Obama’s historic visit to Africa among other American leaders

When President Barack Obama’s plane touches down in Kenya today, he will be writing history as the first sitting US president to visit the East African country in a world where presidents are still judged on their global itinerary.

The African continent has rarely been considered an important partner in the US global foreign policy. And in the few cases that it has, the honour has largely gone to Egypt, which has gobbled up about 50 per cent of the trips to Africa by sitting US presidents.