Podcast Transcript

11 July 2009
President Obama's SMS Question responses

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Africa is vital to our security interests. Consequently, we asked people from all around Africa to submit questions about my administration's priorities for USA policy in Africa. Hundreds of people submitted questions by text, on Twitter, by e-mail, on over other social networking sites. We asked a panel of African journalists based in Washington to select three questions for me to respond to. Thanks to each of you who submitted questions.

The first question was selected by Angela Quintal of Independent Newspapers, Pertoria, South Africa.

"Mr. President, congratulations and welcome to Africa. Sir, what plan do you have to encourage Africans that are doing well all over the world to return home and contribute to the growth of Africa economically, politically, etcetera? Thank you."
From Prince Samuel Nagana, Abuja Nigeria.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, Samuel, I think that the most important thing we can do to get young people back to Africa is for them to feel that they've got a future, that they've got opportunity in Africa. And this is where the issues of governance are so important. Unfortunately, so many young people feel that either economic opportunities are blocked or limited because of the fact that they may have to pay a bribe in order to get a job, they may see the government mismanaging the economy or being too heavy handed in it.

If people feel that -- rule of law exists. If people feel that once they get a good education they can start a business or they can advance economically without being well connected or other criteria that really have nothing to do with their skills and their abilities, then they're going to be, I think, eager to seek those opportunities wherever they can find them.

And as imperfect as other parts of the world are, including my country, the United States, I think people still feel that opportunities are greater there because of better governance. This is why my foreign policy is going to be emphasizing the importance of governance in Africa. I think we can make enormous progress. And I think you can see a reversal of the brain drain that's been such a hampering effect on development in Africa.

The second question selected by Mamadou Chor (phonetic) of RTS, Dakar, Senegal.

"Mr. President, you didn't choose haphazardly to visit Ghana. This country is undoubtedly a good example and even a pride when we talk about democracy in Africa. Do you think democracy is a challenge Africans should take up or a behavior they should adopt?"
From Niger.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, I think you're exactly right. I chose to go to Ghana in part because of the tremendous work they've done in developing a functioning democracy. President Mills was elected in a very close election. But both he as the victor and his opponent behaved, in terms of transferring power, recognizing the elections, exactly how we want a democracy to operate, without violence, respecting the rule of law, respecting election results. And this is one of the great strengths of Ghana, because when you are able to see peaceful transitions of power, when people feel that their voices are heard, then government works better, it has greater legitimacy, the private sector in civil society feels that it has a stake in making things work.

And as a consequence, Ghana's development, I think, has shown itself to be superior to some countries that don't have these solid democratic institutions. It's something that I think we've seen throughout Africa. Where you've got governments that work that aren't based on ethnicity and tribe, but rather based on rule of law, then they're better at fighting corruption, people have a greater commitment to making things work, and everybody prospers.

So we hope that Ghana will continue to serve as an outstanding example of democracy in Africa. And we hope that that example is spread all across the continent.

The third question was selected by Peter Kimani of "The Standard", Nairobi, Kenya.

"is your plan to promote and implement trade between Africa and the USA beyond AGOA?"
From Silvian Mabia Solusage (phonetic) of South Africa.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, Silvian, I think that one of the principles that I want to bring to the U.S./Africa relationship is that economic development in Africa is not just going to be based on dribbles of foreign aid but rather is going to be based on how do we build capacity within Africa.

Now, as I've said before, part of that is up to Africa, improving governance, improving respect for rule of law and property rights, all of which can encourage investment, encourage young people with talent to invest as entrepreneurs. That is going to make the biggest difference. But changing our trade policies effectively is also going to be important.

So I want to find ways that we can further open up trade relationships between the United States and African countries. We want to, wherever we can, provide the kinds of access to the U.S. global markets that can really make a difference. And to the extent that we can invest in mechanisms so that ordinary people, farmers, small business people can access these markets in a fair and free way, that's the kind of infrastructure that we want to help countries build. We think we can do it.

We've seen progress on some fronts. We've got to do a lot more. And that's something that I'm committed to asPresident of the United States.

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