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William H. Twaddell, Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Remarks at a U.S. Department of State Town Meeting New Orleans, Louisiana April 7, 1997

A few years ago, a discussion on Africa would have been very different from what I will be saying today. Then, I would have spoken of the continent in the context of the Cold War. We would have talked about which leaders were in our camp and which were in the Soviet camp, why some autocrats were tolerable, what we were doing to help our friends, and why we might be supporting certain insurgent and resistance groups. Our concerns would have been a narrowly defined national security objective and the containment of the communist threat.

This changed dramatically with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Security remains important, but its definition encompasses new elements. We are increasingly concerned about dangers posed by collapsed states; environmental degradation; the spread of disease; and international crime, terrorism, and drugs. These threats require our engagement in their correctives-- conflict resolution, joint effort to control criminality, the spread of disease, and safeguarding the environment. With the closing of the Cold War rivalry, we have been able to engage African governments and citizens on their merits, and this has opened areas of significant mutual involvement and opportunities.

The end of the Cold War changed priorities for many Africans, as well. Tired of repressive regimes that left each generation worse off than its predecessor, Africans in many countries began demanding and working ernestly for democracy and economic development. Like citizens in many parts of the world, they simply want to have a greater say in decisions that affect their lives. They are demanding an end to wasteful prestige projects or lavish leadership lifestyles and are placing more emphasis on national development and accountable government.

So let me first describe the fundamental objectives of the Administration regarding Africa, then give these goals some context.

First, we seek to support African efforts to establish democratic governments and institutions. We use our influence to promote real democracy, transparency, the rule of law, and respect for human rights. What we seek are stable, functioning democratic governments that are able to represent the wishes of their citizens and can serve as responsible partners in solving pressing global problems.

Second, we want to promote an end to current conflicts in the region and to help prevent future ones. Across Africa, our diplomats are intensively engaged in reconciliation efforts. We are also working to strengthen the capacity of African organizations to engage in conflict prevention and regional peacekeeping.

Let me give you an example of an initiative--the African Crisis Response Force--which
is currently underway. While the U.S. maintains its leadership role, we cannot be everywhere, every time. We are working with selected African militaries to enhance the capabilities and capacities to respond collectively to requirements for humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping operations in Africa. Plans are underway to provide training and equipment to these countries.

Third, we are using our vast experience in international development and business to help Africans achieve sustainable economic growth. That includes not only economic reform and business promotion but programs to address environmental, population, and health concerns. Helping Africans improve their quality of life is key to ensuring the survival and continued deepening of democracy.

History links us to the African Continent in many ways, not least in the fact that more than 10% of our people are of African descent. Some of our very first overseas diplomatic missions were on the African Continent. The United States was barely 10 years old when, in 1799, it sent one of its first envoys to the Cape Colony, now South Africa. Liberia, of course, was founded by former American slaves. American missionaries, educators, and social activists have worked to build much of Africa's health and educational infrastructure.

Today, this volunteerism has continued. Thousands of Americans have participated in Peace Corps projects or worked in non-governmental organizations, interacted with their African counterparts, and made lasting friendships

Our cultural ties are equally strong. African art, music, and literature have had a profound effect on our own artistic achievements. This wonderful city has a premier position as the birthplace of jazz, and that confluence of musical styles was influenced greatly by Africa and African-Americans. The reciprocal is that the impact of American popular music, movies, language, and literature has resonance across the African Continent. In fact, it is common to find people, young and old alike, who can rattle off a list of personal heroes, including the likes of Michael Jordan, Mohammed Ali, and JFK. Incongruous as it may seem, the sight of youngsters wearing LSU, Grambling, or New Orleans Saints T-shirts is not unusual. Thousands of Africans have studied in the United States, many of whom are now the professors, prime ministers, and even presidents of their own countries.

These facts of history and culture however cannot alone explain why Africa is important to the United States. It is hard to imagine that a continent representing 10% of the world's population and one-quarter of its land mass would not be important to the United States. Let me offer some examples of why Africa should be regarded as important to America, and to all of us as Americans, especially as they relate to our sense of humanity, our security, and our prosperity.

In the course of my career, and especially during the two years that I have occupied my current position, I have been reminded of the compassion that Americans feel for other people. That generosity of spirit is one of the qualities that defines our character. When the genocide in Rwanda struck several years ago, the mail that flooded into my office did not urge that we keep our distance, but rather that we do something, try to help. Events in Liberia last year and in Zaire this year have prompted a similar response.

That same sense of humanity is the source of our efforts to promote respect worldwide for basic human rights. I share with the vast majority of Americans the conviction that an assault on human rights anywhere diminishes the value of human life and dignity everywhere. That is why the U.S. went to the aid of the victims of genocide in Rwanda. That is why we helped underwrite the UN International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda. And that is why we have engaged in a wide range of diplomatic and conflict-prevention activities in neighboring Burundi and, most recently, in Zaire to forestall a similar humanitarian and human rights tragedy.

But this characteristic generosity and humanitarian concern also have a direct bearing on our own self interest. A world in which an entire continent or even large pieces of it are left out of general global progress and prosperity is not a world in which our interests can long be secure.

Africa is the source of other potential threats to the well-being of Americans. When the renewed outbreak of the Ebola virus occurred in Zaire in 1995, and again last year in Gabon, most of us realized the world's increasing vulnerability to infectious diseases. Americans are quick to understand the impact on the affected area. But Africa, as one of the most extravagant and diverse ecologies on the globe, also represents a potential pharacoepia of cures for illnesses and diseases. American researchers and companies are paying increasing attention to these possibilities as they catalogue and work to protect the unique resource.

Africa's rivers and rainforests are critical to the future health of the global environment. The rain forests of Central Africa are second in importance only to those of the Amazon. Since 1980, nearly one-quarter of those forests have disappeared. That loss and the accompanying land degradation pose problems not only for Africa, but for the whole of the global environment.

The remarkable advances we have seen in communication and transportation over the last few years have brought the world closer together. Unfortunately, they have also brought international issues of narcotics and crime to our doorstep.

Africa, like the U.S. and other global neighborhoods, is safe neither from crime nor narcotics. African-based international crime syndicates are responsible for an estimated 30% to 40% of heroin and cocaine that reaches the U.S. Those same syndicates and the money they generate also pose a growing threat to the still-fragile and often poor institutions of Africa's emerging democracies. Another manifestation of the reach of criminal activities in Africa is the continuing problem of business fraud perpetrated by ingenious and enterprising confidence men who, it is estimated, swindled Americans out of $200 million last year.

There is no doubt that the challenges that Africa faces are daunting. Life expectancy and adult literacy are the world's lowest, while population growth is the highest. Over the last decades, economic growth rates have been only half that of the rest of the world, although there is some encouraging improvement in recent years. The continent has seen some of the world's most destructive civil conflicts and supports some 18 million refugees. Some take these images as Africa's past, present, and future. I, for one, do not.

While we in the State Department still concern ourselves with refugees and food shortages, we spend more and more time helping plan the repatriation of refugees and the demobilization of no longer needed armies. Democratic elections have been held in nearly 30 countries, with more planned in the coming months. Eight years ago, barely five could claim leadership chosen by the people. The people of Benin, Namibia, Mali, South Africa, and Malawi--and most recently the courageous people of Sierra Leone--have taken control of their destinies and embraced democratic principles.

Certainly, we cannot ignore the problems of stagnant, state-run economies and government corruption. We must continue to press the remaining autocracies and kleptocracies of Africa to move toward reform. But we should and are concentrating energies and resources on those African governments that have had the courage to make hard and often risky choices, opening their societies to greater pluralism, increased participation, and a market-driven economy.

On a considerably more promising note, we saw Africa's GDP increase in real terms two years ago. Africa has every possibility to become an increasingly important factor in America's future prosperity. The products of Africa are staples of our everyday lives. Components of catalytic converters and microchips derive from imports from Africa as do chocolate for our cakes and rubber for our tires. Last year, 21% of U.S. crude oil imports came from Africa--a figure that is certain to increase in the next decade, since American oil companies are currently poised to make new investments on the order of $6 to $10 billion. Africa's mineral resources are rivaled only by those of our own continent. It accounts for nearly half of the world's production of bauxite, chromite, diamonds, and palladium; more than half of its cocoa and platinum; and nearly three-quarters of its cobalt.

When my friends in business talk about new markets, I think of Africa's 600 million people and the potential they hold for U.S. jobs. By the year 2000, four out of five consumers will be in what is now referred to as the developing world. Soon, 1 billion of them will be in Africa. Already, the African market for U.S. products and services is larger than all of the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union put together. The expanding South African market alone is a larger market than all of Eastern Europe. That represents a formidable potential for American industry.

If I can bring this home: A company just up the road from here--F.C. Shaeffer, a leading builder of sugar mills in Baton Rouge--recently won the largest contract ever awarded to an American firm in Ethiopia. Those are the ingredients for jobs for Louisianans, an improved livelihood for Ethiopian farmers, and contented sweet-toothed consumers. Shaeffer is participating with the Corporate Council on Africa and 300 other businesses in a conference on attracting capital to Africa. One hundred African Ministers of State, Finance, Trade, Planning, and Health from across the continent will come to Washington in two weeks to exchange ideas and address issues that confront the African marketplace. The Administration continues to make progress on ensuring that American companies, workers, and farmers have a level playing field on which to compete.

As I have tried to suggest to you this evening, there is a possibility for every problem. The image of Africa as a continent of unrelieved crisis is outdated and giving way to a new reality. The record shows that with 30 African countries experiencing positive net economic growth rates of 3% or better last year and some, like Ghana and Uganda, having growth rates rivaling those of the Asian Tigers, the investment potential is changing. The resilience, the courage, and the potential of Africa's people are as remarkable as the challenges they face. Our policies are designed to address those problems and build on that potential.

What we want is full African participation in the global economy. We cannot afford to ignore Africa's problems and challenges. Peace and political stability in Africa mean greater security for us; economic growth there translates into greater opportunities for economic growth here. I recognize the challenges facing modern Africa and am, nonetheless, unapologetically optimistic about its future.

Just a little over a week ago, Mrs. Clinton returned from a six-nation African trip in the latest demonstration of our interest in that region. She follows visits to the continent last year by Secretary Christopher and the then-UN Ambassador Albright. Mrs. Clinton announced that the President will follow with a visit to Africa this term, making him the first sitting President to go to that continent in more than 20 years.

At this juncture, with our federal budget coming under increasing strain, it is important that we continue to allocate sufficient resources to follow through on our achievements on the African Continent and pursue new objectives. I believe in general, and especially in Africa, one man or woman can make a difference. We, the United States, make a difference in Africa. For that reason, we must resist short-sighted and misguided suggestions to disengage, particularly since four decades of diplomatic and developmental assistance now seem at last to be bearing fruit in Africa.

If we are a part of what some call "the American century," then history will judge us on what we achieve beyond as well as within our shores.

[end of document]

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