Don't Rush to Judgement on Obama's Africa Legacy

Even if we choose to see the glass as half full rather than half empty, we can’t be naive. Most of the Obama-era African initiatives remain more aspirational than demonstrable, but they generally contain core elements essential to Africa’s transformation process. Will they yield strongly positive results along the lines of Bush’s PEPFAR and Millennium Challenge Corporation? At this point, we can hope, but we cannot accurately judge. Power Africa, DBIA, YALI — these initiatives are built around long-term investments in Africa. They are not traditional aid and assistance programs. They are not blank checks. Could they come up short in the long run? Absolutely. But they are the kinds of development programs that open up current and future transformation pathways.