by Rosa Whitaker
Congressman Jack Kemp will be remembered for many things, but for me, Jack Kemp will always personify a particular vision of an Africa enjoying the prosperity that only integration can deliver, a full and active partner in the global community.
I was privileged to work with Congressman Kemp to make that vision a reality-first in the late 1990s, when he was one of the main advocates working with me in a bipartisan effort to pass the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and more recently as co-chair with me of the AGOA Action Committee advocating for enhancements to the legislation. Congressman Kemp will be buried today and my thoughts and prayers are with his family, but I am also exceedingly grateful that I had the chance to know and work with him. In my twenty-five years of working for African trade and investment, I have rarely seen such a dedicated friend of Africa.
What made Jack Kemp stand out among Africa’s friends was that, as a strong supporter of trade and investment, he knew that the only way Africa could break out poverty was by unleashing its entrepreneurial potential. And the way to do that was to open the US economy to African goods. Hence his boundless support for AGOA, which has increased African exports to the US by almost 300% and created over 300,000 jobs.
”A democratic and economic revival of Africa would be mutually beneficial to Africa and her partners in trade, business and diplomacy,” he said in 1999 during his Congressional testimony in support of AGOA. “This is the genius of economic freedom from which every nation can benefit: no country succeeds at the expense of another. Everyone benefits from their neighbor’s prosperity. It is the common ground on which to build a stable community.”
Jack Kemp was truly inspired by heads of state such as President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, who in the 1980s and 1990s were working with such dedication to rebuild economies paralyzed by years of conflict and misrule. He set to work in Washington, reaching across the partisan aisle with his customary enthusiasm, to put US markets to work for them.
“If African countries navigate by these stars,” he said, “and if the United States works with them to reduce tariff and nontariff barriers to trade and to negotiate free trade areas, there is no limit to the continent’s potential.”
Congressman Kemp’s efforts to integrate Africa into the global economy went beyond political interest in the continent; he loved Africa and remained to the end of his days one of its most enthusiastic supporters. He liked to tell me that “We are all Africans,” always looking for the next step to bring Africa and America closer together. Honoring Jack Kemp means continuing our fight. Before his departure, we had been working on an innovative initiative to create US tax incentives to drive more job-creating investments into Africa.
Now more than ever, trade and investment ties between the US and Africa are vital for both of us. As Congressman Kemp said, “Fighting poverty and expanding markets for Africa helps create new opportunities for Americans – it’s a win-win for all.” Now is the time to make that vision a reality.
