Skip to main content

Obama begins Africa tour in Senegal

The BBC's Thomas Fessy says Senegal has been an "important security partner" for the US
US President Barack Obama has arrived in Senegal on the first leg of a three-nation tour of Africa.
It is Mr Obama's second visit to the continent since he became president.
He is hoping to boost economic ties with the African countries and promote good governance - all the countries he is visiting have stable democracies.
The South African leg of his trip is expected to be overshadowed by the continuing critical condition of former President Nelson Mandela.
The White House has said it will defer to the wishes of Mr Mandela's family over whether Mr Mandela is well enough to receive a visit from him in hospital.
Mr Obama is visiting Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania, excluding Kenya, where his father was born, and Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil-producer which has been hit by an Islamist insurgency.
'Combat corruption'

Goree: Slave island

  • 16-19 Century: Slaves shipped from Goree
  • 1776: Slave House built
  • 1978: Designated World Heritage Site
  • Notable visitors: Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, George W Bush
US officials said the indictment of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at the International Criminal Court on charges of fuelling violence after the 2007 election, which he denies, made it politically impossible for Mr Obama to visit the country, the AFP news agency reports.
Crowds welcomed Mr Obama's motorcade in Senegal's capital, Dakar, on Thursday cheering and waving homemade signs as he made his way to the presidential palace for a meeting with President Macky Sall, the Associated Press news agency reports.
Some in the crowd drummed and sang outside the palace gates, as Mr Sall and his wife, Marieme Faye Sall, welcomed them, it reports.
Mr Obama's decision to visit Senegal, a mainly Muslim country which is politically stable, was to acknowledge the strides it made in achieving democracy, correspondents say.
He is due to visit the Supreme Court to speak about the importance of an independent judiciary and the rule of law in Africa's development.
"It's not enough to have elections, it's not enough to have democratically elected leaders. You need to have independent judiciaries. You need to have confidence in the rule of law. You need to have efforts to combat corruption,'' Mr Obama's foreign policy adviser Ben Rhodes is quoted by AP as saying.
"You need to have efforts to combat corruption because, frankly, not only is that good for democracy and respect for human rights, but it's critical to Africa's economic growth."
Mr Obama, along with his wife and children, will also travel by ferry to Senegal's Goree Island, a memorial to Africans who were caught up in the Atlantic slave trade.
The visit is expected to be emotional because Mr Obama is the son of an African and Michelle Obama is a descendant of slaves, correspondents say.
"A visit like this by an American President, any American President, is powerful," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
"I think that will be the case when President Obama visits and I'm sure particularly so, given that he is African American."
On Sunday, Mr Obama is expected to visit Robben Island, where Mr Mandela was jailed for 18 of the 27 years he spent in prison, on the second leg of his African tour.
However, it is unclear whether the visit will take place because of Mr Mandela's deteriorating health, correspondents say.
Mr Obama is due to end his African tour with a visit to Tanzania, where he will lay a memorial outside the US embassy in the main city, Dar es Salaam, in honour of 11 people killed in a bombing by al-Qaeda in 1998.

Popular posts from this blog

CNN Poll: Judging the Supreme Court

- As the Supreme Court gets ready to issue opinions on some high profile and contentious cases, a new national poll indicates Americans are split on whether the high court is doing a good job. According to a CNN/ORC International survey released Thursday morning, 48% of the public say they approve of the job the Supreme Court's doing, with an equal amount saying they disapprove. There is, however, an ideological divide. Fifty-three percent of liberals and 58% of moderates, but only 37% of conservatives, say that they approve of the court. "That's probably a reaction to last year's decision on Barack Obama's health care law," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. In a closely watched ruling, the court upheld the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, last June. "Before that ruling, most conservatives supported the Supreme Court, compared to only 44% of liberals. Now, most liberals approve of the court, with most co...
Read more

Who are the Niger Delta Avengers?

(Franks.) With a name that sounds like it has come from the pages of a superhero comic book, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) is the latest militant group to emerge in Nigeria – attacking oil installations in a campaign which threatens the economy of Africa’s most populous state. “We are a group of educated and well-travelled individuals that are poised to take the Niger Delta struggle to new heights that has never been seen in this nation before,” the NDA proclaimed in one of their first statement’s on their website in April. “We have well-equipped human resources to meet this goal.” It was not an idle threat. The NDA has carried out a barrage of attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta region, causing a huge decline in oil production, which is the mainstay of the West African state’s economy. “The renewed activities of the militants in the Niger Delta are seriously affecting our oil production,” Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun admitted on state-owned NTA tele...
Read more

75 Killed In Mozambique After Taking Local Beer

75 Killed In Mozambique After Taking Local Beer Seventy five people have been reportedly killed in Mozambique following consumption of local beer. The Mozambican health authorities confirmed on Wednesday, November 4, that contamination resulted in the beer tragedy Chitima, Tete province, in the northwest of the country in January. It was earlier speculated that the poisoning were intentional, however, the ministry’s disclosure disproves all speculation. Xinhua news agency reports that the results of tested samples from the drink, locally known as “Pombe”, were made public on Wednesday in Maputo by the Ministry of Health. The tests were done in the United States, after South Africa failed to determine the causes of the deaths. Ilesh Jani, the director of the National Health Institute (INS), who presented the results at a news conference, told newsmen that the investigation into the samples started immediately after the deaths, as well as the treatment of...
Read more