WASHINGTON (AP) —
President Barack Obama continued to
press African countries to be more
open and honest Monday, using a
video to address Africans from
Washington two days after he made a
major speech in Ghana. Too many
well-educated Africans who have left
the continent "feel economic
opportunities are blocked or
limited" there because of
incompetent governments or
corruption that requires them to pay
bribes to get jobs, the president
said in a video to be distributed on
the White House Web site and
elsewhere. In the video he answered
three questions submitted by
Africans by e-mail, Twitter and
other social networks.
Washington-based African journalists
selected the questions from several
thousand submitted during the
buildup to Obama's one-day visit to
Ghana last weekend."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
opportunities in Africa," Obama said
in answering a query from a Nigerian
man. "If people feel that the rule
of law exists; if people feel that
once they get a good education, they
can start a business" or otherwise
get ahead through their own merit,
he said, then Africa's "brain drain"
might begin to reverse as
expatriates come home. While the
United States has its faults, Obama
said, "people still feel
opportunities are greater there
because of greater governance." His
remarks echoed themes from his
Saturday speech to Ghana's
parliament. There, Obama said
Africans must determine their
future, and he urged the continent's
governments and people to bring
about greater openness, fairness and
honesty. Obama, whose Kenyan father
came to the United States for
college, also said he wants better
trade relations between the United
States and Africa. He said he wants
an environment in which Africa's
economic development is not based on
"dribbles of foreign aid but rather
is going to be based on how do we
build capacity within Africa."
Africans must improve "respect for
rule of law and property rights," he
said, which would spur investments.
On trade, Obama said, "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
WASHINGTON (AP) —
President Barack Obama continued to
press African countries to be more
open and honest Monday, using a
video to address Africans from
Washington two days after he made a
major speech in Ghana. Too many
well-educated Africans who have left
the continent "feel economic
opportunities are blocked or
limited" there because of
incompetent governments or
corruption that requires them to pay
bribes to get jobs, the president
said in a video to be distributed on
the White House Web site and
elsewhere. In the video he answered
three questions submitted by
Africans by e-mail, Twitter and
other social networks.
Washington-based African journalists
selected the questions from several
thousand submitted during the
buildup to Obama's one-day visit to
Ghana last weekend."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
opportunities in Africa," Obama said
in answering a query from a Nigerian
man. "If people feel that the rule
of law exists; if people feel that
once they get a good education, they
can start a business" or otherwise
get ahead through their own merit,
he said, then Africa's "brain drain"
might begin to reverse as
expatriates come home. While the
United States has its faults, Obama
said, "people still feel
opportunities are greater there
because of greater governance." His
remarks echoed themes from his
Saturday speech to Ghana's
parliament. There, Obama said
Africans must determine their
future, and he urged the continent's
governments and people to bring
about greater openness, fairness and
honesty. Obama, whose Kenyan father
came to the United States for
college, also said he wants better
trade relations between the United
States and Africa. He said he wants
an environment in which Africa's
economic development is not based on
"dribbles of foreign aid but rather
is going to be based on how do we
build capacity within Africa."
Africans must improve "respect for
rule of law and property rights," he
said, which would spur investments.
On trade, Obama said, "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
WASHINGTON (AP) —
President Barack Obama continued to
press African countries to be more
open and honest Monday, using a
video to address Africans from
Washington two days after he made a
major speech in Ghana. Too many
well-educated Africans who have left
the continent "feel economic
opportunities are blocked or
limited" there because of
incompetent governments or
corruption that requires them to pay
bribes to get jobs, the president
said in a video to be distributed on
the White House Web site and
elsewhere. In the video he answered
three questions submitted by
Africans by e-mail, Twitter and
other social networks.
Washington-based African journalists
selected the questions from several
thousand submitted during the
buildup to Obama's one-day visit to
Ghana last weekend."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
opportunities in Africa," Obama said
in answering a query from a Nigerian
man. "If people feel that the rule
of law exists; if people feel that
once they get a good education, they
can start a business" or otherwise
get ahead through their own merit,
he said, then Africa's "brain drain"
might begin to reverse as
expatriates come home. While the
United States has its faults, Obama
said, "people still feel
opportunities are greater there
because of greater governance." His
remarks echoed themes from his
Saturday speech to Ghana's
parliament. There, Obama said
Africans must determine their
future, and he urged the continent's
governments and people to bring
about greater openness, fairness and
honesty. Obama, whose Kenyan father
came to the United States for
college, also said he wants better
trade relations between the United
States and Africa. He said he wants
an environment in which Africa's
economic development is not based on
"dribbles of foreign aid but rather
is going to be based on how do we
build capacity within Africa."
Africans must improve "respect for
rule of law and property rights," he
said, which would spur investments.
On trade, Obama said, "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