Ethiopian Review

ACCRA – US President Barak Obama told Africans on Saturday that Western aid must be matched by good governance as he called for greater responsibility in stamping out war, corruption and disease plaguing the continent.

Mr Obama delivered the message on his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa since taking office in January as the first black US president.

He chose stable, democratic Ghana based on his view it can serve as a model for the rest of Africa.

Fresh from a G8 summit where leaders agreed to spend $20 billion to improve food security in poor countries, Mr Obama stressed that while the United States was ready to help, Africans must take a leading role in sorting out their vast array of problems.

“Development depends upon good governance,” Mr Obama said in a speech to Ghana’s parliament.

“That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long. That is the change that can unlock Africa’s potential. And that is a responsibility that can only be met by Africans.”

Mr Obama said he had pledged substantial increases in foreign assistance.

“But the true sign of success is not whether we are a source of aid that helps people scrape by – it is whether we are partners in building the capacity for transformational change,” he said in a speech greeted by repeated bursts of applause.

Detailed view
In an address that offered the most detailed view of his Africa policy, he took aim at corruption and rights abuses rampant across the continent, warning that growth and development would be retarded until such problems were tackled.

“No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers. No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top,” Mr Obama said.

The visit has enormous resonance for Africa because of Mr Obama’s roots as the son of Kenyan immigrant.

“We like the positive signals that this visit is sending and will continue to send,” said Ghanaian President John Atta Mills, elected in a transparent election that contrasted with stereotypes of chaos, coups and corruption in Africa.

“This encourages us also to sustain the gains that we have made in our democratic process.”

Economic reforms in the cocoa and gold producing country, set to begin pumping oil next year, also helped bring unprecedented investment and growth before the impact of the global financial crisis.

“We don’t allow one president to rule for 30 years. This should be evidence to other countries that it can be done,” said tax official Nii Dodoo, 41, among the crowds on the streets of Accra.

Walls and utility poles were plastered with posters of side-by-side portraits of Obama and Mills and the word “change” — the mantra of Obama’s presidential election campaign.

Ghanaians in bright yellow T-shirts showing Obama next to Mr Mills hoped for a glimpse of Obama, a hero on the continent because of his roots as the son of a Kenyan immigrant.

But tight security meant only a few got the chance to cheer him.

- Reuters