Welcoming African leaders to the first United States-Africa Leaders' Summit and African trade ministers to the 13th Forum of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Whereas the United States Congress enacted the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2000, with broad bipartisan support and with a view to expanding growth and opportunity in Africa; Whereas in the original AGOA legislation, Congress encouraged the establishment of more regular high-level dialogues, including regular meetings by the President with his African counterparts; Whereas the people of Africa share the hopes and aspirations of the people of the United States for peace and prosperity, and are both committed to strengthening economic relations; Whereas it is in the national interest of the United States to support the reduction of poverty in the continent of Africa; Whereas greater opportunities for mutually beneficial trade and investments promote economic growth, development, poverty reduction, democracy, the rule of law, and stability; Whereas good governance, including respecting constitutional term limits, human rights, and ensuring that civil society organizations are able to function freely contribute to enduring economic and social development in Africa; Whereas the countries in Africa are important economic partners of the United States; Whereas Africa has today 6 of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world, over 1,000,000,000 people, 60 percent of the world’s uncultivated agricultural land, and expanding democracies; Whereas Africa is rich through the youth of its population, enjoying a demographic advantage over all other regions of the world, and is likely to replace China as the biggest contributor to the global workforce by 2050; Whereas it is in the economic interest of the United States to engage and compete in emerging African markets, boost United States-Africa trade and investment, support greater capacity building for Africa, and invest in Africa’s youth and leadership development; Whereas exports from sub-Saharan Africa to the United States under AGOA have increased over three-fold from $7,600,000,000 in 2001 to $24,800,000,000 in 2013; Whereas United States exports to sub-Saharan Africa have increased from $6,900,000,000 to $23,900,000,000 and United States investment in sub-Saharan Africa has increased six-fold; Whereas per capita income in sub-Saharan Africa has more than tripled to $1,624 annually since Congress first passed AGOA, yet nearly half the population in sub-Saharan Africa lives in poverty; Whereas timely renewal of AGOA, which expires September 30, 2015, is critical to the maintenance and promotion of investment opportunities in the region; Whereas regional integration should be strengthened to improve the full utilization of AGOA preferences, and elimination of barriers to trade and investment in Africa, such as high tariffs, forced localization requirements, restrictions on investment, and customs barriers, among others, will strengthen and improve regional and global integration; Whereas it remains the goal of United States policy to support the diversification of sub-Saharan exports in terms of products and countries that utilize AGOA; Whereas the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) adopted several important Decisions and Declarations in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2013, including the Agreement on Trade Facilitation and specific results on agriculture and development, with the protocol of amendment for the Agreement on Trade Facilitation to be adopted on July 31, 2014; Whereas full implementation of the Agreement on Trade Facilitation will help to address supply-side constraints in Africa, promote regional integration on the continent, and facilitate integration into global supply chains; Whereas the House of Representatives introduced on June 27, 2013, and passed on May 8, 2014, the Electrify Africa Act, to make it a national policy of the United States to promote the electrification of Sub-Saharan Africa to more than double the number of people with access to power in order to improve health and education outcomes and stimulate economic opportunity; and Whereas, on June 30, 2013, in Cape Town, South Africa, President Barack Obama announced the Power Africa Initiative, to significantly increase the number of people with access to power in Sub-Saharan Africa: Now, therefore, be it That the House of Representatives— (1) welcomes African leaders to the first United States–Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington, DC; (2) welcomes African trade ministers to the 13th African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum; (3) recognizes the significant progress and hope that modern Africa represents today in global affairs and economic advancement with its booming demographics, increasing modernization, dynamic youth, and vast resources; (4) acknowledges the vast opportunities to boost cultural, trade, and economic relations and partnerships between the United States and Africa; (5) recognizes the importance of renewing the AGOA program well before its expiration in September 2015; (6) supports studying potential changes to the program to improve its effectiveness and utilization and exploring how Africa can address barriers to become more attractive to trade and investment within Africa as well as globally; (7) encourages the prompt and full implementation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement as one important way to address supply-side barriers and encourage greater trade and investment in Africa; and (8) welcomes that the African Leaders at the African Union Summit on June 27, 2014, reaffirmed their commitments to all the decisions the Ministers took in Bali, including emphasizing that assistance and support for capacity building should be provided as envisaged in the Agreement on Trade Facilitation, and that the Agreement should be implemented in line with the decision Trade Ministers took in Bali, which provides that a protocol be adopted by July 31, 2014, and definitive entry into force by July 31, 2015.

Summary: Welcomes: (1) African leaders to the first United States-Africa Leaders' Summit in Washington, DC, and (2) African trade ministers to the 13th African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum. Recognizes the progress and hope that modern Africa represents in global affairs and economic advancement. Acknowledges the opportunities to boost cultural, trade, and economic relations and partnerships between the United States and Africa. Recognizes the importance of renewing the AGOA program. Encourages implementation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement as one important way to address supply-side barriers and encourage greater trade and investment in Africa.