed on the results of colonialism when the entire continent was divided among European countries and served as an agrarian and raw material producing appendage to the centre. This resulted in the social and economic backwardness, political infantilism, geopolitical feebleness and a wide gap in providing basic human rights and liberties. During the "race for Africa", the borders of African states were mapped artificially and this caused many of the ongoing ethnic and civil wars much like in the Middle East. At issue today is the threat of neo-colonialism where, in fact, the developed countries are again interested only in African resources while unemployed African youth continue either to die of diseases and famine or of civil wars and involvement in radical movements. There is a big question mark whether the Africans will be able to cope with this threat on their own. There is an even bigger question mark whether the first US president with direct roots in the African continent will be able to help them.