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United States presidential visits to Sub-Saharan Africa

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Six United States presidents have made presidential visits to Sub-Saharan Africa. The first was an offshoot of Franklin D. Roosevelt's secretive World War II trip to French Morocco for the Casablanca Conference. More recently, Barack Obama, the first U.S. president with African American ancestry, visited his father's native Kenya in 2015. Of the 46 African nations identified as sub-Saharan by the United Nations,[1] 14 have been visited by an American president.

The countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Table of visits

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President Dates Country or territory Locations Key details
Franklin D. Roosevelt January 13, 1943 Gambia  Gambia Bathurst Overnight stop en route to Casablanca.[2]
January 25, 1943 Overnight stop en route from Casablanca.[2]
January 26–27, 1943   Liberia Monrovia Informal visit; met with President Edwin Barclay.[2]
December 9, 1943   French West Africa Dakar Stopped en route home to U.S. after conferring with General Dwight D. Eisenhower in Tunis, Tunisia, following Tehran Conference and Second Cairo Conference.[2]
Jimmy Carter March 31–April 3, 1978   Nigeria Lagos State visit; Met with President Olusegun Obasanjo.[3]
April 3, 1978   Liberia Monrovia Met with President William R. Tolbert, Jr.[3]
George H. W. Bush December 31, 1992–January 2, 1993   Somalia Mogadishu,
Baidoa,
Baledogle Airfield 		Visited international relief workers and U.S. military personnel.
Bill Clinton March 23, 1998   Ghana Accra Met with President Jerry Rawlings; visited a Peace Corps project.[4]
March 23–25, 1998   Uganda Kampala,
Kisowera,
Mukono,
Wanyange,
Entebbe 		Met with President Yoweri Museveni and with the Presidents of Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[4]
March 25, 1998   Rwanda Kigali Met with President Pasteur Bizimungu; delivered a public address.[4]
March 25–29, 1998   South Africa Cape Town,
Johannesburg 		Met with President Nelson Mandela; addressed joint session of Parliament.[4]
March 29–31, 1998   Botswana Gaborone,
Kasane 		Met with President Quett Masire; visited Chobe National Park.[4]
March 31–April 2, 1998   Senegal Dakar,
Thies,
Goree Island 		Met with President Abdou Diouf; visited Senegalese peacekeeping troops; delivered several public addresses.[4]
August 26–28, 2000   Nigeria Abuja,
Ushafa, Abuja 		Met with President Obasanjo and addressed the National Assembly.[4]
August 28–29, 2000   Tanzania Arusha Met with former South African President Mandela to promote a peace agreement for Burundi; also met with President Benjamin Mkapa.[4]
George W. Bush July 8, 2003   Senegal Dakar,
Goree Island 		Met with President Abdoulaye Wade.[5]
July 8–11, 2003   South Africa Pretoria Met with President Thabo Mbeki.[5]
July 10, 2003   Botswana Gaborone Met with President Festus Mogae. Toured Mokolodi Nature Reserve.[5]
July 11, 2003   Uganda Kampala Met with President Yoweri Museveni.[5]
July 11–12, 2003   Nigeria Abuja Met with President Olusegun Obasanjo.[5]
February 16, 2008   Benin Cotonou Met with President Yayi Boni.[5]
February 16–19, 2008   Tanzania Dar es Salaam,
Arusha 		Met with President Jakaya Kikwete, signed Millenimum Challenge agreement.[5]
February 19, 2008   Rwanda Kigali Met with President Paul Kagame and dedicated new embassy.[5]
February 19–21, 2008   Ghana Accra Met with President John Kufuor.[5]
February 21, 2008   Liberia Monrovia Met with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.[5]
Barack Obama July 10–11, 2009   Ghana Accra Met with President John Atta Mills. Delivered a speech to the Ghanaian Parliament. Toured a former departing point of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Cape Coast Castle.[6]
June 26–28, 2013   Senegal Dakar Met with President Macky Sall.[6]
June 28–July 1, 2013   South Africa Johannesburg,
Pretoria,
Soweto,
Cape Town 		Met with President Jacob Zuma and with members of the Mandela family; gave a speech on trade and investment, development, democracy and security partnerships; visited Robben Island.[6][7]
July 1–2, 2013   Tanzania Dar es Salaam Met with President Jakaya Kikwete. Laid a wreath at the memorial to the 1998 United States embassy bombing.[6] Participated in trade and investment discussions; accompanied by business leaders.[7]
July 2, 2013   Senegal Dakar Stopped during return to Washington D.C.[6]
December 9–11, 2013   South Africa Johannesburg Attended the memorial service for former President Nelson Mandela.
July 24–26, 2015   Kenya Nairobi Attended the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Also met with President Uhuru Kenyatta.[8]
July 26–28, 2015   Ethiopia Addis Ababa Met with the government of Ethiopia and addressed the African Union.[9][10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "About Sub-Saharan Africa: Africa at a turning point". africa.undp.org. New York, New York: United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "Travels of President Franklin D. Roosevelt". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  3. ^ a b "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Travels of President George W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  7. ^ a b Epatko, Larisa, "Why Obama Is Visiting Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania But Not Kenya", PBS NewsHour, June 25, 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  8. ^ Ferris, Sarah. "Obama: Proud to be first U.S. president to visit Kenya". The Hill. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  9. ^ Lee, Carol E. "Obama Becomes First U.S. President to Address African Union". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  10. ^ "Obama to be first sitting U.S. President to visit Ethiopia". CNN. June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
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