TheNamibian

DENVER ISAACS

NAMIBIANS yesterday joined people across the world in hailing the election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States.

Countrywide, people stayed up all night or woke before dawn yesterday to watch US election history being made.

Enthusiasm for an Obama presidency is at a premium, but politicians and analysts cautioned yesterday that Namibians should remain realistic when it comes to expectations of what it will mean in terms of American-Namibian relations.

Prime Minister Nahas Angula was among the first to congratulate Americans on "making history in electing Barack Obama to lead them".

"As a country, of course we are also happy that a person with roots in Africa has been chosen.

Not that we expect anything special from him, but it is a good gesture that speaks well for the American people," Angula said.

The Prime Minister said that Namibia will focus on maintaining existing good relations with the US, adding that he expects this relationship, especially in terms of trade and investment, to continue to grow.

"As far as policies are concerned, I think it's too early to say.

My feeling, and this is my feeling, is that he might be more demanding of Africa in an effort to see us succeed.

There will likely be much talk on performance-based co-operation," Angula said.

He warned that, despite Obama's roots in Kenya, Africans should remain aware of the fact that the Illinois senator has been elected to serve American interests.

"Of course, he will protect American interests and their basic concerns.

There are wars, financial meltdowns and healthcare issues he will need to pay attention to, but we do expect that, in the tradition of American culture, they will extend a hand in the direction of the rest of the world," Angula said.

Graham Hopwood, Executive Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), suggested that the new president will have his hands full with domestic and foreign issues, likely leaving existing policies involving Africa intact.

"We have to remain realistic.
He's never really mentioned Africa in his policies.

He has clear domestic issues that will take priority," Hopwood said, referring to debates on healthcare, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the global financial crisis.

Agreeing with Hopwood is Raymond Castillo, Public Affairs Officer at the US Embassy in Windhoek.

"Often, what you see in foreign policy (after a change in leadership) is a continuum.

Obviously, however, Obama is very aware of foreign affairs issues, and he actually took the lead in that area," according to Castillo.

Castillo noted that Obama had promised to double US foreign aid to US$50 billion by the end of his first term, but said the current credit crisis could lead to the plug being pulled on such plans.

Current programmes targeting Africa and brought into existence under the Bush administration, including the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), both Castillo and Hopwood suggest, will likely continue unchanged, at least in the immediate future.

"These were never really seen as Bush policies, they had pretty much bipartisan support in Congress," Hopwood said.

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab, referred to Obama paying tribute to African and African American history, saying that he appreciated the tributes to the ideals of freedom.

"Africa must however be realistic and not expect something like manna from heaven," the Speaker said.

"Obama will above all and always be president of the USA.

We (in Africa) should rather think of friendship, mutual respect and co-operation.

Sentimentalism, while a human trait, should not overwhelm common sense.

The world economy is sick and needs all brains and hands for re-engineering and productivity that all can benefit from," Gurirab said.

Another view came from Kosie Pretorius, Chairperson of the Monitor Action Group (MAG).
"There's been a lot of negative sentiment against America from this side over the past few years, so it will be interesting to see what the situation will be like from now on," said Pretorius.

"Another thing I found interesting is the question of affirmative action," Pretorius.
"I found it interesting that Obama has stated that his daughters did not need the assistance of affirmative action, whereas here in Namibia our opinion has always been that, despite the fact that children who started school in 1990 have already completed school [we still need affirmative action]," Pretorius said.

"It will be interesting to see what Africa's policy will be with regard to him," he added.