President Barack Obama arrived in East Africa with no big American aid packages, no ramped up U.S. military resources for fighting terror groups and no new initiatives with billions in government backing.
Instead, he brought a frank message on democracy, corruption and security that could perhaps be delivered only by a Western leader viewed in Africa as a local son.
“The future of Africa is up to Africans,” Obama said during a trip to Kenya and Ethiopia that concluded Tuesday. “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.”
“He is someone who is broadly respected by not just the leaders, but the peoples of these countries, especially young populations who make up an increasing percentage of these countries,” said Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser. “So, for that reason, I think people pay close attention to what he has to say.”
“That doesn’t mean that they’re going to agree with everything he says, but I think he can lay out a direction that he thinks the U.S.-African partnership can go in,” Rhodes added.
Indeed, Obama closed his East Africa swing with a blunt accounting of the risks facing the fast-growing continent. He compared Africa’s large youth population to the Middle East, warning that without jobs and prospects for the future, young Africans are more likely to be drawn to terrorism.
He warned of the “cancer of corruption” that runs rampant through some African governments, a problem he said only the continent’s leaders could solve.
ref:usnews
