“The King and the people of Morocco should be applauded for the prompt and decisive support for thousands of refugees who fled violence in Mali to find refuge in Niger” said this former Special Envoy to Africa in Clinton and Bush administrations, in a statement to MAP. Morocco’s action is measurable and saving precious lives, stressed the president of The Whitaker Group. She also said that “the combination between aid, trade and private sector investment is crucial for African development.” In a humanitarian crisis, however, “effective and timely assistance becomes a matter of life or death and must therefore be placed high on the agenda” said Rosa Whitaker, who was featured in 2010 list of Foreign Policy Magazine’s Top 100 ‘Global Thinkers” (global thinkers).

You may find a French version of this article here.

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 06, 2010 — For those who work on Africa, and indeed for all those who live in the region, it is difficult to imagine a world without Donald Payne.  He pioneered so many trailblazing initiatives such as the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Millennium Challenge Account and Debt Relief for Africa that have helped to transform lives and the landscape of Africa.  He made the cause of Africa’s poor his own, and devoted his life to supporting people in their God-given right to better lives.  He was a courageous warrior on the battlefield for development, justice and peace at home and abroad.  The world is dimmer because of this great loss.

We extend our deepest condolences to Congressman Payne’s loving and supportive family; his exceptional and devoted staff; his Congressional colleagues and constituents; and the millions of unsung people from Newark to Nigeria who depended on his voice and vote to advance equity and prosperity.

Originally posted on CNN’s Global Public Square

Editor’s Note: Eliot Pence is a Director at the Whitaker Group, a corporate strategy firm focused on sub-Saharan Africa with offices in Washington, DC and Accra, Ghana. Mehrun Etebari is a senior research assistant at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution

By Mehrun Etebari and Eliot Pence– Special to CNN

Iran’s efforts to build an African buffer against international pressure have hit a snag. With 54 countries (more votes than any other region) and growing influence in multilateral forums, Africa has been the focus of much of Iran’s economic and diplomatic engagement over the past several years. As recently as 2010, the Economist warned of “a new power in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Ideologically, the Islamic Republic has also long trumpeted its support of Third Worldism and sympathy for the economic and political struggles of sub-SaharanAfrica against the perceived neo-imperialism of the western powers. But the continent may not be the friend Iran was looking for. A combination of diplomatic missteps and growing interest in Africa’s energy feedstocks by some ofIran’s biggest customers threaten to further isolate the country.

Senegal — Iran’s purported “gateway to Africa” —abruptly cut diplomatic relations in 2011, amid allegations that Iran’s Quds Force was involved in funneling weapons to Senegalese separatist groups. South Africa, treading lightly between two allies (US and Iran) is said to be looking at ways to reduce its dependency on Iranian crude by sourcing from other African suppliers. South African companies — some of the largest investors in Iran — have considered divestment from long-standing joint ventures and crude oil contracts. Togo, the outgoing Chair of the UN Security Council, offers little security as a US firm recently invested $200 million in a power plant which provides half of the country’s electricity. The most notable friends that Iran does have offer little diplomatic weight (Zimbabwe and Sudan) and are themselves under hefty sanctions.

More concerning for Iran is that the threat of sanctions may accelerate a structural shift away from Iranian oil by emerging markets consumers. A Reuters survey published this month suggested that Asian countries, seeking to reduce exposure to sanctions on Iran, increased imports from African countries since 2010. A review of historical commodity flow data points to a deeper historical trend of reduced dependency on Iranian oil by major emerging consumers, at least in relative terms.  Over the past five years, the proportion of crude oil that India and China import from Iran has decreased. This year, reports indicate they will reduce Iranian imports by 10% in absolute terms.Meanwhile, each country has increased imports from Africa, especially from Angola and Nigeria, on aggregate by over 50%.  Africa’s largest economy is also looking closer to home;South Africa’s Department of Energy has said it is actively considering Angola,Nigeria, and Ghana as replacements for Iranian oil, which represents 29% of South Africa’s crude imports and 5% ofIran’s crude exports.

Consumers are increasingly turning their attention to Africa’s energy feedstocks, which have undergone rapid development in the past 18 months. Major finds in Mozambique and Tanzania are said to be reserved in part to India – Iran’s second largest customer. Ongoing exploration of West Africa’s pre-salt layer, where China has bankrolled the industry’s breakneck development, has already produced one new resource rich country this year (Ghana). Many analysts believe several more in the region are soon to come, with Namibia,Sierra Leone and Congo-Brazzaville topping most lists. While the threat of sanctions onIran’s oil cannot be considered responsible for this growing interest, it does provide added incentive for faster development.

Along with other regions, African resources have long been considered alternatives to Middle Eastern oil. But the reality is that the continent’s resource potential has been constrained by its reputation as a tumultuous place to do business. That narrative is slowly changing. Africa is home to seven of the 10 fastest growing countries and the continent’s growth is attracting one of the most educated Diasporas in the world back to the continent, providing the kind of domestic labor force increasingly critical for expanded exploration and production at a national level. As Africa’s economic development deepens, the continent will see further incentive in strengthening ties to western markets, and less in maintaining increasingly strained economic and diplomatic links with Iran.

The development of African oilfields is the result of many interrelated factors, but sanctions on Iran are building further demand for this new output.  As part of a broader trend, Africa is contributing to growing global oil production at a time when sanctions cut off foreign investment and limitIran’s ability to produce its hydrocarbon resources, decreasingIran’s relative importance in the global energy markets bit by bit. In spite of its diplomatic and ideological outreach, Iran may find itself with fewer African friends and more African competitors the longer American-led sanctions remain in place.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mehrun Etebari and Eliot Pence.

As an African American with deep ties to Africa, Ms. Whitaker spoke about the economic potential for US investment throughout the continent and emphasized how the diversity in the US can form the backbone of US companies’ competiveness in the global market. Ms. Whitaker remarked that “Companies that cannot operate in emerging markets and unlock the billions at the bottom will have to change or die. In America, from the toils of slavery and immigration, comes one of our greatest national treasures – our diversity.”

BAE Systems is a global defense, aerospace, and engineering company with over 100,000 employees worldwide. BAE Systems is making strides in increasing its level of engagement and promoting sustainable development in Africa through infrastructure and technology transfers.

On December 9 Rosa Whitaker visited Stockholm. Ms Whitaker’s motto is that poverty in Africa can only be fought effectively with new jobs, enterprise and investment, and through collaboration with business, empowered citizens and civil societies.

Rosa Whitaker has been adviser to President Clinton as well as President George W. Bush. In the US, she developed and implemented the African Growth and Opportunity Act and successfully took the Africa Trade and Investment Caucas to resolution in the US Congress. Rosa Whitaker then became the US ambassador of trade for Africa. Before this assignment she was engaged in Africa’s energy and food supply programme and was adviser to Robert B. Zoellick, who is now head of the World Bank.

Today, Rosa Whitaker is President and CEO of the Whitaker Group, a company which, with assignments from several African Governments, seeks to increase trade and investment in Africa. She is a well-known and honoured adviser to politicians and business executives who want to build an economically sustainable Africa. Since 2006, Rosa Whitaker has worked to improve health and medical services in Africa. She lives in Washington D.C. and Accra, Ghana.

President Obama’s decision to deploy a small cadre of US troops to help Ugandan forces track down and destroy the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is a step in the right direction. For too long, Joseph Kony and his cohorts have waged a ruthless campaign of murder, rape, mutilation and abduction against civilians, first in northern Uganda and now in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

While I’ve certainly had my reservations about this Administration’s Africa policy, I whole-heartedly support President Obama’s commitment to rooting out the LRA and its terror campaign. In my visits to Gulu in northern Uganda over the years, I have listened to horrific accounts of LRA atrocities – children abducted from their families, the boys to serve as child soldiers, the girls to be sex slaves to LRA troops. Some have died from hunger and exhaustion during the arduous journey to LRA camps in Sudan, some have been mutilated or killed as punishment for trying to escape. Some have even been forced by Kony and his henchmen to kill their own mothers or club to death other children.

It is outrageous that the US has waited 25 years to offer the Ugandan government tangible assistance in putting an end to this horror. At least since 2005, when then-Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer called for a strong response to LRA violence against civilians, there have been voices raised within the US government to act. The Bush Administration did provide intelligence and other support to Uganda in this just cause. Always, however, the rationale for inertia has been that the US cannot inject itself into every situation where people are the victims of terrorism. But, in reality, we have always been willing to act when we feel it suits our interests, most successfully in the Balkans in 1999 where the US used its military might to stop Serbia’s genocide in Kosovo.

Our reasons for helping Uganda deal with the LRA are as much strategic as humanitarian. Uganda has shown itself to be one of America’s strongest allies in Africa. It has 8,000 troops acting as peacekeepers in Somalia – 8,000 troops, I might add, who could be engaged in pursuing the LRA. In 1998, following the bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam, Ugandan intelligence foiled a plot to bomb the US Embassy in Kampala. And, right now, over 3,000 Ugandans are working as security guards on US military bases in Iraq.

While putting US boots on the ground anywhere is likely to spark controversy, I believe that in this instance there is a convergence of interests across the political spectrum. Liberal groups like Resolve and Invisible Children have long advocated US involvement in the fight to defeat the LRA. Those who are interested in Africa’s development have a strong concern for the economic impact the LRA’s activities have on northern Uganda (and now the new nation of South Sudan). Conservatives, and especially those on the religious right, should be outraged at the LRA’s desecration of God’s name and Word to justify their brutality.

Deploying 100 US troops to help Uganda fight the LRA is a small investment that could yield big returns for the US. Stabilizing Somalia’s neighbors will help contain the dangerous expansion of al Qaeda in the region and help spur economic growth. In this instance, fighting (especially in a non-combative role) on the side of “right” is simply the right thing to do.

Rosa Whitaker, President of the Whitaker Group, was the Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa in the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush

Hosted by the AGOA Action Coalition, the “AGOA Leadership Summit: Partnering for Competitiveness and Growth” included leadership from the African Union, African Ministers of Trade and Industry, and African Ambassadors Corps, US Congressional representatives, Obama Administration officials and retail leaders. The Summit provided a platform for stakeholders to discuss the apparel sector’s potential to serve as a springboard for industrialization and competitiveness across Africa. In addition to reaffirming the participants’ commitment to AGOA’s 3rd Country Fabric provision, the event also served as an opportunity for African policy leaders to discuss their apparel development strategies with US retail leaders, policymakers, and other stakeholders promoting expanded trade with Africa.

As a result of AGOA, African exports to the US have more than tripled in value to $61.5 billion, while total trade between the US and Africa increased 37% between 2009 and 2010, faster than the 22% at which the US trade grew with the rest of the world. The key moving forward will be for AGOA’s stakeholders to draw on the AGOA Action Coalition’s experience in identifying meaningful legislative vehicles, resonant messages for AGOA’s advocacy, and its unique ability to transform allies into lasting champions.

“Step-by-step, provision-by-provision, we’re going to strengthen and enhance AGOA, working with the US Congress, industry, African stakeholders and with the Obama Administration,” AGOA Action Coalition co-chair and moderator, Rosa Whitaker, told the audience. She described the event as “just the beginning” in terms of advocacy for this round of AGOA’s renewal, with a formal kick-off event being planned in the future, covering other components of AGOA.

Presenters emphasized the shifting global economic landscape and the rise in commodity prices as factors that favor Africa’s overall competitiveness in textile production. Deputy Chairman of the African Union Erastus Mwencha, a long-time AGOA champion, noted that cotton prices in particular will help Africa become a more attractive target for US importers.

Assistant US Trade Representative (AUSTR) for Textiles Gail Strickler was joined by Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa Florizelle Liser in reaffirming the Administration’s commitment to AGOA. AUSTR Strickler, who is responsible for overseeing negotiations affecting textile and apparel products, noted that the co-location of resources like cotton and oil favor fabric production and suggested there was room for regional specialization and integration in Africa’s long-term apparel development strategies.

Representatives of the US retail sector also participated in the discussion. Julia Hughes, Executive Director of the US Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel, reiterated the industry’s commitment to ensuring that the 3rd Country Fabric remains intact. Nate Herman, Vice President of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, pointed out that, under AGOA, product differentiation and value chain expansion is already taking place, pointing to an emergent footwear sector in Ethiopia, where low costs and access to local resources and knowledge have created dramatic growth.

Paul Ryberg, representing the African Cotton and Textile Industries Federation, noted that Africa’s apparel industry is “just turning the corner and starting to recover” after a protracted downturn, but that businesses currently sourcing require the certainty that only immediate extension can provide. “Now is not the time to pull the rug out from under Africa’s apparel industry,” he admonished. “Now is the time to renew the 3rd Country Fabric Provision.”

The AGOA Action Coalition leadership urged the audience to come together on a “Heart-to-Hill” initiative that will speak to both the moral and economic imperatives of supporting AGOA. Not only has AGOA had a demonstrable, lasting impact on African individuals and entrepreneurs, but it has also opened the door to a focused and successful Africa, according to Ghana’s Minister of Trade & Industry Hannah Tetteh, who underscored the need to build long-term partnerships with American business. Ensuring that AGOA remains strong will be of paramount importance: “Given the amount of work and effort that has gone into making AGOA’s success stories happen, it would be a shame to have it all come crashing down.”

For more information on the event or upcoming AGOA Action Coalition events, please contact Mr. Nathaniel Adams at 202.293.1453 or by email at nathaniel@thewhitakergroup.us.

Africa’s GDP advanced at a rate of 5.5% annually between 2000 and 2010, compared to a global average of 4.4%.
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Africa loses 2% of its GDP every year due to the effects of malaria.
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Since 2008, 11 malaria-endemic countries in Africa have been able to slash malaria cases by 50%.
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Malaria deaths in Rwanda dropped by 60% between 2005 and 2010.
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Communications is the fastest-growing sector in Tanzania, accounting for 20% of GDP in the country.
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South Africa’s economy created 7,000 jobs in the second quarter.
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The textile sub-sector is the 4^th largest in Kenya, accounting for 11% of the manufacturing sector. It employs over 60% of workers within the export processing zones.
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Norwegian company, EMGS wins US$5.5million contract to find oil offshore Ghana
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Africa accounts for 38% of the world cashew nut production; only 10% is processed on the continent.
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Rwanda provides HIV antiretroviral therapy to 93% of all people in need.
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Ghana imports approximately 200,000 tonnes of chicken per year, or approximately 2.7 million chickens per week.
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Kenyans living abroad sent home US$79.6 million in August; that’s 53% jump from the same period a year.
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Citadel Capital has mobilized US$70 million for railways rehabilitation in East Africa.
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According to the UN, agriculture accounts for 14% of greenhouse gas emissions, more than transportation’s 13% and close to industry’s 19%.
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The Central Bank of Kenya recorded a 70% increase in issuance of debit cards in June 2011.
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The event is a critical primer for the International Monetary Fund Fall Meetings (September 23 – 25) in Washington, where finance ministers and development experts tackle pressing global economic challenges. Under the theme of “Excellence in Leadership for a 21st Century Africa,” the gala will give stakeholders a unique opportunity to interact with the key officials, visionaries and innovators fueling African progress.

The event’s keynote speaker is Her Excellency Joyce Banda, Vice President of Malawi. The audience will also hear from the World Bank’s Vice President of the Africa Region, Obiageli K. Ezekwesili. A former Nigerian cabinet minister and co-founder of Transparency International, Ms. Ezekwesili has played a transformative role in fostering sustainable development in Africa. She will receive the “African Pioneer Award” for outstanding achievement in support of the advancement of strategic linkages with the African Diaspora.

Other honorees include:

• Vincent O. Ebuh, Chairman of Petrolog International, who will be recognized for his outstanding private-sector leadership in Africa;
• The Hon. Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Minister of Petroleum, Republic of Congo, who is being honored for leadership in advancing linkages with the African Diaspora;
• Rosa Whitaker, President and CEO of The Whitaker Group, who will receive the “Outstanding Constituent for Africa Award” in recognition of her steadfast advocacy efforts on behalf of Africa;
• Chief Michael Adenuga, who will be presented the “Lion of Africa” award; and,
• The Chevron Corporation, which will honored for its leadership and commitment to meaningful corporate social responsibility in Africa.

The awards reception and dinner, to be held from 6:30 pm to 10:00 pm at the Westin Hotel (1400 M St, NW, Washington, DC), is the highlight of the 2011 Ronald H. Brown African Affairs Series, held annually in conjunction with the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference. Among those attending are high-level African government officials, members of the African diplomatic corps, members of the U.S. Congress, U.S. government officials, Congressional staffers, African entrepreneurs, and representatives from multilateral institutions, NGOs, civil society and the private sector.

For more information, or to RSVP, please contact David J. Saunders at 202.371.0588 or email at intern_cfa@yahoo.com.