As United States President George W Bush soars away from our country, one has to wonder whether he will really know more about the African continent at the end of his safari than he did at the start. How much can you pick up on the ground in a few days that you couldn’t glean in a series of CIA briefings from the safety of the Oval Office?
A scan of the transcript of the press briefing he gave to African print journalists in the White House before his departure gives you some idea of how his brain operates, even in spite of what must have been intense coaching from his aides ahead of the session.
The first question he was asked was: ‘When would he be leaving for his first destination, and how long would he stay?” He must have been relieved that this one was so uncomplicated. His answer went like this:
‘We’re leaving Monday night from here, flying all night long and arriving in Senegal in the morning, and we’ll be there for about a half a day — And then we’ll be going to Goree Island, where I’ll be giving a speech about race, race in the world, race as it relates to Africa and America.”
He must then have experienced a moment of blind panic in case someone asked him what he would actually be saying about the race issue, because he quickly added: ‘I can’t give you any highlights of the speech yet, because I, frankly, haven’t seen it. But — it’s an important speech for me to give and it’s one I’m looking forward to giving.”
He then spoke of his Senegalese counterpart Abdoulaye Wade — always referred to in the transcript as ‘President Wad”. (I suppose his minders spell complicated foreign names phonetically so that the president doesn’t wade [geddit?] into more trouble than is strictly necessary.)
‘He’s got a — he cares deeply about the people of Senegal, but he’s also got a regional vision that makes sense. He is a leader, he is one of the leaders of — every time we meet at, like, the G8, President Wad is one of the representatives of the African nations, because he believes in the principles of Nepad and he is a good fellow. I’m looking forward to seeing him at home.”
President Wade must have been thrilled to find out that the American president thought he was a good fellow, especially in his own country.
Of course Zimbabwe had to be raised. Bush’s response to this issue was to say:
‘Zimbabwe — the economy of Zimbabwe at one time was a powerful economy for the region. It was a successful economy. People grew food in plentiful supply. Now the people of that country are starving. [It] would be incredibly helpful for the continent of Africa to have its countries that are able to feed people prosperous and whole.” His solution? Genetically modified crops, of course.
‘I think it is essential that throughout the continent of Africa nations be encouraged to develop — use the technologies that have been developed to deal with pestilence and drought.” Another interesting slip. The idea was not that Africa should be able to develop its own appropriate technologies for feeding itself (as Zimbabwe had once been more than capable of doing, as he himself had said) but that they should import the stuff from America, of course.
A journalist from the Nigerian newspaper The Guardian then threw what turned out to be a curve ball at the president: ‘I’d like to know what’s your reaction to people who say that the major driving force for your interest in Africa is oil and that, you know, what you are trying to do, essentially, is to shift the focus from Saudi [Arabia] to Africa.”
The president’s answer went like this: ‘Well, conspiracy theorists about [sic] everywhere, I guess. That’s one of the most amazing conspiracies I’ve heard. Heck, no one has ever made that connection, and so I would say — well, first, look, I have been talking about Africa since I was sworn-in as president. I’ve met with 22, I believe it is, heads of state here. And I have met with President [Olusegun] Obasanjo, gosh, I would say — I better be careful, because every number I put out there, people scrutinise — a lot, maybe five times. President Wad, several times in the Oval Office, several times in overseas meetings. President [Thabo] Mbeki, quite a few — in other words, Africa has been on the — we’ve been thinking about Africa ever since I’ve been sworn-in.”
He then went on to explain what this thinking meant. While stating several times that the US would never turn its back on anybody, he did have to qualify the conditions under which this back would not be turned: ‘We’re going to increase our basic developmental aid by 50%, with a new approach which basically says we’ll reward those countries which make correct choices on behalf of the people of the countries — countries which are not corrupt, countries which focus on the health and education of the people, countries which adopt market-oriented policies which will enable a country to more likely grow in a prosperous fashion, which would then benefit the people. I spoke out early on free trade with Africa.”
Eyebrows must have been raised involuntarily around the room at this point, because the president quickly added: ‘There’s a protectionist element in our country that works beneath the political surface. But I feel strongly that trade is an engine of opportunity for developing countries. These are all initiatives I spoke about prior to —” then, realising he couldn’t get away with that one, he amended it to ‘during the war on terror, I guess”. And then feeling the need to further explain himself he lamely concluded: ‘I wasn’t in office very long before the war on terror became evident here in America.”
Whew! Some president! Some whirlwind visit!
John Matshikiza is a fellow of the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research
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