Analysis: Powell's interest in Africa

Mali is Powell's first in a four-stop trip to Africa

By Barnaby Mason

The visits to four African countries by the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, early in his term of office seem to signal a serious interest in Africa.

During last year's presidential campaign, George W Bush said Africa was not a priority. But Mr Powell says he has a personal interest because he is an African-American.

Mr Powell has picked out the Aids crisis as a reason for making the trip early on. Perhaps the greatest disaster on earth, he said, was unfolding in Africa.

Aids will certainly figure heavily in his talks, as will the regional wars that have plagued much of the continent.

US interests

But there are solid American interests in play, even if Africa does not have the strategic importance it had during the superpower rivalry of the Cold War.

Nigeria and South Africa, big democracies rich in resources, are especially important to the United States. Nigeria supplies much of its oil, and although it is not part of Mr Powell's tour, President Olusegun Obasanjo has already been to Washington.

Both Nigeria and South Africa, which Mr Powell is visiting, are crucial to stability in large regions of Africa. The US would like them to play a greater role in African peacekeeping operations, in which the Americans themselves prefer not to be involved.

More military aid is one possibility. The United States has already trained some Nigerian soldiers. Domestic US politics are also driving Africa up the agenda.

Pressure at home

The Bush administration is under pressure both from religious conservatives, a key part of its constituency, and members of the black community, which it would like to attract, to take a strong line on Sudan.

They depict the civil war there as the persecution of black Christians by an evil Arab Islamic government. Mr Bush has described Sudan as a disaster area for human rights and appointed a special envoy.

Mr Powell will be discussing the situation during his visit to neighbouring Kenya.

Overall he is likely to adopt a more down-to-earth, realistic approach to Africa than the Clinton administration. American analysts have advised him to concentrate on modest objectives and avoid grand visions.