Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrapped up a five-day, three country visit to Africa earlier than expected, due to a volcanic eruption in Eritrea. During her tour, Secretary Clinton focused on trade and American investments in Africa, and became the first secretary of state to address a session of the African Union. While abroad, she made news with a firm warning to China against “new colonialism” and a call for African dictators to step aside or risk being “on the wrong side of history.” Clinton’s Africa swing included stops in Ethiopia, Zambia and Tanzania, where she highlighted the progress made by Feed the Future and proposed new investments in nutritional programs, agriculture development and food security.

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U.S. Treasury’s Brainard Urges More Funds for Development Banks (Bloomberg, Sandrine Rastello)

The Treasury Department’s undersecretary for international affairs, Lael Brainard, urged Congress to authorize more funds for developments banks or face a decline in U.S. influence at institutions such as the World Bank.

Rubio eyes ‘a new American century’ (Politico, Scott Wong)

Just 40, the former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives will argue Tuesday that in the last century, the “American economic miracle” made the country a global superpower. But rather than conquer other nations, America used its strength to do good. “For us, power also came with a sense that to those that much is given, much is expected,” Rubio will say, a reference to scripture from the Book of Luke.

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Donors pledge $4.3 billion for vaccines for poor (Reuters, Kate Kelland and Adrian Croft)

International donors led by Britain and Bill Gates pledged $4.3 billion on Monday to buy vaccines to protect children in poor countries against potential killers such as diarrheal diseases and pneumonia. “Today is an important moment in our collective commitment to protecting children in developing countries from disease,” said Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who attended the pledging conference in London. British Prime Minister David Cameron, who has defended increased spending on aid at a time of sharp domestic spending cuts, pledged $1.3 billion — almost a third of the total raised, which was more than the $3.7 billion GAVI had hoped for. Gates defended GAVI’s purchasing system and said he was always careful not to pay more than he had to. “I’m not going to spend any money that isn’t directly going to help these poor children,” he said. “I feel great about the prices we’ve got.”

A Low-Impact Stove for Rwanda (NY Times, Josh Ruxin)

Eric Reynolds and his Inyenyeri team are about to take a running start, bringing with them enormous potential to change the way that Rwandans interact not just with their kitchens, but also with waste, market access, conservation, and health. There are a lot of entrepreneurs out to change the world these days, but perhaps this kind of clean cookstove technology will be the one to transform the future – not just in Rwanda, but wherever the open wood fire is used.

Politics/Foreign Policy

Joe Biden group looks for budget deal (Politico, David Rogers)

With 2012 appropriations bills already moving through the House, White House budget talks return Tuesday to where they began six months ago: Republican demands for deep cuts from domestic spending and foreign aid.

Clinton Chastises China on Internet, African ‘New Colonialism’ (Bloomberg, Flavia Krause-Jackson)

Referring to China, Clinton said “I believe we are beginning to see a lot of problems that you are going to pay more attention to in the next 10 years.” The audience present during the recording clapped when she concluded by saying “young people will not accept to be told what to do.” The U.S. is “concerned that China’s foreign assistance and investment practices in Africa have not always been consistent with generally accepted international norms of transparency and good governance,” Clinton said yesterday at a news conference in Lusaka after meeting Zambian President Rupiah Banda.

Tackling terrorism from US East Africa base (BBC, Dan Damon)

Instead of sending in fighting troops once trouble has started in a poor country, the US is getting its soldiers to work on projects that, it is hoped, will build enough stability and opportunity to encourage the people of East Africa to hold onto peace and not fight over scarce resources.

Afghan Taliban Cede Ground in the South, but Fears Linger (NY Times, Carlotta Gall)

Beyond the influx of troops, Helmand has benefited from an ambitious development assistance program by the United States and Britain, receiving the most aid per capita of any province in the country last year. Millions of dollars have been injected into the province to provide thousands of jobs and start a plethora of development projects — to pave roads, dredge canals and construct public buildings. The projects have injected welcome cash into communities and helped buttress local governments, but there are questions about what happens when the money dries up.