Indifference to Bono's Trip ?

Africans are giving mixed reviews of the visit to Africa by Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and rock star Bono, of the Irish rock band U2.

Few Africans are fans of U2. It is African pop music that rules the airwaves. Magazine columnist Samuel Doe Ablordeppey in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, has said many young people had never heard of the Irish rock band or its lead singer before he touched down in Ghana.

"Most people did not know so much about his background. They did not know he was a singer. So, we saw many of the radio stations taking their time, painstakingly trying to brief people about his background. They were interested. They were phoning. People have written letters, commenting on his coming," he said.

This 25-year-old Ghanaian, who asked not to be named, said he was puzzled by what he said was an unlikely duo of the Treasury Secretary and an Irish rock star. "I know and I read it in the paper that he was accompanied by the rock star, but for me, I do not have any interest in rock, so I do not know [what] the main aim [was] of accompanying him to the country," he said.

What has appeared to attract the attention of many people here is the fact that the U.S. government has sent one of its top officials to assess the needs of Africans. The two have received warm welcomes in all nations where they have stopped thus far.

Ghanaian economist Kuame Piannim in Accra said that for many African countries like his own, it is a case of needing money to make money. He said Ghana needs both direct aid and investment to develop.

"We need both. We need aid to build our infrastructure. Our telecommunications sector is weak. Our road network is weak. We need to be able to strengthen our school system to provide the right type of human resources to fill the employment opportunities that will be coming up. We need to develop the infrastructure and keep the enabling environment sound so that we can invite investment. By investing, you reduce the perceived risk and the high cost of business to the American investor. So I think we need both," Mr. Piannim said.

Magazine columnist Samuel Doe Ablordeppey in Accra says it is through engagement that U.S. aid will truly help Africa. "If you teach somebody to fish, you help him more than giving him fish. So in the same way, you teach people to develop skills, the initiative, the capacity to think for themselves and come out with programs. That is more important than every time giving them grants and loans and directing them as to how to use it. So when you know how to use it, then I think the problem will be half-solved," he said.

The effects of the O'Neill-Bono trip will not be known until Secretary O'Neill returns to Washington and presents an assessment of his findings to the administration.