I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6535 

To advance the mutual interests of the United States and Africa with respect 

to the promotion of trade and investment and the advancement of socioeconomic development and opportunity, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 16, 2010 

Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To advance the mutual interests of the United States and 

Africa with respect to the promotion of trade and investment and the advancement of socioeconomic development 

and opportunity, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Africa 

5 Trade, Development, and Diaspora Relations Promotion 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DECLARATIONS OF POLICY. 

8 Congress makes the following declarations of policy: 


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1 (1) It is in the interest of the United States to 

2 ensure that bilateral economic ties with Africa are 

3 strong, robust, and diverse, in part because African 

4 countries possess— 

5 (A) great pent-up consumer demand and 

6 untapped human and natural resources, and 

7 many are now considered ‘‘next frontier’’ econo8 mies; 

9 (B) some of the world’s fastest growing 

10 economies, with a collective Gross Domestic 

11 Product of $1,600,000,000,000 that is pro12 jected to double in the next 10 years; 

13 (C) combined consumer spending power of 

14 almost $900,000,000,000, with 

15 $1,400,000,000,000 in projected spending 

16 power in the next 10 years; 

17 (D) a 60-percent share of the world’s total 

18 amount of uncultivated, arable land; and 

19 (E) a significant percentage of the world’s 

20 strategic minerals and energy resources. 

21 (2) Africa represents a potentially profitable 

22 destination for United States investors. According to 

23 a United Nations Conference on Trade and Develop24 ment study, return on investment in African compa25 nies has averaged nearly 30 percent annually over 


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1 the past several years. Profitability and rates of 

2 growth among many African firms have exceeded 

3 global averages, often by large proportions. As a re4 sult, 34 private investment funds are now active in 

5 Africa in diverse productive sectors. A recent Global 

6 Competitiveness Report showed that several of Afri7 ca’s largest economies receive high grades for inno8 vation and business sophistication. 

9 (3) Long-term United States economic security 

10 interests will be better secured by ensuring United 

11 States access to Africa’s vast natural and human re12 sources, for which rapidly rising global demand has 

13 created increasing competition between industri14 alized countries and emerging market countries, 

15 such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, and others, 

16 with respect to their efforts to exert political and 

17 economic influence in and increase their economic 

18 cooperation and trade with African countries. Such 

19 ties are growing apace; for example, the estimated 

20 value of Chinese imports from Africa rose by over 

21 693 percent between 2000 and 2009, while the value 

22 of its exports to the region increased by 926 percent 

23 during the same period, in comparison to a rise in 

24 United States imports from the region of just under 


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1 200 percent and a rise in United States exports to 

2 the region of 21 percent during the same period. 

3 (4) The United States should continue to sup4 port efforts to foster socioeconomic development and 

5 economic growth in Africa, including by— 

6 (A) pursuing efforts to increase collabora7 tion among United States Government depart8 ments and agencies in order to more closely in9 tegrate and coordinate United States programs 

10 and policies aimed at promoting trade and in11 vestment with Africa with those intended to ad12 vance socioeconomic development and oppor13 tunity in Africa; 

14 (B) fostering United States private, public15 private partnership, and other investments in 

16 Africa, as well as other bilateral economic, tech17 nical, and social and cultural ties and ex18 changes, both at the official level and between 

19 citizens, private sector businesses, and civil soci20 ety organizations; 

21 (C) supporting and fostering citizen-led ef22 forts to form business, technical, academic, and 

23 sociocultural ties with Africans by working to 

24 promote the activities of citizen groups that 

25 seek to advance such goals among other persons 


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1 or organizations engaged in socioeconomic de2 velopment, business, and charitable activities in3 tended to bolster bonds between the United 

4 States and Africa; and 

5 (D) supporting the efforts of United States 

6 persons and groups with interests and ties to 

7 Africa to foster and advance such ties and, in 

8 particular, the interests and efforts, with re9 spect to such objectives, of members of the Af10 rican Diaspora in the United States, in recogni11 tion, among other reasons, of— 

12 (i) the longstanding and deep immi13 gration ties between Africa and the United 

14 States, including with respect to involun15 tary and other migrations of Africans to 

16 the Americas in the 19th and earlier cen17 turies, and to more recent migrations of 

18 Africans to the United States; 

19 (ii) efforts by the African Union to 

20 foster economic, technical, educational, and 

21 social ties between its member states and 

22 the global African Diaspora; 

23 (iii) the status of the African-Amer24 ican and broader African Diaspora commu25 nity in the United States as a large conVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:07 Dec 17, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6535.IH H6535

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1 sumer and producer market and a poten2 tially significant United States counterpart 

3 segment for trade and investment related 

4 to Africa, in particular with respect to 

5 commerce in Afrocentric goods and serv6 ices and by small- and medium-sized enter7 prises; and 

8 (iv) the status of recent African immi9 grants as a growing, often economically 

10 well-off professional and educational 

11 human resource and a community with di12 verse ties to both American and African 

13 societies that is well placed to foster closer, 

14 mutually beneficial economic, intellectual, 

15 and cultural ties between the United 

16 States and African countries, including 

17 with respect to helping to reverse the so18 called ‘‘brain drain’’ or emigration of 

19 skilled, educated persons from Africa, par20 ticularly in the science and technology, 

21 education, and health sectors—a phe22 nomenon that threatens to imperil African 

23 productivity, economic growth, and global 

24 competitiveness necessary to improve devel25 opment and human welfare in Africa and 


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1 undermine United States interests in hav2 ing robust and growing African countries 

3 with which to foster enduring economic 

4 and political partnerships. 

5 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

6 The purposes of this Act are to— 

7 (1) advance the mutual interests of the United 

8 States and Africa with respect to the promotion of 

9 trade and investment and the advancement of socio10 economic development and opportunity, and to inte11 grate and create interagency, whole-of-government 

12 synergies within United States efforts to achieve 

13 these goals; 

14 (2) foster United States trade with and invest15 ment in Africa that is more sectorally diverse, of in16 creased economic value, and grounded in free market 

17 principles; 

18 (3) foster United States private, public-private 

19 partnership, and other investments in Africa that 

20 hold the potential to both generate positive economic 

21 effects and result in improvements in public infra22 structure, health, education, and economic competi23 tiveness, and efforts to fulfill the Millennium Devel24 opment Goals in African countries; 


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1 (4) deepen United States-African economic, 

2 technical, and social and cultural ties, in particular 

3 with respect to those between the peoples of Africa 

4 and the members of the African Diaspora in the 

5 United States, United States and African civil soci6 ety groups, and small- and medium-sized business 

7 enterprises; and 

8 (5) facilitate the mutual transfer and exchange 

9 of business, technical, and academic expertise be10 tween Africa and the United States, in particular by 

11 encouraging and facilitating the engagement and in12 volvement of members of the African Diaspora in 

13 the United States, among other United States citi14 zens with ties to or interests in Africa, in the 

15 achievement of such goals. 

16 SEC. 4. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR UNITED STATES17 AFRICA TRADE, DEVELOPMENT, AND DIAS18 PORA AFFAIRS, AND RELATED MATTERS. 

19 (a) SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR UNITED

20 STATES-AFRICA TRADE, DEVELOPMENT, AND DIASPORA

21 AFFAIRS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

22 the President shall appoint a Special Representative for 

23 United States-Africa Trade, Development, and Diaspora 

24 Affairs within the Department of State (in this Act re25 ferred to as the ‘‘Special Representative’’) not later than 


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1 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. The 

2 Special Representative should be a person of distinction, 

3 culturally sensitive to the underserved African Diaspora 

4 in the United States, with substantial experience in mat5 ters of trade or economic development and in matters re6 lating to African Diaspora relations with Africa. 

7 (b) OFFICE OF UNITED STATES-AFRICA TRADE, DE8 VELOPMENT, AND DIASPORA AFFAIRS.—Not later than 

9 180 days after the date of the appointment of the Special 

10 Representative pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary 

11 of State shall establish, within the Department of State, 

12 the Office of United States-Africa Trade, Development, 

13 and Diaspora Affairs (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Of14 fice’’). The Special Representative shall serve as the head 

15 of the Office, and shall guide and direct the work of Office 

16 staff. 

17 (c) REGIONAL CENTERS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

19 after the date of the establishment of the Office pur20 suant to subsection (b), the Special Representative 

21 shall establish 5 regional United States-Africa 

22 Trade, Development, and Diaspora Affairs public 

23 outreach, education, and liaison centers (in this Act 

24 referred to as ‘‘centers’’), in a manner to be deterVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:07 Dec 17, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6535.IH H6535

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1 mined by the Secretary of State and in accordance 

2 with the requirements described in paragraph (2). 

3 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements re4 ferred to in paragraph (1) are the following: 

5 (A) A center shall be established in each of 

6 the Northeastern, Southern, Plains and Mid7 western, Western, and Northwestern regions of 

8 the continental United States in order to serve 

9 the population of each such region. 

10 (B) Each center shall serve a population 

11 that is roughly equal in number to the popu12 lation served by each of the other centers. 

13 (C) Each center shall be located in the city 

14 within each region that has the highest number 

15 of members of the African Diaspora in the re16 gion. 

17 (D) The territory for which the Western 

18 center has responsibility shall include Hawaii 

19 and the territory for which the Northwestern 

20 center has responsibility shall include Alaska. 

21 (d) DUTIES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND FUNCTIONS.— 

22 The Special Representative and the Office shall promote 

23 United States-African trade and investment relations and 

24 foster socioeconomic development and economic growth, 

25 by— 


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1 (1) coordinating and convening a permanent 

2 interagency United States-Africa Trade and Devel3 opment Consultative Action Group (in this Act re4 ferred to as the ‘‘Group’’), which shall include rep5 resentatives from— 

6 (A) the Office of the United States Trade 

7 Representative; 

8 (B) the Trade and Development Agency; 

9 (C) the Overseas Private Investment Cor10 poration; 

11 (D) the Export-Import Bank of the United 

12 States; 

13 (E) the United States Agency for Inter14 national Development; 

15 (F) the Millennium Challenge Corporation; 

16 (G) the Department of Agriculture; 

17 (H) the Department of Commerce; 

18 (I) the Department of Energy; 

19 (J) the Small Business Administration; 

20 (K) the Department of Defense; 

21 (L) other Federal departments and agen22 cies, to be determined by the Special Represent23 ative, in consultation with members of the 

24 Group described in subparagraphs (A) through 

25 (K), on a temporary, permanent, or project-limVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:07 Dec 17, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6535.IH H6535

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1 ited basis, based on the technical, pro2 grammatic, fiscal, legal, or other needs or objec3 tives of the Group and its activities; and 

4 (M) within the context of applied projects 

5 undertaken by Group ad hoc project commit6 tees, as described in subsection (e), State and 

7 local governments, nongovernmental organiza8 tions, public-private partnership entities, private 

9 businesses, and private foundations; 

10 (2) designing and implementing public out11 reach, education, and liaison programs and activities 

12 intended to foster United States-African economic, 

13 technical, social, and cultural ties, in particular with 

14 respect to— 

15 (A) building and enhancing relationships 

16 between the peoples of Africa and the African 

17 Diaspora, United States and African civil soci18 ety groups, and small- and medium-sized busi19 ness enterprises in the United States and Afri20 ca; and 

21 (B) increasing the participation of mem22 bers of the African Diaspora and other minority 

23 groups in the United States in United States 

24 trade, investment, and development assistance 

25 programs relating to Africa; 


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1 (3) facilitating and increasing the number of 

2 international learning exchange, professional, train3 ing, and educational programs between Africa and 

4 the United States, in particular programs intended 

5 to promote trade, economic growth, or socioeconomic 

6 development, including through coordination with 

7 the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and 

8 the Special Representative for Global Intergovern9 mental Affairs of the Department of State; 

10 (4) establishing a publicly accessible database 

11 and information exchange mechanism through which 

12 United States and African business, technical, and 

13 academic experts, associations, and other institutions 

14 and organizations can establish and expand profes15 sional ties, network, and undertake mutual ex16 changes of knowledge and expertise related to busi17 ness and economic development and, in particular, 

18 provide means for members of the African Diaspora 

19 in the United States to transfer information, skills, 

20 and expertise to their counterparts in Africa or to 

21 help build the technical and professional capacities 

22 of African economic and development institutions; 

23 and 

24 (5) liaising and consulting with African govern25 ments, the African Union, African intergovernmental 


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1 subregional organizations, public-private partnership 

2 entities, private businesses, nongovernmental organi3 zations, private foundations, and United Nations 

4 agencies with respect to matters of Africa-related 

5 trade, economic development, and African-African 

6 Diaspora relations, in order to determine— 

7 (A) African trade and economic develop8 ment priorities; 

9 (B) the nature and scope of investments 

10 being made by African governments, private 

11 sector actors, and other international donors; 

12 and 

13 (C) strategies for effectively channeling 

14 and leveraging United States trade promotion, 

15 capacity-building, and development resources 

16 and coordinating such resources with invest17 ments from other sources. 

18 (e) OTHER MATTERS RELATING TO DUTIES, RE19 SPONSIBILITIES, AND FUNCTIONS.— 

20 (1) OF THE GROUP.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding their 

22 individual agency mandates and activities, 

23 members of the Group shall design and propose 

24 integrated, whole-of-government approaches for 

25 achieving United States Government trade and 


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1 development policy and program objectives as 

2 they relate to Africa, and agency members of 

3 the Group shall collaboratively design and im4 plement specific applied projects and programs 

5 to achieve these objectives in practice, on an 

6 interagency basis, wherever fiscally, technically, 

7 programmatically, or legally advantageous, fea8 sible, and permissible. 

9 (B) AD HOC PROJECT-RELATED GROUP

10 COMMITTEES.—The Special Representative may 

11 coordinate and convene, as necessary, ad hoc 

12 project-related Group committees, made up of 2 

13 or more members of the Group, to define and 

14 guide the execution of interagency projects un15 dertaken by members of an ad hoc project-re16 lated Group committee. 

17 (C) MEETINGS.—The Group shall meet in 

18 plenary on a quarterly basis, at a minimum, or 

19 more frequently, as necessary, and at the ad 

20 hoc project-related Group committee level, as 

21 frequently as necessary. 

22 (D) REPORTS.—Members of the Group 

23 shall regularly provide the Special Representa24 tive detailed information, data, reports, and 

25 other material pertaining to current or prospecVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:07 Dec 17, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6535.IH H6535

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1 tive projects related to their agency or depart2 ment trade and development initiatives in Afri3 ca, and the Office shall make these reports 

4 available to all members of the Group and to 

5 Congress in a centrally, Internet-accessible dig6 ital database repository. 

7 (2) OF THE OFFICE.—The Office shall review 

8 the information, data, reports, and other material 

9 submitted by members of the Group, and shall pro10 pose to members of the Group, where fiscally, tech11 nically, programmatically, or legally advantageous, 

12 feasible, and permissible, ways of integrating, link13 ing, or leveraging Group member agency investments 

14 and projects that incorporate shared or similar ob15 jectives and, in particular, projects that simulta16 neously foster trade or economic growth, and socio17 economic development. 

18 (3) OF THE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE.—The 

19 Special Representative may request and shall receive 

20 in a timely manner any documents or data, whether 

21 in an electronic, paper, or other format, from any 

22 member of the Group pertaining to any Africa-re23 lated trade or development-related project with 

24 which the member is involved or is funding or faciliVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:07 Dec 17, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6535.IH H6535

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1 tating, with the exception of contractually or 

2 proprietorialy protected documents. 

3 (4) OF REGIONAL CENTERS.—The activities of 

4 regional centers shall support all duties, responsibil5 ities, and functions of the Special Representative 

6 and of the Office, but shall principally focus on the 

7 objectives set out in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of 

8 subsection (d). 

9 (f) STAFF.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Special Representative 

11 shall, from among individuals described in para12 graph (2), hire staff as appropriate to carry out this 

13 section. 

14 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Individuals described in 

15 this paragraph are individuals who— 

16 (A) are United States citizens; 

17 (B) have a strong knowledge of Africa; 

18 (C) have a strong knowledge of United 

19 States-African relations; and 

20 (D) are fluent in English and are pro21 ficient or fluent in one of the national non22 indigenous official languages spoken in Africa, 

23 including Spanish, French, or Portuguese, or 

24 one or more indigenous official languages. 


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1 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter 

4 for 4 years, the President shall submit to Congress a re5 port on the implementation of this Act. 

6 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re7 quired under subsection (a) shall— 

8 (1) describe the impact of this Act on trade, in9 vestment, and job creation in the United States and 

10 Africa and the impact of the role of the African Di11 aspora in the United States in improving United 

12 States-Africa trade relations and economic develop13 ment progress in Africa; and 

14 (2) include recommendations regarding possible 

15 changes to the duties, responsibilities, and functions 

16 of the Special Representative, the Office, and the 

17 Group, and other related recommendations as they 

18 pertain to strategies for effectively implementing 

19 whole-of-government and interagency approaches to 

20 achieving United States Government trade and de21 velopment policy and program objectives as they re22 late to Africa. 

23 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 

25 (a) AFRICAN DIASPORA.—The term ‘‘African Dias26 pora’’ means the peoples of African descent living outside 


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1 Africa, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality, 

2 who are willing to contribute to the development of Africa. 

3 (b) AFRICA.—The term ‘‘Africa’’ refers to the entire 

4 continent of Africa, including the countries of Comoros, 

5 Madagascar, and Seychelles. 

6 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

8 this Act $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2011 

9 through 2015. 

Æ 


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