In Final Trip to Africa, Bush to Stress Increased U.S. Aid

WASHINGTON — President Bush is scheduled to leave Friday on a five-country swing through Africa, a tour designed to showcase massive increases in U.S. aid on his watch to a continent reeling from conflict, disease and poverty.

On Thursday, Bush said he will dispatch Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Kenya to demand a halt to violence that has left more than 1,000 people dead since a disputed presidential election in December.

Rice also will accompany Bush on his trip that includes stops in Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia.

It will be the last time Bush plans to visit Africa as president and will spotlight the spending increases he has presided over to combat HIV/AIDS, fight the spread of malaria and encourage economic development.

"These are great challenges, but there is even greater cause for hope," Bush said in a speech Thursday.

With a foreign policy legacy dominated by the war in Iraq, Bush's efforts in Africa have earned praise around the world. But his schedule will largely gloss over tougher issues like genocide in Darfur, instability in Somalia and the chaos in Kenya.

"This trip is designed, in the main, to show the compassionate side of America," said Gayle Smith, a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress, a progressive-leaning Washington think tank. "I don't think the expectations are terribly high."

Bush said Thursday he may delay his departure for Africa if necessary to help members of the House pass a bill governing U.S. eavesdropping on phone calls and e-mails of suspected terrorists. But Bush said he would visit all the countries on his original itinerary.

Here is a look at the president's trip and the issues he plans to highlight in each country.

Benin

Pop: 8 million

GDP per capita: $1,500

Bush Will Visit: Saturday

His Message: A stable, multi-party democracy, Benin is a country where 11,300 children die each year of malaria, the mosquito-borne disease. Across the continent, an African child under the age of 5 dies from malaria every 30 seconds — about 1 million a year. Bush launched the President's Malaria Initiative in June 2005, increasing U.S. funding to combat the disease by $1.2 billion over five years. Bush plans to showcase efforts to prevent and treat the disease through the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, anti-malarial drugs and spraying to kill mosquitoes.

Tanzania

Pop: 39.4 million

GDP per capita: $1,100

Bush Will Visit: Sunday and Monday

His Message: Bush will announce new U.S. development aid to Tanzania through the Millennium Challenge Corp. Bush set up the MCC four years ago and it has distributed $5.5 billion in foreign aid to countries that meet certain criteria for democratic and economic reforms. On Sunday, Bush is expected to stress progress made in combating corruption, strengthening the rule of law and establishing public and private watchdogs to help monitor financial markets and contracts.

On Monday, Bush will draw attention to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which has spent $18.8 billion over the past five years combating AIDS worldwide. This year, the Unites States will devote $6 billion to the cause, a seven-fold increase over the level of spending in 2001, the year Bush took office. This month, he asked Congress to approve another $30 billion over the next five years, aimed at treating 2.5 million AIDS victims and preventing 12 million new infections, and care for more than 12 million orphans and other vulnerable people.

Rwanda

Pop. 9.9 million

GDP per capita: $1,000

Bush Will Visit: Tuesday

His Message: Fourteen years after genocide left 800,000 dead, Rwanda remains a deeply impoverished yet doggedly determined nation that was the first to provide peacekeepers to try to end the bloodshed in the Darfur region of Sudan. Bush is expected to highlight U.S. efforts to help train and equip nearly 7,000 Rwandan peacekeepers and to transport them to service in Sudan.

Ghana

Pop. 23 million

GDP per capita: $1,400

Bush Will Visit: Wednesday

His Message: Fifteen years of democracy has helped bring Ghana, formerly wracked by corruption and coups, enough relative stability to lay down the basis for economic growth averaging 6 percent a year since 2004. Bush will highlight the role increased U.S. trade has had on growth and will visit with U.S. Peace Corps volunteers. Ghana has received $547 million in MCC funding over the past four years, with money being spent to improve ferry service across Lake Volta, rehabilitate some 600 miles of roads and train farmers in commercial skills.

Liberia

Pop. 3.2 million

GDP per capita: $500

Bush Will Visit: Thursday

His Message: A little more than a decade ago, Liberia emerged from a civil war that took the lives of more than 200,000 and sent a million others into refugee camps. Now, Liberia is on the mend. An emerging democracy, the county is moving to address human rights problems, combat corruption and face up to past war crimes. Liberia, the final stop on the visit, is the place for Bush to highlight democratic gains and to hold out the promise of what reforms can mean for other African countries.