Indications emerged recently that reasons for the US President, Barack
Obama not intending to visit Nigeria in his planned second visit to
Africa might not be unconnected to the security challenge rocking
the nation.
Obama will head out on his first major African tour since taking office,
traveling to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania from June 26 to July 3,
the White House said Monday.
The National Security Council announced the trip on its Twitter account,
without immediately offering further details.
Obama, born in the United States to an American mother and a Kenyan father,
has so far only been to one sub-Saharan African country since
becoming president: Ghana, in July 2009.
The trip aims to “reinforce the importance that the United States
places on our deep and growing ties with countries in sub-Saharan
Africa, including through expanding economic growth, investment,
and trade; strengthening democratic institutions; and investing in the
next generation of African leaders,” press secretary Jay Carney said
in a statement.
Obama will meet with officials, businessmen, and civil society leaders,
including youth, in a trip that underscores his “commitment to broadening
and deepening cooperation between the United States and the people of
sub-Saharan Africa to advance regional and global peace and prosperity.”
First Lady Michelle Obama will accompany the president on the trip,
the National Security Council said on its Twitter account.
His wife, however, went on a trip in southern Africa in June 2011,
during which she met former South African president and anti-apartheid
hero Nelson Mandela.
At the end of March, Obama welcomed at the White House his recently
elected Senegalese counterpart, Macky Sall, along with the leaders of
Sierra Leone, Malawi and Cape Verde, lauding them as examples of “
the progress that we are seeing in Africa.”
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