The US’s first lady, Melania Trump, is visiting Africa this week—Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt—but her husband, president Trump, has never traveled to the continent in an official capacity. He isn’t alone. Only eight sitting American presidents have visited an African nation.
The Office of the Historian at the US Department of State publishes information on all official trips by the president. Data go back to Theodore Roosevelt’s first term and the beginning of the 20th century.
Of the 54 nations on the continent, just 16 have seen an official visit by a sitting American president. This leaves 70% of nations on the continent having never hosted a president.
A total of 52 visits have been made to Africa by sitting American presidents—16 of which were to Egypt. The first presidential visit to Africa was Roosevelt, who met with British prime minister Winston Churchill in Morocco in early 1943. The most recent: Obama traveled to Ethiopia in 2015.