Obama Africa sampler platter

Here's Obama's speech to Ghanaian pariliament:



Hail to the Ohene! Go kente cloth! Although there is nothing terribly shocking in his speech, it is certainly an interesting demonstration of personally asserted Pan Africanism that no other Western head of state that I am aware of has ever been capable of in such a symbolically significant way.


Here's a nice little summary of the Obamas' visit to Cape Coast. I heart Cape Coast.

Lastly, RaceWire (ColorLines blog) recommends the coverage of his trip here.

As much commentary has pointed out, this was a very strategic visit. I am ambivalent about what is going to happen to Ghana once they start pumping oil, even as Obama emphasizes energy innovation in the developing world. I am skeptical about the real benefits of mining black gold, as its track record for benefitting barons without any substative positives (and generally negatives, actually) for the general populace. If anything, such plundering of natural resources generally seems to increase inequality and creates and/or worsens social divisions. We all know how great that is. From an anecdotal standpoint of being there 6 years ago, Ghanaians pride themselves on their peacefulness and the sustenance of what is ostensible democracy relative to regional counterparts. But if competition for resources results in serious conflict I don't know how strong those institutions are in weathering a potential storm which may evolve in a petrolized Ghana.

However, I think I may need to look a bit deeper into the actual policy measures and how this new phase of Ghanaian "development" was conceived before completely passing judgment. At first blush, it smells mighty fishy to moi. Fellow Ghanamerican followers, any thoughts?