Sixteen years ago, The Economist ran a cover story called "Hopeless Africa." Back then, even the most passionate Africa-philes were pessimists. But something has happened since, and the continent has defied the odds: African states pulled up their sleeves and reformed; they also restructured their economies. A decade after that cover story, in 2011, the same magazine's cover read "Africa Rising." According to the OECD, "The continent's average growth is expected at 3.7% in 2016." The eastern part of the continent, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his African tour on Monday, is the most prosperous and leads the pack. Even Ethiopia has managed to maintain double-digit growth since 2005. Africa in 2016 is much more peaceful and tranquil than Africa a decade ago. Yes, Somalia, South Sudan and the Central African Republic are still in turmoil, and the fighting in Burundi has resumed, but they are the exception. Africa is also much more democratic than it was in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and it is once again in fashion, and not just for romantics. Nowadays, Africa is the best long-term investment. Everyone knows that. Some have tried to focus on the costs associated with Netanyahu's trip. They have chosen to focus less on statesmanship and more on demagoguery, while ignoring the benefits of maintaining ties with Africa. Likewise, it seems that the dangers in this part of the world, where there is a proliferation of jihadi cells (in Somalia, for example), have been lost on his detractors. The fact that an Israeli prime minister only rarely visits Africa doesn't mean that such visits are any less important. Africa is not just a continent -- it is 54 states, and 54 votes in the United Nations and in other international organizations, as well as 54 economies. According to U.N. projections, Africa's population will reach 2.5 billion in the coming decades. Why would anyone write off a quarter of the world's population? Netanyahu's four-day visit will include Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. Netanyahu will take part in what will surely be an emotional ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of Operation Thunderbolt, the rescue of the Entebbe hostages. One of the heroes of that operation was the prime minister's brother, Yoni Netanyahu, who was killed in the raid as the commander of the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit. The operation was later renamed Operation Yonatan in his honor. After the memorial ceremony, Netanyahu will meet with seven heads of African states. Everyone is courting Africa again, but Israel, it appears, is once again a hot commodity. The visit is taking place even as people lament Israel's so-called isolation. Now that a reconciliation deal with Turkey has been signed, Israel is surrounded by many friends or "just" partners: Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Azerbaijan, as well as central Asian nations. Then there are closer ties with Egypt and the thriving relations with East African countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda. These diplomatic relations are just facts. There are also old-new developments on the other side of the continent, on the west. A new pro-Israel axis is forming around Togo, comprising countries that want to deepen their ties with Israel, such as a Ghana and Ivory Coast. Remember the "Alliance of the Periphery" that Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion envisioned in the 1950s, which called for strong Israeli ties with non-Arab Muslim states? Nowadays we may not have Iran and Chad (although the latter has been signaling its interest in closer ties), but we have Egypt and a whole host of countries. In fact, Israel's leaders have struck a new alliance. A mega-Periphery Alliance. Isolation, it seems, is relative. Unless the "we are alone" camp believes Europe is the only continent that counts. The "Golden Era" in African-Israeli relations has been restored to the days of the 1950s and 1960s, when then-Foreign Minister Golda Meir managed to do wonders in a continent that shared Israel's values (a desire for independence from colonial powers). Back then, Israel was trying to marshal support of African nations in international organizations; it wanted strategic-security backing in the areas that lay beyond its immediate Arab neighbors; and it wanted more robust economic ties. African leaders found a common language with their Israeli counterparts, mostly because of a shared past. For Jews, there was the Holocaust; for Africans, there was the history of slavery. This has come up more than once in the talks between the leaders of both sides. Moreover, Israel's message was different. Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta, famously said: "When the missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land and the missionaries had the Bible. They taught how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible." His son, current Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, will meet Netanyahu on Tuesday. Now back to the past: Israel-African ties were cut due to Arab pressure. Guinea was the first country to sever ties with Israel, after the Six-Day War. Then, in 1972, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada cut Uganda's ties with Israel. Chad, Congo and Burundi followed suit. Ties with 35 states (with 26 Israeli ambassadors) simply unraveled. But African states and Israel have recently decided to write a new chapter in their history: "Back to the Future." The benefits of this reignited love affair are hard to ignore. In December 2014, the U.N. Security Council deliberated on a pro-Palestinian draft resolution that would have effectively recognized a Palestinian state. Jerusalem, needless to say, opposed this unilateral move, which ran against the spirit of the Oslo Accords. Two African countries, Nigeria and Rwanda, abstained, thus torpedoing the resolution. France voted in favor. The benefits in forging ties with Africa are clearly apparent in the International Atomic Energy Agency. Every now and then, Egypt raises the issue of Israel's nuclear capabilities, because it is just obsessed with this issue. Egypt always wants to restart the debate on this issue and to deny Israel its reported (according to foreign media) capabilities. African states have consistently voted against anti-Israel resolutions in IAEA forums. According to European diplomats, Rwanda is engaged in an active effort to derail such Egyptian efforts. In 2007, Ethiopia was elected for a two-year term in the Security Council. Jerusalem knew it could rely on Addis Ababa. It is not every day that a prime minister goes on a tour that combines so much emotion and common sense. The emotional part, of course, is the ceremony in Entebbe. Some have called Operation Yonatan Israel's trademark, because it is the most famous hostage-rescue mission. Yes, there may have been many daring operations and many heroes over the course of history, but there was something very special about that specific raid on July 3-4, 1976, when our forces did the impossible and released the passengers and crew of an Air France airliner. When Netanyahu meets with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Monday and looks at the Entebbe Airport, he will obviously think about the legendary operation that his late brother and his comrades carried out, which reached mythic proportions. But he will inevitably also think about something just as great: the great story told by the State of Israel, a country that knows how to export agricultural military equipment, as well as technological know-how and high tech -- but also values. In Africa, despite being a war-torn continent with many dictators and rampant crime, the average citizens knows that values mean a lot. "Over the years, the operation has become part of the Israeli ethos of an uncompromising war against terrorism. And as is the case with any operation, everyone has their own story," former Mossad Chief Tamir Pardo wrote recently. Pardo took part in the raid as a lieutenant. He was Sayeret Matkal's communication's officer and was part of Yoni Netanyahu's assault team. He is right. Everyone indeed has their own story. Netanyahu will remember his brother on Monday in the very place he lost him. His story is our story and the story of Israeli-African relations, which will see a new chapter written this week.
