US President George W. Bush will today visit Botswana, a country held up by Washington as an African success story.
After spending the first two days of his African trip discussing how to deal with the continent's troublespots, Mr Bush flies into a sparsely populated country rich in gem-quality diamonds that pursues democracy and market economics.
With a population of only 1.68 million in an area slightly smaller than France, Botswana has seemingly escaped many of the problems that have afflicted Africa. But the mostly desert nation, a staunch US ally, is battling the world's highest known rate of HIV prevalence with an estimated 38.8 per cent of people infected.
Botswana boasts among the highest average per capita incomes in Africa - $3,100 per year - thanks to its reserves of diamonds, many of which end up in the United States.
On Tuesday, Botswana again showed its loyalty by agreeing not to hand US citizens to the new International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Mr Bush decided yesterday that South African President Thabo Mbeki should be "the point man" to resolve Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis, but Liberia remains a burning issue.
He has vowed to help enforce a fragile ceasefire in Liberia's 14 years of civil war but has so far not committed himself on growing calls from across Africa to send US troops.
Mr Bush has sent more military experts to Liberia to help decide on any peacekeeping role. In their last African foray, US troops had to make a bloody exit from Somalia ten years ago and Washington already has tens of thousands of troops tied up in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world.
Mr Bush has taken a greater interest in Africa because of growing US reliance on the continent's oil and intelligence that al-Qaeda could use it as a hideout. His trip will also promote a $100 million scheme to stamp out terrorism.