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Paradigm shift empasizing trade instead of aid – as Obama proposes a new approach to US – Africa relations.
“Ultimately, the goal here is for Africa to build Africa for Africans,” Obama said. “And our job is to be a partner in that process.”
Hundreds of young people lined the streets wearing T-shirts and sarongs bearing images of Obama in the biggest welcome of his three-country visit to Africa. The crowds forced Obama’s motorcade to slow at times as it sped along a main thoroughfare that’s been permanently renamed “Barack Obama Drive” — a sign that the visit from America’s first president of African descent has resonated deeply with Tanzania’s people.
Obama called it an “incredible welcome” on his first visit to Tanzania, which borders his father’s homeland of Kenya.
“I feel a special connection to this country,” Obama said, adding that some of his father’s family spent time in Tanzania. “I want to ensure you that love is reciprocated and given back in return.”
Obama and Kikwete met privately at the Tanzanian State House, an ocean-front government complex that includes the presidential offices. They then held a news conference on the lush grounds outside, with bunting in the colours of the American and Tanzanian flags lining balconies above.
While in Tanzania, Obama launched a trade partnership initially focused on the eastern African countries of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda — a region of more than 130 million people. The program is designed to boost trade among those countries and with the United States. Among the impediments to trade that the U.S. intends to alleviate are physical roadblocks that delay the transport of goods and products. As an example, Michael Froman, the U.S. trade representative who is travelling with Obama, told reporters it takes 42 days to export coffee out of Rwanda, compared to 14 days out of Colombia.
In remarks to a gathering of African CEOs, Obama urged African governments to wipe out the corruption he says hampers trade.
