Obama to visit Africa – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry

A younger Barack Obama with his grandmother during his first trip to Africa to visit the family of his father, Barack Obama, Sr. PHOTO/Maya Soetoro-Ng

The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced Wednesday in remarks to a congressional committee that President Barack Obama will be travelling to Africa.

Kerry offered no specifics or details regarding the timing and itinerary of the trip.

The announcement comes as concerns grow in Washington about China’s role in sub-Saharan Africa, pressure has been mounting for President Obama to pay more direct attention to the continent.

Obama, the first African-American President of the United States, spent less than one day in Black Africa during his first visit in office four years ago, he had made a stopover in Ghana in July 2009.

It has been speculated that Obama is unlikely to visit Kenya as long as President Uhuru Kenyatta remains under indictment by the International Criminal Court – US-based Kenya scholar Joel Barkan told the Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper in March, that the chances of Obama travelling to Kenya in the coming year remain “relatively remote.”

Secretary Kerry meanwhile announced on Thursday that he will attend the African Union summit to be held in Ethiopia next month. “We have a lot to do” in regard to US-Africa relations, Mr Kerry added in his comments to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“China is now significantly out-investing the United States in Africa,” he told the senators.

(More: America’s Lost Opportunities in Africa)

China is viewed more favorably on the continent than the Western powers as a business partner. The Chinese model favors trade, as opposed to the Western aid model – which many in Africa, believe has had a negative impact to growth on the continent.