If she felt so inclined, Hillary Clinton could probably take it easy in Africa this week. That's what the numbers seem to imply, anyway. U.S. leaders enjoy some of their highest job performance ratings there, up even further from their dizzying heights during the Bush administration, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.

In Kenya, for example, where she kicks off her seven-country tour of the continent on Wednesday, 93 percent of the population approves of U.S. leadership. That's up from 82 percent last year. Among the seven countries surveyed, the median approval rating sits happily at 87 percent, up from 80 percent last year.

Not surprisingly, a lot of that has to do with Clinton's boss. Africans are enormously excited about the Obama presidency. Obama earned himself even more good will with his recent stop in Ghana. And the fact that Clinton's trip this week is the longest she's taken since assuming her diplomatic post earns the administration even more brownie points.

But even with all that good cheer in the air, Clinton is in for a bumpy ride - and that's largely her own doing. The itinerary she designed has her engaging with a paralyzed unity government (Kenya), sitting down with the transitional government of a failed state (Somalia), advising the recalcitrant next-door neighbor of another hot zone (South Africa, regarding Zimbabwe), putting a spotlight on gender violence (Congo), and tackling oil politics in the Pakistan of Africa (Nigeria). "It's a pretty substantive trip. This is not a happy-talk-cakewalk kind of trip. It's a heavy lift," says Stephen Morrison, a vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Goma's a s--hole ... [and] going to Nigeria at this moment is pretty gritty."

Why has she signed herself up for all this trouble? First and foremost, it's to prove she's got the chops. Africa is strategically important these days, both at home and abroad, so staking out a prominent space in the decision-making apparatus is key. It matters within the administration, which Obama has filled with Africa hands. Plus, it matters in a geopolitical sense: China's making inroads, AfriCom's still setting up shop, major foreign assistance funds are flowing, and - perhaps, most importantly - the U.S. gets more oil there than it does from the Middle East. Clinton has good reason to dig in now if she wants to be a player in the game going forward. And Hillary Clinton is not one to shirk a challenge like that.