While the deputy chairperson of the African Union (AU), Erastus Mwencha, met with members of the Obama administration in April, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in remarks to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, made a perfunctory reference to Africa as she outlined President Obama's foreign policy priorities to that congressional body.

Referring to China, Russia and India, Clinton stressed America's "building of constructive relationships with major nations that will have a lot to say about what happens in the world to come."

The U.S. Secretary of State also committed America to "building closer ties with regional anchors, including Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey," who she described as "not only partners but ... leaders on issues ranging from deforestation to democracy."

For Africa, Clinton promised to pursue "a wide-ranging diplomatic agenda" – a promise that was remarkable for its vacuity.

Meanwhile, lower-level State Department officials, apparently having not read Clinton's remarks to the House Committee, told the African Union's deputy chairman that the United States is supportive of Africa's position on a host of global issues.

At a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., which capped what an African Union media advisory described as "a week of meetings designed to seize the moment and engage the Obama administration and other Americans influencing U.S. policy on Africa," Mr. Mwencha said that the Obama administration "will be listening and consulting with Africa [to design] a new foreign policy architecture" for the continent.

It is the view of many scholars, diplomats and activists that, with regards to Africa, the Obama administration only listens to the previous Bush administration.

Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, professor of African-American studies at Temple University, Philadelphia, expressed his disappointment that the Obama administration "has not taken progressive action" on many African issues. "President Obama mirrors the Bush administration with regards to Zimbabwe and Darfur," Dr. Asante said.

On Zimbabwe, the Obama administration's policy is particularly egregious. Rejecting calls from the AU to lift economic sanctions, President Obama issued an executive order in March, continuing America's prohibition of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank from lending money to Zimbabwe – a policy in place under the Bush administration since 2001.

Claiming that Zimbabwe poses "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States," Obama ordered that the prohibition of loans to Zimbabwe from the IMF and World Bank "must continue in effect beyond March 6, 2009."

Dr. Mahmood Mamdani, of Columbia University in New York, described Obama's continuation of George Bush's policy against Zimbabwe as "political, ideological and partisan," which callously disregards the suffering of the Zimbabwean people as a result of the U.S. sanctions. Over 4,000 Zimbabweans, mostly children and the elderly, have died of cholera because of the inability of the Zimbabwean government to finance upgrades and improvements to the country's sewerage and sanitation infrastructure.

Back in March, Dr. Mamdani said at a U.N. forum that "it is amazing that in a country with such poverty and cholera spreading, the Obama administration has renewed sanctions against Zimbabwe."

President Obama's executive order was signed pursuant to the U.S.'s International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The IEEPA was enacted in 1977 to extend emergency powers previously granted to the American president by the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917. Under this act, the American president is authorized to exercise extraordinary powers when the United States is at war.

So while lower-level State Department officials told the AU's deputy chairperson that the Obama administration "will be listening and consulting with Africa," the United States, with complete disregard for the African Union's concerns, considers itself in a virtual state of war, as Obama's executive order suggests, with an AU member state.

The Obama administration also ignored appeals from the AU to give peace a chance in the Sudan and stop the International Criminal Court (ICC) from issuing an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir.

The ICC, accountable only to the U.N. Security Council, which is controlled by its five permanent members, including the United States, was condemned by the U.N.'s General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockman for its decision.

Calling the ICC's decision "unfortunate" and "racist," Mr. Brockman said that if the Obama administration is really committed to changing the U.S. policy towards Africa, it "can't just disqualify the African Union's views" on matters of such immense importance to the African continent.

Many diplomats believe that the Obama administration's approach to the Sudan will exacerbate, rather than attenuate, the conflict in that country.

According to South Africa's former President Thabo Mbeki, the African Union's strategic framework in the Sudan, since its involvement began in 2004, was based on two considerations: protecting the civilian population and finding an inclusive political solution.

Deputy Chairman Mwencha said that the AU was the first to arrive in Darfur. And within one year after arriving in the Sudan, AU representatives in 2005 negotiated a Declaration of Principles that they convinced the Sudanese government and all insurgent groups to sign. Having established a political basis for peace in the Sudan, the AU was working assiduously to consolidate its gains when the ICC acceded to the request of the U.N. Security Council and issued an arrest warrant for President Bashir.

Commenting on the AU's position on the Sudan, Angola's permanent representative to the United Nations Gaspar Martins Ismael said that the future in Africa is for dialogue not conflict, and that the AU's position underscores Africa's determination to "see our own problems fixed as we see them."

In spite of the Obama administration's insouciance, the AU is forging ahead with its agenda on the continent. Mwencha revealed that the AU has assembled a high-level panel, led by South Africa's former president, Thabo Mbeki, to bring about reconciliation in the Sudan. Having succeeded in reconciling the political parties in Zimbabwe, there is high expectation in Africa that Mr. Mbeki will succeed in his new assignment.

Additionally, African countries from the Southern African Development Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa have provided Zimbabwean industries with $400 million in credit lines.

During his press conference, Mwencha said that "infrastructure is a priority in Africa."

Given Secretary of State Clinton's remarks to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, any expectation that the Obama administration will embrace the AU's vision for Africa is but a "pipedream," one diplomat remarked.