A COMPREHENSIVE TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

POLICY FOR THE COUNTRIES OF

AFRICA
A REPORT SUBMITTED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

TO CONGRESS

The Third of Five Annual Reports

December 1997

Table of Contents

I. The Administration’s Program for Promoting Economic Growth

 and Opportunity in Sub-Saharan Africa ...........................................................................1

Country Participation ...................................................................................................3

Level I participation ...........................................................................................3

Level II participation............................................................................................4

Level III participation...........................................................................................5

II. Support for African Economic Growth............................................................................. 7

Trade and Investment ................................................................................................ . 7

Enhanced market access...................................................................................... 7

World Trade Organization (WTO) activities....................................................... 9

Export-Import Bank programs and outreach ...................................................... 11

Trade promotion ................................................................................................ 12

Agribusiness development .................................................................................. 13

American-African Business Partnership .............................................................. 14

Investment Support............................................................................................ 15

Transportation Initiative ..................................................................................... 15

Technical assistance..................................................................................................... 16

Regional economic integration ........................................................................... 17

Labor................................................................................................................. 18

Intellectual property rights.................................................................................. 18

Financial planning assistance............................................................................... 18

Agricultural expertise ......................................................................................... 18

Africa Food Security Initiative............................................................................ 19

Reprogramming U.S. commodity assistance programs........................................ 19

Strengthening democratic governance ................................................................ 20

Financing and Debt Relief........................................................................................... 20

Debt relief.......................................................................................................... 20

Enhanced financial support through the international
3

financial institutions (IFIs) ...................................................................... 21

Enhanced Dialogue with African countries................................................................ 22

U.S.-Africa Economic Cooperation Forum......................................................... 23

Designation of Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa ........................... 24

Media exchanges and support............................................................................. 24

Multilateral activities ................................................................................................. 25
4

A COMPREHENSIVE TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT POLICY FOR THE

COUNTRIES OF AFRICA

I. The Administration’s Program for Promoting Economic

Growth and Opportunity in Sub-Saharan Africa1

On June 17, 1997, President Clinton announced the Partnership for Economic Growth

and Opportunity in Africa. The basic premise of the Partnership is that building strong trade

relationships with Africa’s rapidly growing and reforming economies is key to generating growth

and opportunity on the continent. As detailed in last year’s report, many countries in SubSaharan Africa have already undertaken major steps towards reform that have led to increased,

though still relatively fragile, growth. The Administration’s program recognizes the achievements

of the countries pursuing political and economic reform and seeks to help African countries

strengthen and accelerate this growth. The program offers special support to those countries

committed to pursuing further accelerated reforms. Partnership countries, for their part, must be

committed to creating an appropriate policy environment. Demonstration of this commitment

through sustained actions, is their essential contribution to the Partnership.

The President strongly supports the bipartisan Congressional initiative to pass “The

African Growth and Opportunity Act.” The Administration will work actively with Congress

through the legislative process to enact legislation this year. The legislation both complements the

Administration’s initiative and is necessary for the implementation of key elements of the

initiative. The Administration is moving forward expeditiously to implement those provisions of

the Partnership which do not require legislative authorization and will continue to work with the

Congress to pass legislation that will help build a new trade relationship between the United

States and African countries.

In developing its program, the Administration was guided by the following principles:

• A sound policy framework in African countries that opens economies to private sector

trade and investment offers the greatest potential for growth and poverty alleviation.

• Investment in people, emphasizing education and health, is necessary to raise productivity.

 

1

 The 48 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa are: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon,

Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo

(formerly Zaire), Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,

Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria,

Rwanda, São Tomè and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland,

Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
5

• Consistent, transparent “rules of the economic game,” fairly applied, are essential for the

private sector to flourish.

• Development assistance remains important and should be maintained, but it cannot itself

be the engine of growth. Assistance works best in an environment of good policies and

good leadership. Foreign assistance can make a critical difference for those countries

doing the most to promote their own growth by opening their economies, investing in

people, and improving economic policy management and governance.

• Sustained, rapid growth for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa is achievable. Success can

breed success and provide a powerful example for all the countries of Africa to emulate.

Based on the experience of countries that have instituted reforms, the most dramatic

progress occurs when countries have taken steps in three areas: trade and investment

liberalization; investing in human resources; and improving policy management and governance.

To encourage greater trade and investment, it is critical that countries liberalize their trade and

investment regimes while maintaining a stable macro-economic environment. This requires that

countries make substantial progress on a number of interrelated fronts; eliminating non-tariff

barriers; reducing tariff levels; binding their tariffs in the WTO; assuming meaningful binding

obligations in other areas of trade and investment policy such as services and intellectual property

protection; privatizing key sectors of the economy; ensuring national treatment for foreign

investment; introducing currency convertibility; and complying with programs and obligations of

the International Monetary Fund and other international financial institutions. Those few

countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that are not already members of the WTO should be actively

pursuing membership and prepared to take on meaningful obligations. 

In last year’s report, the Administration noted that local trade barriers had an adverse

effect on economic development and limited the competitiveness of many African countries. 

While all Sub-Saharan Africa WTO-member countries bound agricultural tariff rates in the

Uruguay Round, most of these bound rates are quite high and well in excess of those currently

applied. In the area of industrial products, most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have only limited

bindings at levels well above their applied rates. In addition, most African countries have only

limited scheduled commitments under the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services

(GATS). Tariff bindings at reasonable levels and GATS commitments are important because they

offer Africa’s trading partners and foreign investors assurances that trade regime reforms will

remain in place. 

It is no less important, if growth is to be sustained, for governments to strengthen their

support for education and health. The return on investment in human resources can be increased

by focusing more on outcomes, such as increasing the literacy rate, rather than on inputs, such as

the amount of spending.

In the area of improved policy management and governance, the Administration attaches
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importance to policies aimed at streamlining and reducing the scope of government activities,

increasing professionalism, transparency and accountability of the public sector, and developing a

judicial system in which published rules are impartially applied and for which appeal procedures

are in place. 

The President’s Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity in Africa has five

major components:

• Enhanced trade benefits to increase U.S.-African trade and investment flows and

enhancement of existing U.S. programs related to investment and trade promotion,

development aid, and commodity assistance;

• Technical assistance;

• Enhanced dialogue with African countries by holding annual economic meetings at the

cabinet/ministerial level with all reforming African nations;

• Financing and debt relief; and

• Continued U.S. leadership in multilateral fora to promote the development and

implementation of new initiatives that support private sector development, trade

development, and institutional capacity building in African countries.

Country Participation

The Partnership is structured so that those countries that adopt growth-oriented

economic and financial reform policies and open their markets to trade and investment will benefit

the most in terms of access to U.S. markets and from assistance resources targeted to economic

growth. Because not all countries are ready or able to take the steps necessary to spur high levels

of economic growth, partnership countries may participate at one of three different levels.

Level I Participation: To support the efforts of Sub-Saharan African countries to

achieve economic growth, a range of opportunities and assistance will be available, including:

• Enhanced market access: African nations participating in the existing Generalized System

of Preferences (GSP) program will continue to receive preferential market access under

that program. The GSP program provides less-developed countries duty-free access for

products in about 4,600 tariff lines and provides least-developed countries enhanced

access on products in an additional 1,783 tariff lines.

• Investment support. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) will issue

guarantees for a proposed $150 million equity investment fund for the region, sponsored
7

by the private sector. OPIC will also work to provide partial guarantees for special

infrastructure investment funds with aggregate capital up to $500 million. These funds will

focus on economic infrastructure projects in such sectors as telecommunications, power,

transportation, and financial services.

• Support for regional integration. Up to $25 million annually will be provided under the

U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Initiative for Southern Africa for

private sector and trade-related activities in areas of regional concern, including

investment policy harmonization, regional business ties, financial sector development,

privatization, and facilitating cooperation between the private sector and regional

institutions.

• Support for American-African Business Relations. USAID will allocate up to $1 million

annually to help catalyze relationships between U.S. and African firms through a variety of

business associations and networks.

• Designation of an Assistant USTR for Africa, and a senior advisor on Africa to the U.S.

Export-Import Bank. 

In addition to these measures, the Administration will continue to work with the International

Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group, and the African Development Bank Group on the

development and implementation of initiatives to support private sector investment, trade

development and capacity building. 

Level II Participation: Additional support will be offered to those GSP-eligible

countries that are pursuing aggressive growth-oriented reform programs in such areas as trade

and investment liberalization, investment in human resources, and improved policy management

and governance. At the discretion of the President, these countries would be eligible to take

advantage of the following additional opportunities:

• Further enhanced market access. The GSP program will be expanded by inclusion of

some product groups that are statutorily excluded or products that have traditionally been

excluded due to import sensitivity.

• Debt reduction. To help ensure that growth-oriented countries now burdened by excessive

debt are in a position to invest in human resources, the Administration will support an

approach that leads to the extinction of concessional bilateral debt for the poorest

countries implementing strong reform programs. In addition, the Administration will

continue to urge the World Bank and International Monetary Fund boards to provide deep

relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt initiative.

• U.S.-Africa Economic Cooperation Forum. A cabinet/minister-level forum will be

convened annually in order to enhance the dialogue between Africa’s strongest reformers
8

and the United States. 

• Bilateral technical assistance to promote reforms. USAID will provide up to $5 million

annually to expand short-term technical assistance to African governments to help

liberalize trade and promote exports and to improve the investment environment through

regulatory, financial, and fiscal reforms. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide

technical assistance to promote agribusiness linkages.

• Support for agricultural market liberalization. USAID will allocate up to $15 million

annually under the multi-year Africa Food Security Initiative to support agricultural

market liberalization, export development, and agribusiness investments in processing and

transport of agricultural commodities. 

 

• Trade promotion. The Trade Development Agency will increase the number of reverse

trade missions focusing on growth-oriented countries.

• Reprogramming commodity assistance. To support countries experiencing budget

shortfalls in the course of their growth-oriented reform programs, and to encourage more

effective spending on human resource development and agricultural policy reform, the

Administration will take steps to focus PL-480 Title I assistance more on growth-oriented

countries in Sub-Saharan Africa as allowed by funding availability, and will explore

possibilities to increase funding for Title III assistance from within PL-480.

• Support for economic policy reform. In FY98, USAID will provide increased support for

growth-oriented programs with both technical assistance and program support funds. 

• Targeted multilateral assistance. The Administration will actively support multilateral

financial assistance targeted to growth-oriented African countries, in particular financing

to support accelerated trade liberalization and private sector investment in Africa. 

Level III Participation: In the future, as appropriate, the United States will be open to

pursuing free trade agreements with strong-performing, growth-oriented Sub-Saharan African

countries. 

Although the Administration can on its own authority implement most aspects of the

Partnership within FY98 and prior appropriations, Congressional action is required to expand the

GSP program for Level II participants and to facilitate through fast track procedures the

negotiation of the free trade agreements envisaged under Level III.

The following sections of the report describe Administration activities during the year that

support African economic growth either through implementation of the Partnership for Economic
9

Growth and Opportunity in Africa, or through other programs or activities that complement the

Partnership. These activities are grouped by the major components that broadly define the

program’s objectives, namely: trade and investment; technical assistance; financing and debt

relief; enhanced dialogue with African countries; and multilateral activities. 

II. Support for African Economic Growth

Trade and Investment

Strengthening U.S. trade relations with Africa is a key element of the Partnership. The

development record in Sub-Saharan Africa, as elsewhere in the world, shows that as countries

implement democratic and market-based reforms, they become fuller commercial partners with

the United States, as well as more active participants in global economic progress. 

In 1996, the United States was third among Sub-Saharan Africa’s industrial country

suppliers behind France and the United Kingdom, with about 7 percent of the market.

U.S. exports to the region were $6 billion in 1996, a 14-percent increase from the previous year.2

 The largest U.S. export sectors to the region are transportation equipment, agricultural products,

machinery, electronic products, and chemicals. U.S. imports from Sub-Saharan Africa in 1996

increased to $15.2 billion, or up almost 17 percent from the previous year. As in prior years,

energy-related products and minerals and metals were the largest sectors for U.S. imports from

the region.

Despite these rising trade figures, Sub-Saharan Africa remains on the fringes of the global

economy. Africa -- a continent of enormous potential in terms of human and natural resources --

accounted in 1995 for only 1.4 percent of global exports and imports and for only 1.1 percent of

global GNP. While it is up to African leaders and the African people to determine whether they

will realize their vast potential, the United States can play a pivotal role in the region’s transition

to commercial vitality and growth. 

• Enhanced market access

Level I: The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program is designed to

encourage export growth in the developing countries by granting them preferential duty-free

access to nearly half of the articles on the U.S. tariff schedule and is available to all Sub-Saharan

African countries that meet the program’s eligibility requirements. In 1997, the Administration

implemented changes in the GSP program that are intended to be especially beneficial to the 37

countries that are designated least developed beneficiary developing countries (LDBDCs), 29 of

 

2

U.S. Department of Commerce, “U.S.-African Trade Profile,” March 1996. For a detailed analysis of U.S.

trade and investment flows with Sub-Saharan Africa, see also, U.S. International Trade Commission, U.S.-Africa Trade

Flows and Effects of Uruguay Round Agreements and U.S. Trade and Development Policy, Third Annual Report, 

Publication 3067, October 1997. 
10

which are Sub-Saharan countries. These changes resulted from legislation approved by Congress

in 1996 which authorized the Administration to include in the GSP program for LDBDCs,

products that previously had been considered too import sensitive to be eligible for duty-free

treatment. Nearly one-fifth of the articles on the U.S. tariff schedule were reviewed to ensure that

U.S. industry and its workers would not be injured by granting the items GSP status. The

President determined that 1,783 of these articles could be imported duty-free under GSP from the

LDBDCs without injury to U.S. interests, and in mid-1997, he granted LDBDCs preferential

access for these products.

The GSP program is currently authorized until June 30, 1998. The program was reauthorized for this period after the prior authorization expired on May 31, 1997. The

Administration will review the extension of GSP as part of the FY99 budget process. 

The Administration is seeking to increase African utilization of the GSP program. 

Although Sub-Saharan imports under GSP were valued at $586 million in 1996, they accounted

for only 3.5 percent of the $16.9 billion of global U.S. GSP imports.

Level II: The Administration is very pleased that the proposed “Africa Growth and

Opportunity Act” would provide authority for the President, after receiving advice from the U.S.

International Trade Commission, to include in the GSP program for reforming countries a number

of products that are presently excluded by statute or are only eligible for least-developed

beneficiary countries. For example, 14 Sub-Saharan countries presently do not benefit from the

preferential access reserved for LDBDCs because they are no longer considered least-developed

countries. Enhanced market access for Level II countries is the one major provision of the

Partnership for which legislative authorization is needed before it can be implemented. The

Administration will continue to work with the Congress on provisions that would grant the

needed authority subject to the availability of pay-as-you-go offsets. If the authority is granted,

the Administration would conduct a review, hold hearings, and request the advice of the U.S.

International Trade Commission on the probable economic impact of adding the additional

products to the GSP when imported from countries participating at Level II.

Level III: In announcing the Partnership, the President committed the United States to

work closely with reform-minded African nations to promote the goals of lowering tariffs and

eliminating non-tariff trade barriers. The Administration is prepared to explore the possibility of

free trade agreements (FTAs) with countries that have successfully implemented reforms to

further integrate them into the international trading system, when the United States and they agree

that it is mutually advantageous to do so. In expressing the willingness to enter into FTAs with

Sub-Saharan African countries, the Administration hopes to encourage investment, increase trade,

and bolster the ability of African nations to continue market-opening reforms.

These agreements would be of significant commercial benefit to U.S. exporters. For

example, should the current negotiations between South Africa and the European Union result in

a preferential trade arrangement providing European manufacturers duty-free access to the South
11

African market, U.S. exporters would face a 5 to 35 percent tariff wall not inhibiting their

European competitors. 

• World Trade Organization (WTO) activities

Informal Consultations: Beginning at the WTO’s first Ministerial meeting in Singapore in

December 1996, the Administration opened a dialogue with representatives of Sub-Saharan

African WTO members, sharing ideas for the Partnership initiative and related U.S. legislation. 

That first session was attended by representatives of 35 nations, mostly at the Ministerial level. 

The dialogue continued as the Partnership initiative was developed and legislation was prepared,

through meetings between Administration representatives and Sub-Saharan delegates to the WTO

and during Sub-Saharan Ministers visits to Washington, D.C. 

WTO Technical Cooperation: A number of activities have taken place within the WTO

that could assist African efforts to reform and liberalize their trade and investment regimes

through adoption and implementation of WTO rules and disciplines. At Marrakech, and later at

Singapore, WTO Ministers reiterated their commitment to better integrate the least-developed

countries (LLDCs) into the multilateral trading system and to help them take advantage of the

trading opportunities created by the WTO agreements. To meet this commitment, the WTO

offers a range of technical assistance programs for developing and least-developed countries that

are often implemented with bilateral and multilateral donors. 

In 1997, for example, 33 of 148 planned WTO technical cooperation activities benefited

countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, and involved technical assistance such as updating tariff

schedules and drafting and implementing schedules, as well as studies of the impacts of WTO

agreements.3 The WTO has also provided technical assistance to developing countries to comply

with trading partners’ standards through regional seminars, while the Food and Agriculture

Organization (FAO) has provided numerous programs focusing on meeting multilateral trade

requirements, in particular regarding food safety and standards.

The Integrated Technical Assistance Programme for Selected Least-Developed and Other

African Countries was launched in early 1996 at the WTO in collaboration with UNCTAD and

the International Trade Centre (ITC). The purpose of this program is to assist the covered

countries to expand and diversify their trade and to improve their integration into the multilateral

trading system. Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda

participate in this program.

The First Triennial Review of the Operation and Implementation of the WTO Agreement

on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) in November 1997 noted the special developmental,

financial, and trade needs of developing country Members. In the Review, the TBT Committee

included in its future work plan consideration of such activities as: (1) the use of measures to

 

3 WTO, Three Year Programme for Technical Cooperation 1997-1999, WT/COMTD/W/25, May 12, 1997.
12

engender capacity building in developing country Members, including measures relevant to the

transfer of technology for the purpose of preparation and adoption of technical regulations; (2)

preparation of a study by the Secretariat to establish the state of knowledge concerning technical

barriers to market access of developing country suppliers, especially small- and medium-sized

enterprises; and (3) inviting representatives of international standardizing bodies to assess how the

special problems of developing countries are handled. 

WTO High-Level Meeting: At the December 1996 WTO Ministerial in Singapore,

Ministers agreed that the WTO would organize a meeting in 1997 with UNCTAD, the

International Trade Center (ITC), aid agencies, multilateral financial institutions, and LLDCs to

fashion an integrated program to help these countries enhance their trading opportunities. The

High-Level Meeting on Integrated Initiatives for Least-Developed Countries’ Trade Development

took place on October 27-28, 1997. The meeting focussed on coordinating the technical

assistance activities of intergovernmental organizations, resulting in an integrated technical

assistance plan for each country. WTO Members also took the opportunity to announce

autonomous enhancements in market access for the LLDCs.

Two thematic roundtable discussions were conducted at the High-Level Meeting on

“Building the Capacity to Trade in Least-Developed Countries” and “Encouraging Investment in

Least-Developed Countries.” Additionally, country-specific roundtable discussions were

conducted for 12 countries, including Madagascar, Tanzania, Djibouti, Zambia, Mali, Chad,

Uganda, and Guinea.4 The roundtable discussions covered each country’s need for trade-related

technical assistance, responses by the six intergovernmental organizations offering technical

assistance to meet these needs from their own resources, and responses from 10 to 20 invited

bilateral and multilateral donors describing aspects of their assistance activities that might support,

or be integrated with, the new proposed technical assistance program. 

The United States, as an active provider of assistance to LLDCs, participated in

roundtable discussions for seven countries, including four in Sub-Saharan Africa (Uganda,

Zambia, Tanzania, and Madagascar).

Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM): Since 1995, six countries in Sub-Saharan

Africa--Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Uganda, Mauritius, Zambia, and Benin--had their trade policies

reviewed through the TPRM. A review of the Southern African Customs Union (South Africa,

Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland) will take place in early 1998. Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina

Faso, Mali, Togo, and Guinea will also be reviewed in 1998. The TPRM provides a peer review

process whereby countries’ policies are reviewed in relation to the obligations and objectives of

the WTO. The United States actively participates in the TPRM process and intends to stress the

important contribution to expanded trade between the United States and Africa that can be made

if African countries fully adhere to their WTO obligations and are prepared to take on additional

 

4

 The six intergovernmental organizations have committed to conduct reviews for 18 more countries that have

requested to participate in this technical assistance program by March 1998.
13

obligations as they arise within the WTO framework.

African Commitments in WTO Basic Telecommunications Services Agreement: On

February 15, 1997, the United States and 68 other members of the WTO successfully concluded

negotiations on basic telecommunications services under the General Agreement on Trade in

Services (GATS telecom agreement). Among the 69 WTO Members who made varying market

access, national treatment and regulatory commitments under the agreement were Côte d’Ivoire,

Ghana, Mauritius, Senegal, and South Africa. Each of these countries made commitments to

open up certain basic telecom sectors to competition in the near term, and to open other sectors

later, while implementing regulatory reforms necessary to ensure effective market access for

foreign-affiliated suppliers.

Today, telecommunications is a $750 billion global industry; under the agreement,

telecommunications services trade is expected to double or even triple over the next ten years.

The WTO basic telecom agreement will spur economic growth in Africa and elsewhere by

facilitating greater investment and competition in domestic telecommunications services

markets and by cutting the average cost of international phone calls. The combined effects of

the agreement -- greater domestic network development and lower telecommunications costs

for Africans -- will benefit these nations not only in the communications and information

technology industries, but across the economy in areas where communication services are a

major component in the development of competitive products and services and in the delivery

of social services.

The Administration will also be looking to Sub-Saharan countries to make commitments in

the ongoing WTO financial services negotiations.

Trade-Related Intellectual Property Protection (TRIPs): The Administration believes that

improved protection for intellectual property is a key element in improving the investment

climates in the nations of Africa. We have conducted training for more than a dozen of those

nations, and encourage their participation in the TRIPs Council. As TRIPs obligations come into

force across the continent, we will work with governments to draft modern laws and improve

their enforcement systems.

• Export-Import Bank programs and outreach

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is open to consider business

in 18 Sub-Saharan African countries. Ex-Im Bank supported $217 million in exports to SubSaharan Africa in FY97, a 50 percent increase over FY96. During the past year, Ex-Im Bank has

implemented a new strategy for marketing its programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. The first stage of

this plan, which is to meet with the commercial attaches from each African embassy to explain ExIm Bank programs and to develop potential transactions in these countries, is now being

completed. As a result of these meetings, Ex-Im Bank has developed over $100 million in

potential new business in these markets. 
14

Ex-Im Bank is also working with the Commerce and State Departments to facilitate local

access to Ex-Im Bank programs in Africa. To further expand its outreach, Ex-Im Bank is

working in a partnership with relevant trade and industry groups and co-sponsoring business fora.

 Ex-Im Bank expects that its marketing program will result in a significant increase in its activity

in the region.

• Trade promotion

U.S. commercial interests have only a seven percent market share in Sub-Saharan Africa,

the lowest U.S. market penetration for any region in the world. U.S. exports are concentrated in

only a few industrial sectors. Many reasons for this imbalance exist, including a lack of African

familiarity with U.S. technology, equipment and service suppliers, and broad U.S. private sector

unfamiliarity with African markets and their potential for exporters.

In an effort to help overcome some of the obstacles to U.S. firms doing business with and

investing in projects with strong African sponsors, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency

(TDA) provides support for project development in the form of feasibility studies and orientation

visits (reverse trade missions). In the past fiscal year, TDA funded: 13 feasibility studies in seven

countries; the African Virtual University with the World Bank; nine orientation visits

encompassing buyers from over 22 countries; and eight technical assistance projects in four

countries.

The Department of Commerce is revitalizing the Africa Working Group of the Trade

Promotion Coordination Committee (TPCC) to improve coordination of the work of the 19 U.S.

agencies directly involved in commercial promotion in Africa. The Commerce Advocacy Center

will continue to coordinate closely with other TPCC agencies and U.S. diplomatic posts in the

region to support U.S. business. Despite formidable competition, U.S. firms have enjoyed the

coordinated and effective support of the Advocacy Center, U.S. embassies in Africa, and

Washington-based agencies to win contracts worth nearly $4 billion in Africa since 1995. The

Advocacy Center is tracking projects throughout Africa worth a total of nearly $6.8 billion, with

an estimated U.S. export value of $4.6 billion.

Commerce has also reconstituted its Africa Team of domestic and international trade

specialists from the Export Assistance Center (EAC) network and overseas posts, to broaden its

outreach, trade promotion, and business support for U.S. investors in Africa. Team members will

complement the agency’s work in Washington, at the EACs and overseas aimed at raising the

awareness of U.S. firms about Africa’s trade and investment opportunities, cultivating U.S. firms

in the African marketplace, and planning trade promotion events. 

Commerce will also continue to coordinate the work of the Trade and Investment

Committee (TIC) of the U.S.-South Africa Binational Commission (BNC). The BNC serves an

invaluable role as a government-to-government forum for identification and resolution of
15

problems in the growing bilateral relationship between the United States and South Africa. Under

the Agriculture Committee of the BNC, the Market Access Working Group will place increased

attention on agriculture marketing, trade development, and business development activities

between the United States and South Africa. These efforts will support U.S. Department of

Agriculture’s (USDA) overall expanded outreach program in the Sub-Saharan Africa region.

USDA will expand its agricultural marketing and agribusiness development focus in SubSaharan Africa to include more countries beginning in FY98. Agribusiness trade and investment

missions to countries in the region are being assessed for FY98 and FY99 with the objective of

facilitating increased trade and investment by U.S. agro-industry in the Sub-Saharan Africa

region. To support these missions, USDA is assessing a series of domestic and international

workshops on agribusiness opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Agribusiness development

To promote agribusiness linkages, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is

studying the feasibility of placing an Agricultural Trade Officer (ATO) for three years in a SubSaharan country who will support agribusiness development opportunities for U.S. industry in the

region. A feasibility study is currently being conducted and a determination will be made in early

1998.

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) of the USDA administers export credit

guarantee programs for commercial financing of U.S. agricultural exports. The programs

encourage exports to buyers in countries where credit is necessary to maintain or increase U.S.

sales, but where financing may not be available without CCC guarantees. Two programs

underwrite credit extended by the private sector banking sector in the United States (or, less

commonly, by the U.S. exporter) to approved foreign banks using dollar-denominated,

irrevocable letters of credit to pay for food and agricultural products sold to foreign buyers. The

Export Credit Guarantee Program (GSM-102) covers credit terms up to three years. The

Intermediate Export Credit Guarantee Program (GSM-103) covers longer credit terms up to ten

years. 

West Africa Region GSM-102. In fiscal year 1994, USDA established a $50 million pilot

regional GSM-102 for nineteen countries in the West Africa region. The program’s

success has been limited because local banks require 100 percent collateral from

importers.

Southern Africa Region GSM-102 and South Africa GSM-103. In fiscal year 1995,

USDA established a $50 million GSM-102 program for nineteen countries in the Southern

Africa Region. Because competitive financing has become available to larger South

African importers, program use has declined from $30 million to $200,000. USDA has

started to target small and medium-sized importers and their banks. The GSM-103

program for South Africa was established in fiscal year 1996 at the request of U.S. grain
16

traders, but there have been no registrations under the program due to lack of interest by

local banks.

East Africa Region GSM-102. A $40 million East Africa regional program was carved

out of the Southern Africa Region program for FY 1998 and includes Kenya, Tanzania,

and Uganda. Program use has been enthusiastic in supporting sales of corn, wheat, and

meat in Uganda.

Supplier Credit Guarantee Program. The first ever Supplier Credit Guarantee Program

(SCGP) is being considered for South Africa for FY98. This program is a new sub-part of

the export guarantee program. USDA experts traveled to South Africa in October 1997

to discuss the details of such a program for imports of U.S. wheat. Under this program,

USDA through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), guarantees a portion of

payments due from importers under short-term financing (up to 180 days) that exporters

have extended directly to the importers for the purchase of U.S. agricultural commodities

and products. These direct credits must be secured by promissory notes signed by the

importers. This program does not operate through local banks.

Facilities Credit Guarantee Program. USDA has recently established its first Facility

Credit Guarantee Program (FCGP). This program is a new sub-part of the export

guarantee program. The criteria for targeting countries or regions in Sub-Saharan Africa

for the FCGP where U.S. agricultural exports will be the primary beneficiary are currently

being developed. Under the FCGP, USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation guarantees

financing of manufactured goods and services exported from the United States to improve

or establish agriculture-related facilities in emerging markets where U.S. agricultural

exports will be the primary beneficiary. By supporting such facilities, the FCGP is

designed to enhance sales of U.S. agricultural commodities and products to emerging

markets where the demand for such commodities and products may be constricted due to

inadequate storage, processing, or handling capabilities for such products.

• American-African Business Partnership

Together with the Corporate Council on Africa, Commerce is working to arrange a tour

of the United States by several U.S. Ambassadors in Africa next spring, along with the regional

Senior Commercial Officers. The tour will coincide with the annual Commerce-State Conference

on U.S. Trade and Investment in Africa, scheduled for New Orleans on April 16-17.

Commerce Secretary Daley has announced his intention to lead a Commercial Development

Mission to Africa next spring.

In September 1997, USAID sponsored a national economic forum in Accra, Ghana

following an extraordinary meeting USAID sponsored in North Carolina between Ghanaian

government officials and entrepreneurs and U.S. counterparts. Over 300 senior level public and

private sector representatives, including for the first time key opposition leaders, were present to
17

discuss the future direction of Ghana’s economy and prospects for growth. USAID is also

supporting Internet access to business associations such as the West Africa Enterprise Network,

the Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs, and the Federation of Associations of Ghanaian

Exporters to increase information about trade and investment opportunities within the region and

in the United States. 

• Investment support

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is one of the U.S. government’s

primary tools for expanding investment in Africa. OPIC is currently providing nearly $1 billion in

insurance and financing to over 60 projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. OPIC expects to begin

making new investments in Southern Africa through its support of the New Africa Opportunity

Fund, a $120 million fund which is capitalized with private equity and OPIC-guaranteed debt. 

This fund will operate in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,

South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The Partnership initiative, as well as legislation proposed in Congress, calls for OPIC to

develop new private sector equity funds especially for Africa, totaling up to $650 million. These

funds include: (1) a new $150 million private equity investment fund for commercial and natural

resources projects in Sub-Saharan Africa that was announced on December 4, 1997; and (2) the

development of one or more additional private equity funds with a total capitalization of up to

$500 million to invest in infrastructure projects in the telecommunications, power, transportation,

and financial services sectors.5 These funds will build on OPIC’s leading role to increase U.S.

private investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

• Transportation initiative

Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Rodney Slater launched the

Transportation Initiative with Africa as an important complement to the Administration’s

Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity. On October 8, Secretary Slater convened an

Africa Trade and Investment Roundtable, which brought together over 200 U.S. business and

political leaders to meet with the African diplomatic corps and experts on Africa to discuss the

initiative and identify elements of an interactive partnership.

Among DOT’s ongoing assistance programs, the Federal Highway Administration

maintains an active technology sharing facility in Pretoria, South Africa, and has near-term plans

to open a second such center in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Because the development of reliable

transportation linkages are so vitally necessary to modern developed societies, these assistance

efforts will have a stimulating effect on a number of the region’s economic sectors. 

 

5

All OPIC projects must satisfy a number of statutory requirements before OPIC will consider them for

support. These requirements include environmental safeguards, and internationally recognized worker and human

rights.
18

Another key component of the Transportation initiative is the African Aviation Initiative. 

Also in early October, a delegation of civil aviation and aviation safety/security experts teamed

with other public officials on a mission to Africa to gather information concerning the readiness of

African nations for competitive and/or additional scheduled air services and share information

about safety and security issues and the Administration's perspective on open markets as it

pertains to aviation. The delegation convened regional meetings in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Côte

d’Ivoire. Other DOT-supported programs include efforts to improve road safety, improve marine

capabilities, and help reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS through information programs for seafarers.

As a next step in DOT's initiative, Secretary Slater plans to lead a trade and development

mission to the continent in early 1998. The Secretary’s mission will have three primary

objectives: (1) expanding trade and investment opportunities; (2) supporting African economic

integration; and (3) fostering development in Africa.

Technical assistance

As part of the Partnership, USAID is directing special attention to helping African

countries design and implement policy reforms that will help make them more attractive for

international trade and investment. These programs include technical assistance to help African

governments liberalize trade and improve their investment climate; a program to help catalyze

relationships between U.S. and African firms through a variety of business associations; and

support for private sector and trade-related activities under the Initiative for Southern Africa

(ISA). In helping to strengthen business associations and networks both within Africa and

between the African and U.S. private sectors, USAID will work to increase awareness and

understanding of standards, quality specifications, and other rules in the United States and in

Africa that exporters must have in order to engage in trade activities. Funding for these technical

assistance programs will start in FY98.

While increased trade and investment flows to Sub-Saharan Africa foster economic

development, continued foreign assistance for development purposes continues to be essential to

prepare Africa to fully integrate into the global economy. USAID programs and to relieve poverty

are fully consistent with the objectives of the Partnership. In the past year, steps were taken steps

to re-focus many of the aid programs so that they complement the forward-looking political and

economic reforms taking place in Sub-Saharan Africa, and this refocusing effort will continue

during FY98.

• Regional Economic Integration

The seeds of regional integration are already taking root in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Organizations such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the West African

Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern
19

Africa (COMESA) are already working toward economic coordination of their economies and

reducing tariffs on intra-regional trade. As domestic demand and market size tend to be small and

incomes low in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, economic integration has the potential benefit

of helping create larger regional and sub-regional markets to support industrial development and

enable businesses to achieve economies of scale--i.e., higher output and more efficient and more

globally competitive production. The progress that some African countries have made in

furthering regional market integration serves as an indicator of their readiness to trade more

openly not only with other African nations, but also with partners like the United States.6 The

Administration intends to continue to encourage African nations to pursue regional economic

integration efforts and to take into account the willingness of individual African countries to

contribute to such efforts.

The Department of Commerce will seek to further its activities in support of its

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Southern African Development Community

(SADC) for commercial promotion, and to cooperate with USAID on regional economic

integration. This may involve further seminars with SADC to deal with specific issues on

increasing trade between member countries as a follow-up to the SADC Trade Protocol Forum

held in Washington in April 1997. Additional seminars could be organized when SADC countries

ratify their trade protocol and identify the issues of priority importance to them.

USAID’s Regional Center for Southern Africa in August 1997 adopted a new regional

development strategy for 1997-2003, with a focus on development of a regional market. The new

strategy focuses on lowering trade and investment barriers within the southern African region,

which will lead to increased participation of the region in global markets. A number of USAID

activities, implemented by its Regional center, aim to assist regional trade and investment efforts. 

The Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund (SAEDF) is designed to encourage the

creation and expansion of indigenous small and medium-sized enterprises in the southern Africa

region. As of September 1997, SAEDF had approved investments totaling $12.5 million. These

investments were in firms and financial institutions located in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South

Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. During FY98, SAEDF projects that an additional $30

million in investments will be approved. 

• Labor

As part of its labor market technical assistance program to support the administration’s

Comprehensive Africa Trade and Development Policy, the Department of Labor has provided

advice and technical assistance on labor law reform and labor market mobility information to

South Africa. These activities have been part of a more comprehensive program of building

industrial relations systems based on non-adversarial principles and methodologies. Technical

 

6

For detailed information on the progress of regional integration in Sub-Saharan Africa, see the U.S.

International Trade Commission’s report, U.S.-Africa Trade Flows and Effects of the Uruguay Round Agreements and

U.S. Trade and Development Policy, Publication 3067, October 1997. 
20

assistance to other interested African countries may be provided depending upon availability of

funding and foreign country requests. 

• Intellectual Property Rights

The U.S. Information Agency (USIA) will follow-up its successful 1997 Cotonu and

Johannesburg regional intellectual property rights (IPR) workshops with media and exchanges

activity to ensure that the momentum building on the continent for enacting IPR legislation as a

component of effective national governance is maintained. USIA will investigate the feasibility of

conducting an East and Horn of Africa regional IPR workshop.

• Financial planning assistance

Since December 1996, the Treasury Department has provided technical assistance to the

government of South Africa. A budget policy and management advisor has worked with the

South African Department of Finance on a variety of activities aimed at stabilizing South Africa’s

intergovernmental fiscal structure. Treasury has begun discussions with the Southern Africa

Development Community (SADC) to consider delivering similar services to other countries in the

region. 

• Agricultural Expertise

Since 1984, the USDA Cochran Fellowship Program has helped train agriculturists from

selected middle income countries and emerging democracies. Training opportunities are for

senior and mid-level specialists and administrators concerned with agricultural trade, agribusiness

development, management, policy and marketing from the public and private sectors. Training

programs ranging in length from two weeks to three months are arranged in conjunction with

universities, federal agencies, commodity/marketing groups, and associations, and agribusiness. 

Since its inception, the program has provided training in the United States for 233 participants

from Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Cochran Fellowship Program currently has three programs in Sub-Saharan Africa

including South Africa, Namibia, and Kenya. With additional carryover funds for FY98, USDA

will expand the program to include the countries of Uganda, Tanzania, and Senegal.

• Africa Food Security Initiative

The Africa Food Security Initiative (AFSI) is a ten-year initiative to reverse the downward

trend in food security, nutrition, and agriculture in Africa. Under the program, USAID will

provide support to bilateral African food security programs, agricultural market liberalization,

export development, and agribusiness development. AFSI’s goals are to reduce child malnutrition

and increase rural incomes through assistance in three areas: 1) increasing agricultural

productivity, 2) increasing market efficiency, and 3) expanding trade and investment in
21

agriculture. In the first year of implementation (FY98) the initiative will provide resources to five

countries: Uganda, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, and Ethiopia. It will also support International

Agriculture Resource Centers (IARC) and U.S. university technology development and policy

reform efforts. 

• Reprogramming U.S. commodity assistance programs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is exploring means to increase Title I

programming in Sub-Saharan Africa. Under the Food for Progress Program, USDA expects to

expand this grant programming in Sub-Saharan Africa in FY98 and FY99.

Title I. Angola received $29 million in Title I assistance from 1994 to 1996. The program

has supported both market development and humanitarian objectives. Wheat, wheat flour, and

vegetable oil have been imported to support development of the milling industry and relocation of

displaced people. Congo received $29 million in signed agreements in Title I assistance between

1990 and 1996. The program has provided rice and vegetable oil mostly supporting humanitarian

objectives. Since 1989, Côte d’Ivoire has received $85 million in Title I rice. The program has

supported market development objectives of reducing rice tariffs.

Food for Progress. In FY98, USDA will donate approximately 838 metric tons (MT) of

beans, rice, and vegetable oil to Equatorial Guinea to feed leprosy victims and to support a small

farmer credit program and a farmer training project. 

In South Africa, for FY98, USDA is considering a Food for Progress Program for

generating local currencies and related resources that could be used for activities by private

voluntary organizations and non-governmental organizations. The local currencies will be used

for micro-enterprise development and rural loan funds. This effort is being initiated under the

U.S.-South Africa Binational Commission. 

In West Africa, in FY97, USDA donated approximately 15,000 MT of wheat to Benin. 

The wheat will be monetized to support small holder farmers, women in agriculture and local nongovernmental organizations in Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Senegal in FY98.

• Strengthening democratic governance

In many African countries, the legal process often involves long delays and the court

system often fails as a mechanism for dispute resolution or reliable contract enforcement. USAID

democracy and governance programs in Africa work to strengthen judicial systems and increase

contract enforceability so that businesses face a less risky environment. USAID’s programs cover

four areas: electoral processes, rule of law, civil society, and governance. Of these activities,

governance and rule of law hold the greatest promise for facilitating increased trade and

investment. 
22

A decade of slow growth and inefficient legal systems has led to the institutionalization of

“rent seeking” and corruption practices as a way of doing business in Africa. It is critical to have

the increased understanding of the dynamics of corruption and the adverse effects of these

practices on trade and investment opportunities for developing countries. USAID therefore

supports institutions such as Transparency International and the International Development Law

Institute whose work brings to the attention of the developing world the negative impacts of

corruption on development and ways to mitigate it. 

USIA proposes developing a series of two-week, university-level, total immersion

Economic Growth and Opportunity workshops targeted at selected emerging economy countries.

 The workshops would be conducted by a team of visiting American academic and government

specialists and would offer intensive professional macro-economic and development projectspecific instruction to assist senior African political and technocrat leaders in consolidating their

national development programs.

Financing and Debt Relief 

The Administration has looked carefully at the need for well-targeted, appropriate

financial assistance and debt relief. The need for financing--both budget and balance-of-payments

support--and debt relief can be acute for countries pursuing aggressive trade liberalization and

trying to maintain, or even increase, useful investments in health, education and infrastructure

development. The budgets of many Sub-Saharan African countries are both heavily burdened by

debt service and highly dependent on revenues from trade taxes. Typically 25 percent (and in

some cases as much as 40 to 50 percent) of total budget revenues come from trade taxes. 

Aggressively liberalizing countries should have enough breathing space to carry through with a

comprehensive program of trade liberalization and tax reforms. In cases where a government is

willing to take bold steps to open its economy as part of an accelerated growth program, it should

not have to choose between stability and growth.

• Debt relief

Level II: Regarding bilateral debt, the Administration will pursue the extinction of

concessional bilateral debt for the poorest countries that are undertaking bold reforms. Regarding

multilateral debt, the Administration continues to urge the World Bank and the International

Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide maximum relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

(HIPC) debt initiative for HIPC-eligible countries. Uganda is on track to become the first

beneficiary of HIPC. The projected $700 million in debt relief for Uganda should free up

resources for investment in other areas, such as education and health care. Burkina Faso has been

determined to be eligible to participate in the HIPC program, and decisions are expected soon on

Mozambique and Côte d’Ivoire. 

 

• Enhanced financial support through the international financial institutions (IFIs)
23

The Managing Director of the IMF and the President of the World Bank have confirmed

that their institutions are collaborating on a “reinforced strategy” to spur growth in Sub-Saharan

Africa. The strategy emphasizes support for trade liberalization, investment, good governance,

increasing the role of the private sector, and investment in human resources. Their specific

contributions would include, for example:

1) Enhanced financing under the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) and

IDA policy-based lending programs to support countries initiating bold structural reforms,

such as trade sector liberalization, resulting in greater financing requirements;

2) Financing for improvements to infrastructure related to trade and business 

development, such as improvements to ports, railways, roads, and storage facilities;

3) Enhanced support of primary school education (especially for girls) and health; and

4) Intensive training to develop African capacity in the areas of macroeconomic policy 

and management, and statistics.

The main vehicle for reinforced IMF financial support (other than HIPC) will continue to

be the ESAF. It is noteworthy that the IMF is prepared to provide expanded access to the ESAF

in cases where a country undertaking bold structural reforms faces larger financing requirements. 

The objective is to encourage countries to accelerate the pace of trade liberalization, privatization,

and other structural reforms rather than postpone them because of concerns about revenue

shortfalls. In addition, the IMF will be giving higher priority to governance issues, recognizing

the importance of good governance for macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth. The

Fund’s efforts will focus mainly on improving the management of public resources, in particular

through greater transparency and accountability. 

The World Bank, for its part, expects that new lending to the region will increase from

SDR 1.2 billion (FY97) to SDR 2 billion (FY98), an increase of 66 percent. The most important

funding vehicle will be the Bank’s concessional loan window - the International Development

Agency (IDA) – but, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment

Guarantee Agency (MIGA) are also substantially expanding their activities. The IFC reports that

one of every four new projects is in Africa, the highest proportion of any region. IFC is becoming

more active in forging public-private partnerships to support infrastructure development. In

Senegal, for example, the IFC will invest $20 million in a private power plant that is expected to

be a model for private power development in Africa.

The World Bank is reinforcing its support for education and health, recognizing the

importance of these areas for sustained growth and poverty reduction. In education, the Bank is

focusing on assisting countries to achieve universal primary education as soon as possible. The

Bank is also expanding its education efforts in some areas where it has been less involved in the
24

past, notably adult education and literacy (especially for women). In health, the Bank is focusing

on decentralized provision of basic health services. In addition to reinforcing its efforts in some

traditional ways, such as development of potable water supply, the Bank is increasing its efforts in

some relatively new areas such as AIDS.

The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, Mr. Omar Kabbaj, has

indicated that this institution will also be taking steps to reinforce support for Sub-Saharan Africa.

 The Administration believes that, under President Kabbaj’s leadership, the AfDB Group is

making good progress on its own institutional reforms that will allow it to make an important

contribution in areas such as micro-enterprise development, primary health and education, and

infrastructure to support regional integration. 

Enhanced Dialogue with African Countries

Dialogue is an essential component of the new relationship we seek with Africa -- a

partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit. That new relationship is embodied in the

Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity in Africa. 

The on-going dialogue the United States has long maintained with African nations

intensified with the advent of the Partnership. The African diplomatic corps’ response to the

Partnership has been overwhelmingly positive. American embassies on the continent have also

briefed senior officials in their capitals. In September, the State Department briefed the African

diplomatic corps on the status of fast-track legislation and the proposed Africa Growth and

Opportunity Act. That same month, Secretary Albright initiated a special ministerial session of

the UN Security Council on Africa. During the African Development Bank Annual Meeting in

May, Treasury Deputy Secretary Lawrence Summers and Governor Charles Banny of the Central

Bank of West African States, co-chaired a discussion with ten African countries in Abidjan. At

the time of the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Hong Kong in September, Treasury

Secretary Robert Rubin chaired a discussion with representatives of nine African countries. All of

these meetings have proved useful for building a continuing relationship and dialogue with African

reformers, as well as for allowing Africans themselves to exchange ideas and compare notes on

best practices in such areas as finance, taxation, and trade liberalization.

In October, senior State and USAID officials led a delegation to Maputo for informal,

high-level discussions organized by the Global Coalition for Africa on corruption and democracy.

 In December, travel by Secretary Albright and the presidential mission led by Congressman

Rangel will offer new opportunities to advance the dialogue at a high-level. Further cabinet-level

trips with a strong economic emphasis are anticipated in the first half of the new year, including

those by Transportation Secretary Slater and Commerce Secretary Daley. Dialogue at the

cabinet-level will become institutionalized in 1998 with the first annual Economic Cooperation

Forum.
25

In proposing the Partnership, the Administration aims to support the positive

developments taking place in much of Africa. The nature of that support and the tenor of our

dialogue will of course vary in accordance with the degree of interest shown by each African

nation. Over the coming months, U.S. officials will meet separately with every eligible

government to discuss actions these governments could take to elevate the level of our

partnership. Conversation, like partnership, goes two ways, and we know our partners will

continue to convey their views on how the relationship should develop.

• U.S.-Africa Economic Cooperation Forum

When the President announced the Partnership, he committed to convene an annual U.S.-

Africa Economic Cooperation Forum at the ministerial level to which growth-oriented African

nations would be invited to discuss economic reform issues and seek new avenues for increasing

trade and investment between the U.S. and Africa. The Forum is intended to achieve key U.S.

objectives:

a. Demonstrate high-level U.S. interest in Africa to Africans, donors, and Americans

interested in Africa, especially the American business community;

b. Lend visibility to the Partnership and meet commitments made in its announcement to

pursue a process of high-level consultations with Africans supportive of goals described in the

Partnership and the proposed African Growth and Opportunity Act;

c. Encourage economic reform in African countries that will produce sustainable

economic growth, political stability, poverty alleviation, and increased opportunities for U.S.

business.

The Administration is analyzing how best to organize the Forum and the roles in it for all

U.S. agencies with a major stake in the Partnership. The Forum will serve as the major venue for

identifying and removing obstacles to further commercial expansion. 

• Designation of Assistant United States Trade Representative for Africa

The United States has begun a more intense dialogue with African leaders on trade policy

matters to better integrate African countries into the international trading system. To ensure

higher-level attention to, and better coordination of our trade policies toward Africa with our

overall trade policy goals, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Lang has assumed

responsibility for senior level direction of U.S.-Africa trade relations. Ambassador Lang used the

December 1996 WTO Ministerial meeting in Singapore to convene a meeting of all African trade

ministers present at the Ministerial and has followed up on that meeting with a series of

consultations in Geneva and Washington with African officials to discuss ways of increasing

mutually beneficial trade between Sub-Saharan Africa and the United States.
26

The Administration understands that to increase trade and investment with Sub-Saharan

Africa, it must devote additional resources to managing our trade relations with Africa. In April

1997, U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky announced her intention to designate an

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative (AUSTR) for Africa. The AUSTR will direct and coordinate

interagency activities on U.S.-Africa trade policy and investment matters and serve as a senior

Administration contact for those engaged in U.S.-African trade and as chief negotiator on African

trade issues. USTR is now in the process of filling that position. 

• Media and Exchanges Support

USIA has a primary support role in disseminating information about the policies and

programs of State, USAID and Commerce through its media, international visitor and specialist

speaker programs. To ensure that African business and government leaders are routinely aware

of the United States’ major trade and development policies and programs that are pertinent to

them, USIA will produce and distribute through its electronic print and broadcast media

(“Washington File,” Voice Of America, Worldnet satellite television, “Electronic Journal”) a

quarterly series of policy speeches, articles and discussions featuring leading government

specialists and policy makers. USIA is also supporting the Corporate Council on Africa’s

innovative “U.S. Internships for African Entrepreneurs” project with a private sector grant

funding the initiative in eighteen African countries. USIA offices in Africa will give special

emphasis to using their International Visitor, Fulbright Scholarships, Humphrey Fellowships,

Private Sector internship and speaker/consultant resources in support of the administration’s

Africa trade programs. 

In addition, USIA will instruct its posts in Africa to give special emphasis to assisting

African government and business entities with obtaining Internet connectivity, and helping them

realize, through training and example, the economic growth benefits available through the

Internet’s many trade and development resources.

Given the continuing interest African national television stations have in broadcasting

USIA’s “Worldnet” satellite television programs during their respective “prime time” hours,

USIA will place special priority on ensuring that maximum use of “Worldnet” is made in support

of the Partnership. 

 

Multilateral Activities

The impact of the Administration’s program will be magnified if other countries and

multilateral institutions can be convinced to take actions that complement those of the United

States. Towards this end, the Administration put forward an Africa agenda at the Denver Summit

consisting of several tracks, including conflict management, development assistance, and finance.

The United States continues to lead in helping African countries to prevent, mitigate,

resolve, and recover from conflicts. Assistance is provided bilaterally and through regional
27

institutions and multilateral organizations such as the United Nations and World Bank. Such

assistance takes many forms, including preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping operations, capacity

strengthening of African organizations to resolve conflicts, support for human rights,

demobilization and retraining, and arms control. Additional U.S. assistance includes disaster

relief, elections support, mitigating the destabilizing effects of refugee movements, support for

victims of war, as well as longer-term development efforts aimed at addressing poverty -- a

condition often leading to conflict. There are also many ongoing no-cost or low-cost U.S.

diplomatic initiatives that are being carried out in Sub-Saharan Africa. In many instances, these

involve working with host government officials, opposition leaders, human rights groups,

international organizations, and other entities. 

USAID’s Administrator has met twice with G-7 development ministers since the Denver

Summit, and they have developed an action plan for implementing the development components

of the summit. Topics pertaining to African development include issues related to governance,

food security, communications, trade and investment, and capacity building. 

With respect to finance, the leaders in Denver urged the IFIs to strengthen their support

for reform in Sub-Saharan African countries. The World Bank Group, the IMF, and the AfDB

Group have responded to this appeal (see section above on “Enhanced support through the

international financial institutions”). Following the Denver Summit, G-7 finance officials formed

an Africa working group to look into a number of financial and development issues on which G-7

countries might take action in concert.