Africa had high hopes for the presidency of Barack Obama.

非洲曾对巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)的总统任期抱有很高期待。

Not only was he the first African-American to reach the White House, but he draws relatives from the continent. Yet Mr Obama’s first term was a disappointment for Africa, with the continent largely absent from the political agenda and the president spending less than a day there during the whole four-year period.

奥巴马不仅是第一个入主白宫的非洲裔美国人，而且他的很多亲戚也来自非洲。然而，奥巴马的首个总统任期却令非洲感到失望，这块大陆基本上从他的政治议程中消失了，在整整4年的任期里，他只在非洲停留过不到一天的时间。

Now two years into his second term, Mr Obama is seeking to make up for lost time in the face of strong competition from emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil eager to build economic links with one of the world’s fastest growing regions.

如今，奥巴马的第二个总统任期已进入第二个年头，面对来自中国、印度和巴西等渴望与非洲建立经济联系的新兴国家的激烈竞争，他正试图弥补已经失去的时间。非洲是全球经济增长最快的地区之一。

It is in recognition of the changing times – and the work required to gain influence in a continent in the throes of turbulent transformation – that the White House has invited 50 African heads of state, alongside hundreds of diplomats and business leaders, to Washington next week for the first summit between the US and Africa.

本周一（8月4日），近50位非洲国鲜花首及数百名外交官和企业领袖应美国政府的邀请，抵达华盛顿，出席为期三天的首届美非峰会。这是在承认时代正在发生改变，也是在承认有必要采取措施在一块正在经历动荡转型的大陆树立影响力。

With Africa’s potential having until now often been ignored by Washington, African officials are quick to point out there is an element of catching up to do.

鉴于美国直到最近还经常忽视非洲的潜力，非洲官员迅速指出，美方需要就此进行一些补救。

“This summit is an opportunity, perhaps late, to really show that the US recognises Africa not only as a recipient of preferential trade but also as an investment destination – a market in its own right,” says Moeketsi Majoro, minister of development planning in Lesotho.

莱索托发展规划部部长穆凯齐•马乔罗(Moeketsi Majoro)表示：“这次峰会是一个机会（或许来得有些晚），美方可切实展现出它不仅承认非洲是一个特惠贸易的接受方，而且承认非洲是一个投资目的地———一个独立的市场。”

The tiny, landlocked country has been a leading beneficiary of previous efforts to improve US-Africa relations, notably via the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, or Agoa, a trade treaty inked during Bill Clinton’s presidency that has been vital in boosting its textile industry.

这个内陆小国一直是以往改善美非关系措施的主要受益者。特别值得一提的是《非洲增长与机遇法案》(Africa Growth and Opportunity Act)，这份在比尔•克林顿(Bill Clinton)执政时期签署的贸易协定，对提振莱索托纺织业起到了至关重要的作用。

African leaders already hold regular summits with the likes of China and Japan. More problematic are the gatherings held with EU countries, which are usually overshadowed by colonial legacy issues such as whether to invite Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s ageing autocrat.

非洲领导人与中国和日本等国会定期举行峰会。存在更多问题的是非洲与欧盟国家举行的会议，这些会议往往会因殖民时代遗留下来的问题而蒙上阴影，例如是否要邀请津巴布韦年事已高的独裁者罗伯特•穆加贝(Robert Mugabe)出席。

China in particular has been at the forefront of a purposeful investment drive across the African continent over the past decade and a half, leading to a 20-fold increase in trade to $200bn in 2013.

特别值得一提的是，过去15年里，中国一直处于对非投资的前沿，是一项覆盖整个非洲大陆、目标明确的投资努力的领跑者——截至2013年，中非贸易额增长了19倍，至2000亿美元。

By contrast, the US has been slow to move on from the development initiatives of the Clinton and Bush administrations to produce a coherent response to the continent’s rapidly evolving markets, increasingly assertive governments and aspirational populations. This was the disappointment for Africans who hoped the Obama presidency would recalibrate relations on a more equal footing.

相比之下，美国的行动一直缓慢，迟迟未能从克林顿政府和布什(Bush)政府的发展举措中走出来，对非洲大陆迅速发展的市场、日益自信的政府和志向远大的民众作出条理清晰的回应。这令非洲人感到失望，他们原本希望奥巴马政府能在更平等的基础上重新校准美非关系。

Mr Obama, nonetheless, has begun to shift the tone from the paternalistic and pedagogic, including a new focus on trade and investment. On his most recent visit to Africa in 2013 he brought a new initiative: Power Africa, which will pool $8bn of US investment, backed by federal agencies, into much needed electricity generation.

不过，奥巴马已开始改变其对非洲的家长式态度和训教口气，比如将关注重心调整到贸易和投资上。在他最近一次出访非洲（2013年）时，他带来了一项名为“电力非洲”(Power Africa)的新计划。该计划将在美国联邦机构的支持下，汇集80亿美元资金，投资非洲亟需发展的发电行业。

However, much of US policy to Africa remains focused on the threat it poses as an incubator – and potential exporter to the US – of terrorism and disease. The Pentagon is still far better represented in Africa than the Department of Commerce. Compared with China’s 150 or so commercial attachés, the US has just eight in sub-Saharan Africa. By their own admission, US-Africa envoys tend to devote more time to flashpoints and crises than to building long-term relations.

然而，美国的很多对非政策仍关注于非洲作为恐怖主义和疾病温床所造成的威胁，担心它可能将这两者输出到美国。美国国防部的驻非代表仍远多于美国商务部。中国在撒哈拉以南非洲有大约150名商务专员，美国仅有8名。美国驻非洲使节承认，自己往往将更多时间花在应对冲突导火索和危机上，而不是花在构建长期关系上。

In part the new direction has been forced on Washington. China’s aggressive pursuit of markets and resources, and its hands-off approach to debt financing and aid, has helped rewrite the rules over the past decade. Beijing has courted African political leaders with several summits while its leaders have travelled extensively through the continent.

某种程度而言，美国是被迫设定新方向的。中国对市场和资源的积极追逐、以及它对债务融资和援助不附加条件的做法，在过去10年里帮助重写了游戏规则。中国政府在多个峰会上设法赢得非洲政治领导人的好感，中国领导人的足迹也遍及非洲很多国家。

Jennifer Cooke, head of Africa at the Brookings Institution, a US-based think-tank, says the US “must increasingly compete in Africa for influence and appeal with a new set of emerging powers, influences, and ideologies”.

总部位于美国的智库“布鲁金斯学会”(Brookings Institution)的非洲主管詹妮弗•库克(Jennifer Cooke)表示，美国“必须加大力度与一系列新的崛起中的强权、势力和意识形态在非洲争夺影响力和吸引力。”

It appears to be in recognition of this that Mr Obama sent out the invitations for next week’s Washington summit. The formal agenda is a familiar array of business, security, development and democracy. Two key areas will be the renewal of Agoa, for which Washington is seeking concessions from Africa to boost US exports to the region, and the Power Africa initiative. With insecurity increasing in Africa, from Libya to the Central African Republic, military aid will also be a key topic, and one where the US still has more influence than China.

奥巴马邀请非洲国家领导人出席本周华盛顿峰会，似乎就是因为认识到了这点。峰会的正式议程涉及一系列令人熟悉的话题：商业、安全、发展和民主等等。两个关键领域将是《非洲增长与机遇法案》的续延和“电力非洲”计划——就前者而言，美国政府正寻求非洲作出让步，以扩大美国对非出口。从利比亚到中非共和国，在整个非洲的不安全形势加剧之际，军事援助也将成为一个重要话题——在这方面，美国的影响力仍强于中国。

Mr Obama has already played down some expectations, urging African leaders not to expect too much from Washington when it comes to resolving their problems. “At some point . . . you have to start looking for solutions internally,” he said this week.

奥巴马已经淡化了一些预期，他敦促非洲领导人在解决非洲自身问题方面不要对美国政府期望太高。他上周表示：“在某个时刻……你们必须开始从内部寻找解决方案。”

At the same time leading businesses are urging the White House to engage more with Africa. Up to 200 prominent US chief executives will be on the sidelines of the Washington summit, including the bosses of Walmart, General Electric and Bechtel, who are attracted by the emerging scale of markets such as Nigeria and the continent’s potential for rapid growth.

另一方面，大牌企业正敦促美国政府与非洲加强交往。至多200名美国知名首席执行官将间接参与此次华盛顿峰会，其中包括沃尔玛(Walmart)、通用电气(GE)和柏克德(Bechtel)的老板，吸引他们的是尼日利亚等国市场正在形成的规模以及非洲快速增长的潜力。