Obama competing with China to secure African support

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-07-26

President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya visits the Mombasa Nairobi Railway built
by China Communications Construction on Jan. 24, 2014. (Photo/Xinhua)

President Barack Obama of the United States, on visiting Kenya, the birthplace of his father, is competing with China for diplomatic support from African nations, according to Duowei News, an outlet operated by overseas Chinese.

Obama began his four-day visit to Kenya and Ethiopia on July 24, the first time he has visited the country as US president and nine years after he visited the country while a senator. Bloomberg's White House correspondent Margaret Talev noted that Obama on that occasion traveled to the village of Kogelo, the birthplace of Barack Obama Sr, for lunch with his grandmother and a visit to his father's grave. The senator mixed with locals and took an HIV test to encourage others to do likewise.

Obama is not visiting the village this time. Talev said the logistics of presidential travel and security concerns will keep Obama mostly confined to the capital Nairobi.

This is Obama's fourth trip to Africa after taking office and many on the continent expect the first US president from an African-American background to invest more resources into the region.

Pointing out that the combined economy of sub-Saharan Africa has doubled over the last 15 years and now stands at more than US$1 trillion, Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, said the United States is missing out on the opportunity this dynamism presents. Africa's imports of goods equaled US$194 billion in 2013, of which the US provided US$8.7 billion — less than 5% of the total and one-third of China's share, he noted.

Kenny said US direct investment in African stocks of US$31 billion represents 13% of total stocks. However, it is growing only at half the rate of Japan's regional stock investments and one-quarter of China's from 2001 to 2012.

Barack Obama reuniting with his family

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"The End of History"- Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Text-Version)

" .... Africa

Let me tell you where else it's happening that you are unaware - that which is the beginning of the unity of the African states. Soon the continent will have what they never had before, and when that continent is healed and there is no AIDS and no major disease, they're going to want what you have. They're going to want houses and schools and an economy that works without corruption. They will be done with small-minded leaders who kill their populations for power in what has been called for generations "The History of Africa." Soon it will be the end of history in Africa, and a new continent will emerge.

Be aware that the strength may not come from the expected areas, for new leadership is brewing. There is so much land there and the population is so ready there, it will be one of the strongest economies on the planet within two generations plus 20 years. And it's going to happen because of a unifying idea put together by a few. These are the potentials of the planet, and the end of history as you know it.

In approximately 70 years, there will be a black man who leads this African continent into affluence and peace. He won't be a president, but rather a planner and a revolutionary economic thinker. He, and a strong woman with him, will implement the plan continent-wide. They will unite. This is the potential and this is the plan. Africa will arise out the ashes of centuries of disease and despair and create a viable economic force with workers who can create good products for the day. You think China is economically strong? China must do what it does, hobbled by the secrecy and bias of the old ways of its own history. As large as it is, it will have to eventually compete with Africa, a land of free thinkers and fast change. China will have a major competitor, one that doesn't have any cultural barriers to the advancement of the free Human spirit.. ...."