by Margot Bokanga
One important question the business and development sectors and policymakers in Africa and the international community may be asking is “How will Africa perform this year and this decade?” Despite last year’s global recession, Africa remained the most profitable emerging market to invest in, and this year it offers strong business opportunities to many investors. Looking through the Top 9 Business Stories of 2009 that I posted last week, I found three trends. Continue reading
By Patrick Costello
As 2009 comes to a close, Congress is poised to pass a one-year extension for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), both of which are set to expire on December 31, 2009. Despite rhetoric calling for reform from Senate Finance Committee Republican leadership, a full-day Congressional hearing on the issue, and the introduction of legislation harmonizing preference programs and extending benefits to non-African LDCs, Congress has decided to pitch the reform discussion to next year. Continue reading
By Peter Cohn
Congress Daily
November 20, 2009
African nations and domestic textile interests wasted no time slamming the first serious legislative attempt in the 111th Congress to overhaul U.S. trade preferences, while Bangladesh, a key player on the opposite side of the debate, was lukewarm. Continue reading
Last week, Accra hosted the Ghana-Togo-Benin-Nigeria Business Summit to explore ways to boost investment and trade between our four countries. In a speech read on his behalf, President Faure Gnassingbé of Togo expressed my exact sentiments on regional economic integration. He urged businessmen in these countries and other West African states to stop seeing challenges to cross-border business as obstacles, but instead as opportunities. These trials should be an impetus for us to define appropriate measures for facilitating business, investment and trade. Continue reading
Lays out Policy Imperatives for the Obama Administration during annual CBC Conference
Washington, D.C. (September 25, 2009) – At two headline events on US-Africa policy during the Congressional Black Caucus’s Annual Legislative Conference, Rosa Whitaker, President and CEO of the Whitaker Group and the first ever Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa, called on advocates for Africa to reach out to Congress and the Obama Administration in a concerted effort to support several new trade and investment initiatives for the continent. Continue reading
Published at allafrica.com – Trade Talk with Rosa Whitaker
by Rosa Whitaker
In the aftermath of the annual AGOA Forum held last month in Nairobi, there has been a chorus of pessimists placing AGOA in the Hall of Shame of failed policy initiatives. They could not be more wrong.
In fact, AGOA is among the most successful US policies towards Africa-especially in terms of a return-on-investment ratio. According to the OECD, over the past 50 years the US has spent well over $325 billion dollars in foreign aid to Africa – yet Africa remains the only region of the world getting poorer. The returns on investments from US aid have been dismal. Continue reading
Published at allafrica.com
by Paul Collier and Rosa Whitaker
Writing after last week’s United States-Africa trade forum in Nairobi, Paul Collier and Rosa Whitaker call on both the U.S. and African nations to craft a meaningful strategy to prevent better trade relations from becoming “a casualty of the recession and of the drift towards political expediency and protectionism.”
This week in Nairobi, Kenya, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led a US delegation to the 8th Annual African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum. This Forum, a meeting of US and African ministers, business and civil society leaders, was created as part of AGOA — the first comprehensive US trade policy towards Africa. Continue reading
“If the Obama administration wishes to truly make a difference, it must do so as an equal partner.”
In a bold and compelling op-ed last week, President Kagame of Rwanda, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, President Seretse Khama Ian Khama of Botswana, and President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal argued that the US needs to approach Africa as a partner, not a benefactor. I commend this piece and hope the Obama administration will take a close look at the approach it is taking to working with Africa. Continue reading
Kenyan PM Odinga addresses the AGOA Forum. Source: KICC, 2009 AGOA 8th Forum.
The world has come to expect strong and dynamic leadership from the Obama administration. In the campaign, they promised to bring change and new ideas to domestic and international policy and to redefine and recalibrate the US’s role in the world. At the 8th Annual AGOA Forum-the annual US-Africa Summit-held this week in Kenya, however, it was the African leaders who broke new ground. Continue reading
By Meg Dallett
After the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reported last year that Africa provides the highest rate of return on foreign direct investment (FDI) of any developing region in the world – over 12% – it’s hardly surprising that private investment in Africa is increasing exponentially. In just seven years, FDI to Africa grew by over 550%, skyrocketing from $9.1 billion in 2001 to $60 billion in 2008. Continue reading
Published at allafrica.com – Trade Talk with Rosa Whitaker
by Rosa Whitaker
In Ghana, President Obama made a strong, albeit not new, call for better governance in Africa. I was there and witnessed the extraordinary enthusiasm that met the president and also the ambivalence among Africans about his message.
Why did Mr. Obama not call upon the Russians to embrace better governance when he was there just days before arriving in Accra? Indeed, why had he not delivered a similar message to the people of the Middle East during his historic speech in Cairo in June? Continue reading
As a strategy for development, “manual distribution centers” are becoming as popular in development sectors as micro-finance was in 2005. A concept pioneered by Coca-Cola, MDCs are independently owned, low-cost operations created to service retail markets where classic distribution models are ineffective and inefficient because of distance or lack of infrastructure. For example, Coca-Cola hires local distributors in Africa to ship their beverages out to less accessible areas, creating jobs and increasing the markets they can reach. In addition to giving people in hard-to-reach parts of the world access to more products, the MDC system integrates local businesspeople into global supply chains, which is a crucial part of turning the opportunities of trade into broad-based prosperity. Continue reading
Yesterday in Geneva, Rosa Whitaker, President and CEO of the Whitaker Group, joined World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, President Donald Kaberuka of the African Development Bank, Ministers of Trade from Africa and Asia, the heads of regional organizations such as ECOWAS, and leaders of the International Trade Centre and the United Nations Development Programme as a presenter at the WTO’s Second Global Review of Aid for Trade. Continue reading
Traveling in Southern Africa for the past week has made me increasingly aware of the need for regional integration in Africa. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is one of the most integrated groups of countries on the continent and continues to make strides toward greater regional cooperation, but barriers to trade and investment are still higher than they could be. Continue reading
Published at allafrica.com – Trade Talk with Rosa Whitaker
by Rosa Whitaker
As the Obama Administration develops its Africa and trade policies, it is critical that it resists pressure from some development advocates and members of Congress to support legislation that extends the duty-free access to the US market enjoyed by African nations under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to all Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Continue reading
In this issue:
By Meg Dallett
Amidst the omnipresent news stories about countries and industries suffering in the global economic crisis, there’s good news coming out of East Africa: according to the African Development Bank’s African Economic Outlook 2009, growth for the region is expected to be about 5.5% for this year. This is much, much better than almost every other region in the world is expected to do. Continue reading
By Meg Dallett
Yesterday’s Financial Times had an interesting look at the state of Africa’s logistics sector, as exemplified by the contrast between Djibouti’s Doraleh Container Terminal and the older Port of Djibouti. One is new, well-organized, and a model of solid logistical management; the other is backlogged with technical and bureaucratic hang-ups. This line sticks out to me:
The question for Africa’s logistics sector is which of the two scenes will be more typical of its future – the modern, efficient container terminal or the congested, chaotic old port.
Published at allAfrica.com – Trade Talk with Rosa Whitaker
by Rosa Whitaker
Slowly but surely, President Obama’s Africa policy is beginning to take shape. In my twenty-five years of work on African economic issues, I’ve seen consecutive US Administrations become increasingly more committed to Africa’s development. I don’t believe President Obama will be an exception. The fact that his overall foreign policy is driven by experienced-hands with Africa expertise gives reason to believe that Africa will be well-integrated and supported within the broader US foreign and economic policy construct. Continue reading
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