Nairobi/Accra - Technically, it is only a short two-day visit, following the G8 summit. But across the continent of Africa, the arrival of US President Barack Obama will be a home-coming of epic proportions. The trip to Ghana will be Obama's first trip to the continent of his Kenyan-born father as president.
Obama will arrive in Accra, and the decision to come to Ghana is widely regarded to be symbolic.
The former British colony was the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence in 1957. Centuries before it had been one of the main centres of the slave trade.
During their trip to the Cape Coast Barack and Michelle Obama will visit one of the slave forts where tens of thousands spent their last days in Africa before being forced onto the slaveships.
"Will he cry?" African bloggers are wondering about the emotional impact on the US president at this significant place for the victims and descendants of slavery. His wife is the direct descendent of slaves. Others wonder if he will comment on the compensation claims for the descendants of slaves.
The decision to visit Ghana is also seen as a nod towards one of the more stable democracies in Africa, a country with peaceful shifts of power and without the "big man syndrome" found in so many countries of the continent, where long-ruling presidents cling to power by any means necessary.
Ghana is widely regarded as a country that takes political and economic reforms seriously, fighting both corruption and nepotism. And the fact that Obama has skipped Kenya, the home of his late father, is regarded as a sign of US dissatisfaction with the slow pace of reforms in that East African country.
"The president and Mrs Obama look forward to strengthening the US relationship with one of our most trusted partners in sub-Saharan Africa, and to highlighting the critical role that sound governance and civil society play in promoting lasting development," the White House said in a statement ahead of the visit.
Days before the Obamas even set foot on African ground, the hawkers in the streets of Accra make good business with T-shirts or colourfully printed wrap skirts showing Obamas face. His campaign slogan "Yes, we can!" has become an expression of black pride and self-consciousness in many African countries since Obama became the most powerful man in the world.
"Yes, we can!" is used in Kenya, Uganda, Senegal or Nigeria to promote studies in the United States, and also initiatives to bring Africa with all its problems and crises towards a brighter future.
The expectation, even hype, towards the visit by the US president are being widely discussed in radio programmes all over the continent.
But one thing is also evident: despite the Obama-fever in Africa there is not just enthusiasm and euphoria. Many Africans want clear words about the trade restrictions and protective customs that ruin many African farmers, like the cotton producers in West African Mali.
There are also hopes for an improved US development policy, for example more support for agricultural programs and small-scale farmers in Africa.
Even the most devoted Obama fans are aware of the fact that the first black American president - whom they love to call a "son of Africa" - cannot solve the many problems of Africa.
But Obamas biography is a source of inspiration for many young, educated and ambitious Africans from Accra to Kinshasa, from Johannesburg to Nairobi. They now hope that in Accra he will find words of even more inspiration and challenge for his fathers continent.
