Fresh from hosting Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein for dinner at the White House, Obama officials will dine with Carlyle executives in Africa.
Obama said that the involvement of emerging powers in Africa was a sign of the continent's economic potential and new vitality and also a warning to the United States that it cannot afford to stay on the sidelines.
Obama's tour, also including Tanzania, is meant to make up for lost time, as the son of a Kenyan who became the first black US president made only one brief stop in sub Saharan Africa, in Ghana, during his first term.
He is bringing with him some of his top economic advisors and CEOs and executives from blue chip American firms to drive new American investment and business links with the continent.
On Saturday, top aide Valerie Jarrett and US Trade Representative Mike Froman will hold a breakfast meeting with executives from groups including Coca Cola, Ford Motor Company, The Development Bank of South Africa, The Carlyle Group, Goldman Sachs International and the African Finance Corporation.
This is the same Valerie Jarrett who as Board Chair fired 30% of employees and eliminated their defined benefit retirement plan. The African people should watch out.
Update 7-2-13: After meeting with business leaders, like Carlyle's David Rubenstein, the White House postponed PPACA's employer mandate until 2015, The aforementioned Valerie Jarrett cast the decision:
"as part of an effort to simplify data reporting requirements. She said since enforcing the coverage mandate is dependent on businesses reporting about their workers’ access to insurance, the administration decided to postpone the reporting requirement, and with it, the mandate to provide coverage. “We have and will continue to make changes as needed,” Jarrett wrote in a White House blog post. “In our ongoing discussions with businesses we have heard that you need the time to get this right. We are listening.”Here's to you Mr. Rubenstein. Another year of blight should enable private equity underwriters to scoop up more nonprofit, community hospitals on the cheap.
