Posters plastered with President Obama's smiling face and U.S. flags flapping in the warm ocean breeze lined the main routes into Senegal's capital city of Dakar on Thursday.
Obama arrived in Senegal as part of a three-country visit to Africa on Wednesday night, but residents in the West African country are gearing up to offer him a warm welcome, with many taking to the streets to watch the president's motorcade drive past.
"I'm not sure if it will happen but I hope to see President Obama waving to me as he drives by," said Mamadou Ndiaye, a taxi driver in Dakar. "It is such an honor, knowing that he is coming to my country."
President Obama is scheduled to participate in a bilateral meeting at the Presidential Palace on Thursday morning, followed by a trip to Goree Island — the largest slave trading post in Africa from the 15th to 19th centuries. He will then attend an official dinner hosted by Senegalese President Macky Sall.
The visit to Goree Island is expected to be a particularly significant part of the trip for Obama and his family as it marks an important site for both Africans and African-Americans as the home of the House of Slaves, where men, women and children were kept in small cells, before being shipped off to the Americas.
As well as the thousands African-Americans who come to Goree each year to honor their ancestors, the island has previously been visited by former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, as well as South African President Nelson Mandela.
Many visitors say they find the House of Slaves and its museum to be in sharp contrast to the brightly-colored, if now slightly decaying homes, which still line Goree's quiet, picturesque streets.
Senegal is the first stop on Obama's week-long visit to Africa, where he will also make a stopover in South Africa and Tanzania. The visit to the West African francophone country gives Obama the opportunity to engage with the French-speaking population of Africa.
Little more than a year on from electoral violence surrounding the former president Abdoulaye Wade's attempt at a power grab, Obama's visit comes as a reward to the country that analysts say has made definitive steps toward democracy.
"With Tanzania and Senegal, he's trying to underscore the importance the U.S. attaches to good governance and democracy and both of these are solid democracies," said Jennifer Cooke, director of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Locals say that while that may be so, they still need help.
"Obama's visit brings so much hope to our country," said 33-year-old history professor Frederic Bassen. "His visit is a very good thing for Senegal because we are in a phase of democratization. We need help from countries like America to promote democracy here and we hope that he can help us with the advancement of democracy and the fight against corruption."
Others said they were simply pleased to be the country chosen by the American president to visit on his first extended trip to sub-Saharan Africa, the continent that claims him as a native son.
"I can't wait to see President Obama," said 27-year-old Fatou Cisse. "His visit means so much for our country. I am so proud he chose to come here."
Source: USA Today
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