Neglected

HE HAS taken more than six years, but on July 24th Barack Obama is to arrive in Kenya on his first trip to his father’s home country since he became president in 2009 (see article). This less-than-hasty filial visit has fed the long-running criticism that America’s first black president has neglected Africa.

That is not entirely fair. Last month Mr Obama overcame gridlock in Washington, DC, to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a Bill Clinton-era law that lets Africans sell many goods tariff-free to America. That will benefit millions of Africans in the next ten years. And Mr Obama has some schemes to his name. One of the most promising is Power Africa, a public-private partnership to tackle one of Africa’s greatest constraints by building electricity plants. Even so, the critics have a point. In a continent of 1.1 billion souls that includes five of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world, China is making more of a splash than America.

During his...

from The Economist: Leaders http://ift.tt/1VAk3Sn