First Lady Michelle Obama’s trip to Africa this week “is focusing national attention on the serious U.S. strategic interests on the continent,” Steve Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Lisa Carty, deputy director of the CSIS center, write in a Politico opinion piece.

“Washington is now confronting hard decisions about a range of issues relating to Africa – including security, trade and, particularly, global health. Millions of lives may be affected as a result. So this visit can help the American people better understand why the U.S. must continue to engage with South Africa and Botswana – as well as other African countries,” they write. “There is another reason for optimism in U.S. approaches to Africa. It is self-interested U.S. policy to reach out to Africa’s many emerging women leaders, hear their views and build the bonds that we need today and into the next generation,” they conclude (6/24).