"More than that, the essential message from the president was the need to decolonise the African mind, post-liberation, to enable the previously oppressed African majority to appreciate and love who they are and uphold their own culture, " he said.

BBC: South Africa's Jacob Zuma in dog ownership row

Lorraine Millot of French daily Liberation says in a blog post that "the compromise now adopted by Congress does not really resolve the fundamental problems but allows Barack Obama to have himself celebrated has the one who finally got the Republicans to 'crack' by forcing them to accept some tax increases for the richest of the rich".

BBC: International media cool on 'fiscal cliff' deal