From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sat Feb 21 2009 - 16:57:38 EST
Africans here buoyed by Obama's election
'UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY' | Immigrants claim him as their own
21, 2009
BY MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA Staff Reporter mihejirika@suntimes.com
America's election of a half-African president has sparked new hope and
high expectations for U.S.-Africa relations within Chicago's diverse
African communities.
But the promise of change that buoyed Barack Obama to the presidency
won't extend to Africa unless its more than 2 million immigrants in the
United States galvanize to demand it become a higher priority, African
leaders here say.
"The election of Barack Obama has provided a unique opportunity to frame
U.S.-Africa policy discourse," said Alie Kabba of Sierra Leone, head of
Chicago's United African Organization, a coalition of community groups
representing countries from Ethiopia to Tanzania. "To take advantage of
this opportunity, we must be able to organize key constituencies here
and in Africa around the issues ... in a way that African voices are
heard in efforts of the new administration."
Though census figures provide only estimates with wide margins of error
for the numbers of people in Chicago from African nations, the largest
numbers, city officials say, appear to be from Nigeria and Ghana,
followed by Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Liberia.
Leaders of those communities claim Obama, the son of a Kenyan father, as
their own, describing him as African-American in the truest sense. But
now they are looking to him for U.S. policy that more than any president
before him will engage Africa to address trade, health, education and
human rights concerns.
"We're hopeful he will crack in a very meaningful way the big issues --
the wars in Darfur and the Congo, the political situation in the Horn of
Africa," said Mukila Maitha of Kenya, president of the United Kenyan
Organization. "Just pushing for democratic governments and respect of
the rule of law -- he did so as a senator when he addressed the crisis
in Kenya. We're hopeful he will continue that type of thing."
Some Africans here also hope to see the African Growth and Opportunity
Act expanded, greater market access here for businesses in Africa, and a
push for more investment in Africa by American companies.
"There is a huge trade deficit between our countries," said Nomvume P.
Magaqa, South Africa's consul general in Chicago.
Others said Obama will be held to a higher standard after the successes
President George W. Bush had in increasing U.S. aid through programs
like the $15 billion President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and in
canceling billions in African debt. Bush's administration was also first
to label Darfur a "genocide."
Still, Africa's most-pressing problems -- including authoritarian
regimes, poverty, lack of access to capital and poor infrastructure that
hinders development -- will take years to address, others cautioned.
"Africa's struggle with poverty is legendary and will not be overcome
during Obama's term in office," said Clement Adibe, a DePaul University
political science professor from Nigeria. "But the Obama administration,
perhaps more than any before it, should be vocal in supporting and
promoting democratic rule. He has the advantage many before him didn't.
His heritage immunes him from the charge of racism and neocolonialism
that Africa's despots will heap on him."
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1443112,CST-NWS-africa22.art
icle