I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6455 

To promote, facilitate, and increase two-way trade and investment between 

the United States and Africa. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 20, 2022 

Mr. MCCAUL (for himself and Mrs. MURPHY of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 

in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 

such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To promote, facilitate, and increase two-way trade and 

investment between the United States and Africa. 

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 ‘‘Prosper Africa Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

6 It is the policy of the United States to promote, facili7 tate, and increase two-way trade and investment between 

8 the United States and African countries to strengthen 


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1 commercial ties, promote economic growth and job cre2 ation, and advance strategic partnerships. 

3 SEC. 3. PROSPER AFRICA INITIATIVE. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 

5 an initiative to be known as the ‘‘Prosper Africa Initia6 tive’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Initiative’’). 

7 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Initiative shall 

8 be to prioritize and coordinate United States Government 

9 programs, activities, and diplomatic efforts aimed at in10 creasing two-way trade and investment between the 

11 United States and Africa, including to— 

12 (1) identify, promote, and increase trade and 

13 investment opportunities, facilitate business and in14 vestor engagement, and support dissemination of 

15 data and market information to better inform 

16 United States businesses and investors of trade and 

17 investment opportunities across Africa; 

18 (2) support efforts of the United States and Af19 rican private sectors to access, navigate, deepen, and 

20 compete in African and global capital markets using 

21 a private sector-led and sector-specific approach that 

22 includes energy, agriculture, information and com23 munications technology, healthcare, financial serv24 ices, arts and entertainment, and infrastructure; 


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1 (3) modernize, streamline, and improve access 

2 to resources and services designed to promote in3 creased trade and investment opportunities for 

4 United States and African businesses and investors; 

5 (4) promote economic growth and job creation 

6 in the United States and Africa, while advancing 

7 strategic partnerships; and 

8 (5) identify policy, regulatory, and legal reforms 

9 needed to reduce trade and investment barriers be10 tween the United States and Africa and improve the 

11 business and investment climate in the United 

12 States and Africa, including through the reduction 

13 of the cost of accessing capital. 

14 SEC. 4. LEADERSHIP AND COORDINATION OF INITIATIVE. 

15 (a) DIRECTORATE.—The President shall establish a 

16 directorate to be known as the ‘‘Prosper Africa Direc17 torate’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Directorate’’). 

18 (b) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The President shall ap19 point an Executive Director of the Directorate who shall 

20 be responsible for the management, coordination, and in21 formation sharing functions of the Prosper Africa Initia22 tive established pursuant to section 3(a) and other duties 

23 that support the purposes of the Initiative described in 

24 section 3(b) as appropriate. 


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1 (c) DUTIES.—The Executive Director shall be re2 sponsible for— 

3 (1) convening relevant Federal departments and 

4 agencies to coordinate programs, assistance, commu5 nications, and stakeholder engagement, and con6 sulting with such departments and agencies on the 

7 appropriate levels and allocation of resources in sup8 port of achieving the strategic objectives of the Ini9 tiative; 

10 (2) planning and implementing information 

11 sharing and other collaboration efforts among rel12 evant Federal departments and agencies, and the 

13 private sector as appropriate, related to trade and 

14 investment opportunities, African capital markets, 

15 and relevant transactions in Africa and support for 

16 monitoring, evaluation, and transaction facilitation; 

17 (3) engaging with United States and African 

18 private sector partners, civil society organizations, 

19 nongovernmental organizations and the African dias20 pora community, as appropriate, to solicit input and 

21 feedback on the Initiative’s activities, as well as any 

22 technical, policy, financial, and political obstacles 

23 private sector partners encounter in accessing or ex24 panding in African markets or gaining access to cap25 ital for those purposes; and 


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1 (4) establishing measurable goals and objectives 

2 for the purposes of carrying out the Initiative. 

3 (d) LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish 

5 an interagency leadership committee (in this sub6 section referred to as the ‘‘committee’’) to provide 

7 strategic guidance for administering the objectives of 

8 the Initiative and serve as the United States inter9 agency strategic development and coordination body 

10 for efforts of relevant Federal departments and 

11 agencies. 

12 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The committee shall in13 clude representatives from relevant Federal depart14 ments and agencies, as determined appropriate by 

15 the President. 

16 (3) CHAIRPERSON.—The Executive Director of 

17 the Directorate shall serve as chairperson of the 

18 committee. 

19 (4) MEETINGS.—The committee shall meet not 

20 less than four times each year at the call of the Ex21 ecutive Director of the Directorate (or the Director’s 

22 designee). 

23 (e) STAFFING AND FIELD PRESENCE.—Subject to 

24 the availability of appropriations— 


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1 (1) the Directorate shall be supported by at 

2 least 6 full-time employees of the Federal Govern3 ment, which should include personnel detailed to the 

4 Directorate from relevant Federal departments and 

5 agencies, who are stationed in Africa and whose sole 

6 duties are to support the purposes of— 

7 (A) the Initiative described in section 3(b); 

8 or 

9 (B) the provisions of the Better Utilization 

10 of Investments Leading to Development Act of 

11 2018 (Public Law 116–283) with respect to Af12 rica and in compliance with the requirements of 

13 the Championing American Business Through 

14 Diplomacy Act of 2019 (Public Law 116–94; 

15 22 U.S.C. 9901 et seq.); and 

16 (2) relevant Federal departments and agencies 

17 should detail personnel to the Directorate at the Di18 rectorate’s offices in the United States. 

19 (f) DEAL TEAMS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Prosper Africa Initia21 tive established pursuant to section 3(a) shall be 

22 supported by designated embassy staff holding posi23 tions related to United States commercial and eco24 nomic interests at United States embassies located 

25 in Africa, to the extent practicable. Such designated 


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1 embassy staff at a United States embassy located in 

2 Africa shall be referred to as a ‘‘deal team’’ for pur3 poses of this subsection. 

4 (2) DUTIES.—Each deal team shall prioritize 

5 efforts to identify commercial opportunities, advo6 cate for improvements in the business and invest7 ment climate, engage and consult with private sector 

8 partners, and report on such activities, in compli9 ance with the applicable requirements of the Cham10 pioning American Business Through Diplomacy Act 

11 of 2019 (Public Law 116–94; 22 U.S.C. 9901 et 

12 seq.). 

13 SEC. 5. INVESTMENT PROMOTION AND TRADE CAPACITY 

14 BUILDING ASSISTANCE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting through the 

16 Executive Director of the Directorate, shall develop and 

17 implement policies that promote, facilitate, and increase 

18 two-way trade and investment between the United States 

19 and Africa, including by providing support for— 

20 (1) activities to advance trade capacity building 

21 assistance, as authorized by the African Growth and 

22 Opportunity Act and Millennium Challenge Mod23 ernization Act (Public Law 115–167) and the 

24 amendments made by that Act, and other applicable 

25 statutes; 


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1 (2) identification and development of invest2 ment opportunities for the United States private sec3 tor in partner countries and efforts to facilitate and 

4 promote trade and investment opportunities in the 

5 United States and Africa; 

6 (3) analysis of market systems, trends, pros7 pects and opportunities for value-addition, including 

8 risk assessments and constraints analyses of key sec9 tors and United States strategic competitiveness, 

10 and other reporting on commercial opportunities and 

11 investment climate in Africa; 

12 (4) outreach and engagement with small and 

13 medium-sized enterprises in Africa or doing business 

14 with African partners, including women-led and di15 aspora-owned businesses; 

16 (5) efforts to leverage resources and expertise 

17 to lower non-tariff barriers to trade and investment 

18 in Africa, such as African enterprise access to cap19 ital, and to generally promote a conducive business 

20 climate for private sector investment; 

21 (6) technical assistance to the African Union 

22 and regional economic communities to implement the 

23 African Continental Free Trade Area and support 

24 regional economic integration; and 


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1 (7) development of local African capital markets 

2 and Africa’s access to lower cost, longer-term capital 

3 on global capital markets, including improving Afri4 can investment readiness, increasing the availability 

5 of market-based risk mitigation tools and improving 

6 the reliability and availability of investment data, to 

7 promote the larger-scale, standardized, transparent 

8 investment flows asked for by investors. 

9 (b) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance to carry out 

10 the activities described in subsection (a), the President 

11 should consider United States strategic interests when al12 locating such assistance and give priority for activities in 

13 countries that— 

14 (1) have demonstrated support for economic 

15 policies that promote the development of private en16 terprise, including foreign direct investment, and 

17 taken steps to improve a business enabling environ18 ment that could benefit the United States private 

19 sector and economy if such assistance is provided; or 

20 (2) are designated by the President— 

21 (A) as an eligible sub-Saharan African 

22 country under the African Growth and Oppor23 tunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3703); 

24 (B) as meeting the threshold requirements 

25 to enter into an agreement with the United 


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1 States under section 609 of the Millennium 

2 Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7708; relat3 ing to Millennium Challenge Compact); or 

4 (C) as a beneficiary developing country 

5 under section 502 or 506A of the Trade Act of 

6 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2462 or 2466a) and has rati7 fied and taken steps to implement the African 

8 Continental Free Trade Area. 

9 SEC. 6. ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 

11 an advisory council— 

12 (1) to advise the President, and others as ap13 propriate, on the extent to which the Directorate 

14 and relevant Federal departments and agencies are 

15 meeting their objectives under this Act, and provide 

16 suggestions for improvements with respect to meet17 ing those objectives, including implementation chal18 lenges and opportunities; and 

19 (2) to support efforts to identify, promote, and 

20 facilitate opportunities to expand commercial ties be21 tween the United States and Africa. 

22 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The advisory council shall be 

24 composed of— 


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1 (A) not less than 12 members appointed by 

2 the President, in consultation with the Execu3 tive Director of the Directorate and Congress, 

4 from among individuals with significant experi5 ence investing and operating in Africa, includ6 ing representatives of United States and Afri7 can diaspora-owned, women-owned, and small 

8 and medium-sized enterprises; and 

9 (B) the co-chairs or two appropriate des10 ignees of the President’s Advisory Council on 

11 Doing Business in Africa, as established by Ex12 ecutive Order 13734. 

13 (2) TERMS; REAPPOINTMENT.—Each of the 

14 members of the advisory council— 

15 (A) shall serve a term of 2 years; and 

16 (B) may be reappointed for one additional 

17 term. 

18 (3) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—Each of 

19 the members of the advisory council shall be ap20 pointed under paragraph (1) not later than 90 days 

21 after the date on which the President establishes the 

22 Advisory Committee under subsection (a). 

23 (4) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Advisory 

24 Council shall be filled in the manner in which the 

25 original appointment was made. 


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1 (c) CHAIRPERSON.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Executive Director of 

3 the Directorate shall appoint a chairperson of the 

4 advisory committee from among the members of the 

5 advisory committee appointed under paragraph (1). 

6 (2) TERMS; REAPPOINTMENT.—The chair7 person of the advisory committee— 

8 (A) shall serve a term of 2 years; and 

9 (B) may not be reappointed. 

10 (d) PROHIBITION ON COMPENSATION.—Members of 

11 the advisory council may not receive pay, allowances, or 

12 benefits by reason of their service on the advisory com13 mittee. 

14 (e) MEETINGS.—The advisory council shall meet at 

15 the call of the Executive Director. 

16 SEC. 7. UNITED STATES-AFRICAN LEADERS SUMMIT. 

17 The President shall seek to convene on a biennial 

18 basis a meeting between the United States Government 

19 and heads of state of countries of Africa, to be known as 

20 the ‘‘United States-African Leaders Summit’’, for pur21 poses of advancing shared priorities and strengthening 

22 diplomatic, economic, and security partnerships in Africa. 


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1 SEC. 8. UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO PROMOTE TRADE 

2 AND INVESTMENT IN AFRICA. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the President, in con5 sultation with the heads of the relevant Federal depart6 ments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate con7 gressional committees and make publicly available a single 

8 government-wide strategy, to be known as the ‘‘Prosper 

9 Africa Strategy’’, that provides a detailed description of 

10 how the United States intends to fulfill the policy objec11 tives of this Act. 

12 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The strategy re13 quired by subsection (a) shall— 

14 (1) support and be aligned with other relevant 

15 strategies of the United States Government; 

16 (2) outline a plan to enhance coordination and 

17 information sharing among relevant Federal depart18 ments and agencies on investment climate and op19 portunities and provide support to pending trans20 actions, and 

21 (3) include specific and measurable goals, 

22 benchmarks, performance metrics, and timetables to 

23 carry out the purposes of this Act, and training, 

24 monitoring, and evaluation plans to ensure the ac25 countability and effectiveness of all policies and ini26 tiatives carried out under the strategy. 


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1 (c) SPECIFIC IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The strat2 egy required by subsection (a) shall include a specific im3 plementation plan, in coordination with the recommenda4 tions and activities of the Economic Diplomacy Action 

5 Group as required by section 708(c) of the Championing 

6 American Business Through Diplomacy Act of 2019 (Pub7 lic Law 116–94; 22 U.S.C. 9904) from each of the rel8 evant Federal departments and agencies that describes— 

9 (1) the anticipated contributions of the depart10 ment or agency, including technical, financial, and 

11 in-kind contributions, to implement the strategy; 

12 (2) the efforts of the department or agency to 

13 ensure that the policies and initiatives carried out 

14 pursuant to the strategy are designed to achieve 

15 maximum impact and effectiveness and progress 

16 made toward achieving the goals, benchmarks, per17 formance metrics, and timetables outlined in sub18 section (b)(3); and 

19 (3) recommendations on necessary resources, 

20 including staffing, to expand efforts to promote 

21 trade and investment between the United States and 

22 Africa. 

23 SEC. 9. REPORT. 

24 Not later than 180 days after the submission of the 

25 strategy required by section 8(a), and annually thereafter 


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1 until 2026, the President shall submit to the appropriate 

2 congressional committees a report, in coordination with 

3 the report required by the Championing American Busi4 ness Through Diplomacy Act of 2019 (Public Law 116– 

5 94; 22 U.S.C. 9901 et seq.), that— 

6 (1) summarizes and evaluates the implementa7 tion of United States diplomatic efforts and foreign 

8 assistance programs, projects, and activities to ad9 vance the policy objectives set forth in section 2; 

10 (2) describes the nature and extent of coordina11 tion among relevant Federal departments and agen12 cies, including a summary of activities and engage13 ments of the Directorate and the interagency leader14 ship committee established pursuant to section 4(d); 

15 (3) provides data on goals identified for finan16 cial commitments under the Initiative and any pri17 vate capital mobilized to support and finalize trans18 actions, opportunities identified by relevant Federal 

19 departments and agencies, and transactions deter20 mined to be ineligible for United States support or 

21 not being pursued for other reasons under the Ini22 tiative; and 

23 (4) describes the monitoring and evaluation 

24 tools, mechanisms, and indicators to assess progress 

25 made on the policy objectives set forth in section 2. 


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1 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT4 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com5 mittees’’ means— 

6 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

7 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

8 of Representatives; and 

9 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

10 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

11 Senate. 

12 (2) PRIVATE SECTOR.—The term ‘‘private sec13 tor’’ means for-profit businesses and not-for-profit 

14 entities. 

15 SEC. 11. SUNSET. 

16 The requirements of this Act shall terminate on the 

17 date that is 7 years after the date of the enactment of 

18 this Act. 

Æ 


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