by Xie Meihua
NAIROBI, July 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to pay a two-day official visit to Ghana starting on Friday following the G-8 summit in Italy and an official visit to Russia during which he is expected to unveil U.S. comprehensive policies toward Africa.
Ghana will become the first African country in the sub-Saharan region visited by Obama since he took office in January this year.
President Obama chose Ghana, a small country in the west Africa, as the first African country in the region to visit by skipping Nigeria, the most populous country in the African continent and Kenya where Obama's father was born.
Observers here say Obama wants to highlight democracy, good governance and rule of law by visiting Ghana, which have been the major contents of U.S. policies toward Africa from the previous governments.
Ghana, the second largest coco producer in the world and also the largest producer of gold in the African continent, witnessed a successful and peaceful presidential election in late 2008 which was the fifth of its kind since the west African country introduced democracy and multi-party system in 1992.
In the two-round presidential election, John Attah-Mills, the candidate of the opposition party National Democratic Congress (NDC) of Ghana emerged as a winner.
After the initial polls on Dec. 7, 2008, no clear winner emerged between the candidates. The run-off held on Dec. 28, 2008 also failed to produce a clear winner, as the election did not hold in one of the constituencies.
The outcome of the election was finally settled on Jan. 2, 2009 when elections were held at Tain, the constituency where elections could not hold due to logistics problems.
Atta-Mills was officially declared winner of the presidential race on Jan. 3, 2009 by Kwado Afari-Gyan, the chairman of Ghana's electoral commission.
Ghana's fifth presidential election was held against the backdrop that the president election in the east African country Kenya late in 2007 triggered a nationwide riot during which more than 1, 000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands left homeless.
In the south African country Zimbabwe, the presidential elections in 2008 also resulted in violence and standoff between major political parties.
And in west Africa, military coups made a comeback as Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea experienced in the latter part of 2008.
Ghana, a country of about 23.5 million people, has also witnessed the fast-growing economy in the African continent in the past years, with annual economic growth rate reaching 6 percent.
In addition, Ghana has attached great importance in investing in the infrastructure, education and health sectors which has benefited its people significantly, and which in return has help greatly to promote the social stability and harmony.
In a recent interview with AllAfrica.com, Obama said he believes strongly in the rule of law, democratic constitutional rule and the principles that underpin it.
Obama said his visit to Ghana will send the signals that Ghana, a country with an effective government, is the model in the continent.
During his visit to Ghana, President Obama is also expected to deliver a major speech in Ghana's Parliament, which will be the fourth important speech made this year by him on the U.S. foreign policies following the first one in Prague on April 5, the second in Cairo on June 4 and third one in Moscow on July 7.
A U.S. official, who was declined to be named, told media that President Obama's speech in Ghana's parliament would once again focus on democracy and good governance. Besides, the president would also state in details on other U.S. policies toward Africa, including developing African agriculture, increasing investment in Africa and creating more trade opportunities for African countries.
The policies toward Africa of the Obama administration has not shaped yet as the president has been troubled by the financial and economic crisis at home and the issues of Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran abroad.
