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Bono Hopeful Over President Barack Obama's African Visit

Friday, Jul 10, 2009 | Updated 11:00 PM EST

Pop star and longtime Africa activist, U2's Bono, said he is eager for President Barack Obama's visit to the country of Ghana in Africa beginning on Saturday.

"The president can facilitate the new, the fresh and the different," Bono wrote in a piece for the New York Times on Thursday. "Many existing promises are expiring in 2010, some of old age and others of chronic neglect."

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Bono wrote that he hopes President Obama's visit will help draw attention to the African continent, which continues to struggle with poverty and corruption.

"The United States is one of the countries on track to keep its promises, and Mr. Obama has already said he'll more than build on the impressive Bush legacy," the U2 singer wrote. "President Obama plans to return to Africa for the World Cup in 2010. Between now and then he's got the chance to lead others in building — from the bottom up — on the successes of recent efforts within Africa and to learn from the failures. There's been plenty of both. We've witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly in our fraught relationship with this dynamic continent."

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The singer urged others to get involved beyond President Obama's visit.

"If more African nations (not just Ghana) are going to meet the millennium goals, they are going to need smart partners in business and development," he wrote. "That's Smart as in sustainable, measurable, accountable, responsive and transparent."

To read Bono's entire piece, CLICK HERE.

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