In Africa, Obama's Hot on Xi's Trail

The United States has a lot of catching up to do, especially given the Obama administration relative indifference to Sub-Saharan Africa to date. Obama himself has visited the region only once during his presidency, touching down in Ghana for a few hours back in 2009. In Africa more generally, the administration’s focus has been on security issues in northern Africa, not economic with Sub-Saharan Africa. Even when senior officials like Hillary Clinton visited the more economically dynamic parts of Africa, she gave the impression the U.S. was more interested in balancing China than engaging the region for its own sake. President Obama’s trip this week is seeking to change all this. Stopping in eastern and southern Africa exclusively, the White House has said that economic issues will dominate the trip, with a lesser focus on governance issues. America’s security concerns are likely to barely merit mention.