Washington, DC — African commodities and raw materials are processed in wealthy nations and then resold by companies and corporations in those nations at prices many times greater than what is paid to the producers, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said Tuesday night at a well-attended reception just hours after his meeting at the White House with President George W. Bush.
"The value of the coffee market is 70 billion dollars," he said. "We coffee producing countries get 5 billion. Who takes the remaining 65 billion? -- somebody else!" said Museveni, whose laughter accompanying the comment only partially hid the seriousness of his point. "Africans are being donors but they do it in ignorance."
Trade, not aid is what's crucial for nations like Uganda, Museveni said. "I don't want aid; I want trade. Aid cannot transform society. If I get aid it must be aid that enables me to trade." He said the marketplace "and its discipline" can "set us free." But trade barriers stand in the way, he said, pointing in particular to agricultural subsidies in Europe and the United States, which he said undercut Africa's agricultural economy.
Museveni was speaking to a crowd gathered by the Whitaker Group to launch the Agoa III Action Committee, which will push for an extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act past 2008. The Committee used the occasion to honor some of the key members of Congress who spearheaded the act's adoption three years ago.
"AGOA has helped generate billions of dollars of trade and investment for sub-Saharan Africa, and created tens of thousands of jobs. It is changing the way US business, big and small, looks at the continent," the Ugandan president told the crowd. Uganda was the first African nation to embrace Agoa, said Rosa Whitaker who was United States assistant trade representative for Africa when the legislation was signed by President Bill Clinton.
Tuesday afternoon, when Museveni met Bush, the U.S. president told him he supported the Agoa extension. Bush has scheduled a trip to Africa early next month, but administration officials declined to say whether he would visit Uganda, which U.S. officials have heralded for its anti-HIV/Aids efforts.
During a photo opportunity before their meeting, Bush repeated the praise. "The one issue that's really captured the imagination and the hearts of the American people is your extraordinary leadership on HIV/Aids in your country. You've shown the world what is possible."
In his brief public remarks at the White House, the Ugandan president emphasized the need to add value to African goods. "You hear so much of poverty in Africa, but, in fact, Africa is a very rich continent. The only problem is that we must simply move the value to the outside. We export only raw materials, we don't export value-added products."
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Trade and investment concerns, along with HIV/Aids, are dominating Museveni's trip during which he is meeting with business leaders and members of Congress. On Wednesday, he is scheduled to address a luncheon on HIV/Aids sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme, speak to the Council on Foreign Relations on "Forging U.S.-Africa Partnerships Against Terror," and take part in an Awards for Business Excellence dinner at the Kennedy Center, sponsored by the Global Business Coalition on HIV/Aids, where Secretary of State Colin Powell is scheduled to give the keynote presentation.
