AFP ^ | June 14, 2012 | Stephen Collinson
US President Barack Obama released a sweeping new Africa strategy Thursday, declaring a continent torn by poverty, corruption and discord could be the world's next big economic success story.
The new US blueprint seeks to boost trade, strengthen peace, security and good governance and bolster democratic institutions, and is designed to help Africa's increasingly youthful population lead its development.
"As we look toward the future, it is clear that Africa is more important than ever to the security and prosperity of the international community, and to the United States in particular," Obama said.
The plan was unveiled nearly three years after Obama, whose father was Kenyan, laid out his priorities for the often crisis-scarred continent in Ghana, on the sole trip of his presidency so far to sub-Saharan Africa.
It comes as Washington, spending more money tooling a foreign policy towards trade and development, also views Africa's intractable conflicts with concern, including in areas ripe for extremists to exploit, including in Somalia and even Mali.
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