Africa doesn't need strong men; it needs strong institutions

Obama's first official trip to Sub-Saharan Africa: destination, Ghana. There's been quite a lot of media coverage on the President's first visit and US's new foreign policy towards Africa. The recurring question is, why Ghana?

Ghana is regarded as a "beacon of good governance" by Obama and others after a transparent election in December 2008 with a peaceful transfer of power from Kufuor's New Patriotic Party to Mill's National Democratic Congress party. While the country's positive economic growth and laudable democratic practices were reasons behind the President's choice to visit Ghana, a significant motive may be the US's thirst for oil in Ghana, who begins production in 2010 and could be the world's seventh largest oil producer in several years. Moreover, in most of Africa's major oil producing countries, oil has served as a curse rather than a blessing to the majority of the population. Ghana could become an exception to Africa's natural resource curse with an active civil society, a record of strong governance, and solid infrastructure. Yet, some such as E. Gyimah-Boadi cautions on using Ghana as a paragon of good governance and democracy noting the disproportionate power of the executive branch and relatedly weak accountability and transparency (see article on Foreign Policy: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/07/10/obamas_dubious_african_example).

Obama's speech emphasized the importance of good governance - how development depends upon good governance and how African themselves must take accountability to achieve this. Most of all, Obama expressed the potential of young people to bring forth changes. He states, "Only this time, we have learned that it will not be giants like Nkrumah and Kenyatta who will determine Africa's future. Instead, it will be you -- the men and women in Ghana's Parliament, and the people you represent. Above all, it will be the young people -- brimming with talent and energy and hope -- who can claim the future that so many in my father's generation never found."