A Conversation on Priorities for Secretary Clinton’s Trip to Africa

Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton departed Tuesday, July 31 for a ten-day trip to Africa, where she will visit Senegal, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and South Africa. Brookings’ Africa Growth Initiative director, Mwangi Kimenyi, and the University of Cape Town’s Development Policy Research Unit director, Haroon Bhorat, discuss priorities for the trip, the Obama Administration’s approach to Sub-Saharan Africa, and economic and political developments on the continent.

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“I see this trip [as an] attempt by the administration to solidify policy on Africa…There are very clear signals that the U.S. is concerned about being edged out of the African market by China and other countries; specifically at a time when Africa is clearly emerging economically and politically.” – Mwangi Kimenyi

“The U.S. involvement around the [HIV/AIDs] issue has been increasing both in the Bush era and has continued in the Obama era. [It] dominates a lot of the donor funding and the assistance to South Africa, and it dominates U.S. engagement with South Africa.” – Haroon Bhorat

Topics covered by Kimenyi and Bhorat include:

• Strengthening of democratic institutions and transparent, accountable governance
• American security concerns in Africa
• Policies to enable economic growth, increase trade and investment, create jobs and reduce poverty
• United States as a development partner in the fight against HIV/AIDs
• Secretary Clinton’s participation in the U.S.-South Africa Strategic Dialogue, and current economic and political dynamics in South Africa
• China’s growing influence in Africa and implications for American engagement on the continent