Bloomberg Politics quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on the significance of President Obama’s upcoming visit to Kenya:
This will be Obama’s fourth trip to the continent since taking office — the most of any sitting US president — yet many in Africa expected the first black president and the son of a Kenyan would invest more time and US resources into strengthening ties on the continent.
“Africa in general expected a great deal out of the Obama administration,” said J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council in Washington. “No place expected more than Kenya, birthplace of his father. So the failure to visit Kenya up to now has sort of cast a shadow that’s hung over the administration’s engagement with Africa.”