United_States_presidential_visits_to_Sub-Saharan_Africa
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.
More information President, Dates ...
| President | Dates | Country or territory | Locations | Key details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | January 13, 1943 | Gambia.svg){kind=small} 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] |
Close
- "About Sub-Saharan Africa: Africa at a turning point". africa.undp.org. New York, New York: United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- "Travels of President Franklin D. Roosevelt". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- "Travels of President George W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- Epatko, Larisa, "Why Obama Is Visiting Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania But Not Kenya", PBS NewsHour, June 25, 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
- Ferris, Sarah. "Obama: Proud to be first U.S. president to visit Kenya". The Hill. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
- Lee, Carol E. "Obama Becomes First U.S. President to Address African Union". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
- "Obama to be first sitting U.S. President to visit Ethiopia". CNN. June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015.