Obama’s initiatives will spur the growth of SMEs

BY DANIEL OMINDE

A radio journalist

I think we as Africans were overambitious when it comes to our expectations on what President Obama’s presidency would translate to us. We sort of forgot that his first loyalty was to the American people. Having said that, I think during his term we have seen him support entrepreneurship in Africa through initiatives such as “Power Africa” that has seen increased amounts of African households connected to the electricity grid. This will go a long way in spurring the growth of small and medium enterprises in small cities and rural areas thereby improving living standards.

He has also tried to improve food security in parts of the continent through the “Feed the future” initiative that targets developing countries. With regards to trade, President Obama has pushed for the extension of the AGOA program with the aim of having a fairer balance of trade with African countries.

I expect the next president of the US to improve some of these foundations that Obama laid as far as the relationship with Africa is concerned. Especially by supporting growth of local industries and possibly encouraging American companies to manufacture in Africa where we have a lot of skilled labor which is still largely unemployed.

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Daniel Ominde is a radio journalist based in Kisumu, Kenya, a small city in the western part of Kenya. He writes about socioeconomic and political issues affecting his listeners, and strives to give his audiences a balanced and objective perspective into issues that affect them, issues that will affect them or issues that they should be concerned about. www.danielominde.co.ke