“We’re Here Too!”

Stubborn Thing: Seventy percent of African countries have never received an official US presidential visit.

When President Joe Biden visited Angola in December 2024, it was Angola’s first ever visit by a sitting US president. It would be his only presidential trip to Sub-Saharan Africa, and it came only after his reelection bid was over.

In contrast, when President Clinton visited Africa in 1998, he visited six African nations on a historic eleven-day swing across the continent. In 2008, President George W. Bush visited five nations in his trip to Africa His stop in Tanzania was both the first presidential visit to that country and the longest-ever presidential visit to any African country (parts of four days).

But what African leaders may remember most is that seventy percent of African countries have never received an official visit by a US president. Not Côte d'Ivoire, the world’s largest exporter of cocoa beans. Not the Democratic Republic of Congo, which holds the world's largest cobalt reserves or Guinea, which holds one of the world’s largest bauxite reserves. Not Zimbabwe, which holds the world’s second largest platinum reserves and its sixth largest lithium reserves, or Namibia, one of the world's largest uranium producers. Not even Djibouti, which hosts America’s largest permanent military base in Africa and is strategically located at the mouth of the Red Sea.

By 2050, 1 in 4 people in the world will be African —including 1 in 3 working adults. According to the IMF, by some measures, 4 of the world’s fastest growing economies are in Africa, and that trend will broadly continue in the decades ahead.

So the irony is that even as Africa rises in its economic importance, we seem to be dedicating less in the way of high-level diplomatic resources there. In recent Stubborn Things, I’ve noted that the leaders of France, Turkey, and China are increasing their visits to Africa and their engagements with African leaders.

When Clinton and Bush made their presidential trips to Africa, they were front page news. Wouldn’t it be nice to get to a time when they aren’t?