PHOTO | SAUL LOEB US President Barack Obama speaks following a CEO
roundtable forum with regional and US business leaders in Dar es Salaam,
on July 1, 2013.
AFP
By AFP
In Summary
- Obama and Bush to lay a wreath at a memorial to those killed in a US embassy bombing
- The bombing of the US embassy in Tanzania which killed 11 people was timed to coincide with a separate attack on the US embassy in the Kenyan capital Nairobi that left 213 dead and several thousand wounded
- Tanzania, the final leg of an three-nation continental tour, is the kind of African democracy, aided by US health and infrastructure programs, that Washington wants to see duplicated in a region scarred by poor governance
- Throughout his Africa journey, which also included South Africa and Senegal, Obama has implicitly touted US-style investment and partnership as superior to Beijing's own Africa push, arguing US firms do more to build local economic capacity
DAR ES SALAAM
US President Barack Obama ends his Africa tour
Tuesday, with an unusual double act with his predecessor George W. Bush,
whose HIV/AIDS program saved millions of lives on the continent.
Democrat Obama and Republican Bush will together
lay a wreath at a memorial to those killed in a US embassy bombing here
in 1998, in an appearance the White House says is proof that both
feuding parties care about Africa.
Obama will also visit the Ubungo power plant,
after unveiling a new $7-billion programme, a mix of private and public
funds, loan guarantees and other instruments, to boost African electric
power networks.
The initiative is designed to improve
infrastructure to incentivise foreign firms to invest and to improve
conditions for Africans seeking the kind of education that would help
them compete in a global marketplace.
Bush is in the country for a forum of regional
First Ladies, hosted by his wife Laura, which will also be attended by
Michelle Obama.
Obama came to power lambasting the former
president over the Iraq war and his economic policies, but White House
aides say they now have a good personal relations -- aided by Bush's
decision not to publicly criticise his successor.
But even Bush's political foes praise him for his plan to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which is now a decade old.
"This is one of his crowning achievements," Obama said Monday.
"Because of the commitment of the Bush
administration and the American people, millions of people's lives have
been saved," Obama said.
Delighted crowds thronged Obama when he arrived on
Monday, free to drive home the message that he wanted to help "Africa
to build Africa, for Africans" after days paying tribute to his ailing
political hero Nelson Mandela.
As well as the power plan, Obama is pushing
initiatives to boost regional trade with America, to tear down customs
and border logjams delaying exports and to save Africa's endangered
elephants and rhinos.
Tanzania, the final leg of an three-nation
continental tour, is the kind of African democracy, aided by US health
and infrastructure programs, that Washington wants to see duplicated in a
region scarred by poor governance.
"Ultimately the goal here is for Africa to build
Africa, for Africans," Obama said after talks with Tanzanian President
Jakaya Kikwete.
"And our job is to be a partner in that process,
and Tanzania's been one of our best partners," Obama said, saying that
"we are looking at a new model that's based not just on aid and
assistance".
It did not escape Washington's notice that Xi
Jinping included Tanzania on his first foreign trip as president of
China in March.
Throughout his Africa journey, which also included
South Africa and Senegal, Obama has implicitly touted US-style
investment and partnership as superior to Beijing's own Africa push,
arguing US firms do more to build local economic capacity.
When Air Force One touched down after a flight
from Cape Town in Dar es Salaam, Obama was serenaded by marching bands
in red tunics and traditional dancers clapping as a guard of honor
blasted off a 21-gun salute.
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