Not the room, but the rooms, were full and people stayed until the very end of the question and answer period. But part of the reason was attributable to a growing interest in Africa. Yet far too many Americans still think of Africa as a continent stretching in an endless and dusty misery of refugees, civil wars and abject poverty. But, as other speakers have noted, there are a lot of good things happening in Africa and America must and should remain engaged in the region. In short, we must be bullish on Africa, and we must be realistic.
Serious challenges do remain.
Twenty-two of the world's 30 poorest countries are in Africa. A quarter of all African children will die before their fifth birthday. Only half of all adults are literate, and fewer than 20 percent of young people attend high school. Nowhere is the justification for foreign aid more compelling, and nowhere are the potential returns on our long-term investments greater. The Administration is deeply committed to a new and concerted international effort to make development work in Africa.