Washington, DC — Walter Kansteiner, the Bush administration's senior African policy official, is preparing to leave his post at the State Department after just over two years as assistant secretary for African affairs.
"I'm departing for a very good reason - my two children need a father in their lives," Kansteiner said. He confirmed that he has informed Secretary of State Colin Powell of his intention to leave within the next few weeks. Charles Snyder, who is currently the senior deputy assistant secretary, is expected to step in as acting assistant secretary when Kansteiner leaves in early November.
"I am sorry to see Walter go," said Rep. Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia who has been active on African issues and who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee that handles the State Department budget. "The effort he has made with regard to Sudan, in particular, has been very impressive," said Wolf, who has made four trips to rebel-held southern Sudan. "It's a feather in Walter's cap," Wolf said, referring to the peace accord between the government and rebels aimed at ending more than two decades of fighting.
In an interview Kansteiner listed several achievements of his tenure, including environmental initiatives, progress towards peace in Angola, Sudan and Liberia, and "how we've been able to help African countries court the private sector."
During a conversation in his sixth floor office, he pulled out the September issue of National Geographic and pointed out an article called "Saving Africa's Eden," chronicling the decision by Gabon President Omar Bongo to designate 11 percent of his country as protected parkland. The assistant secretary appears in the background of a photo showing Powell on a brief tour of Gabon's Pongara National Park last year.
Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York two weeks ago, Kansteiner outlined a series of efforts that the Bush administration has launched to boost African participation in capital markets, including a program to help governments obtain what is called a Sovereign Debt Credit Rating. "You're not going to get to play in capital markets if you don't have a credit rating," he said. Four countries in Africa had ratings two years ago, he said. "Now we have six with new ratings [and] we have ten more in the queue," Kansteiner said.
"He has done an enormous amount to integrate Africa into the world economy, particularly through the Sovereign Debt Credit Ratings," said Steve Cashin, managing director of the $110 million Modern Africa Fund, which has a portfolio of nine companies involved in broadcasting, information and communications technology, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and investment banking.
"Look at Ghana, which got a B+ rating from Standard and Poor's," Cashin said: "This positions Ghana to secure loans at attractive rates," once certain restrictions involving the International Monetary Fund are lifted. Cashin also cited Kansteiner's role in "ramping up environmental concerns on the political agenda," and the battles he has fought for U.S. engagement in the Liberia crisis.
According to Mel Foote, who heads the Constituency for Africa, a Washington-based grass-roots lobby group, Kansteiner has been open and responsive to organizations working on African issues. "He hasn't always done what I wanted him to do, but the point is that he has been accessible and willing to dialogue" Foote said.
Kansteiner's emphasis on investment and trade is generally seen as his major achievement. "Walter has brought a unique and valuable focus to the role the private sector can play in promoting African development, in our mutual interest," said Susan Rice, who served as assistant secretary for Africa during the Clinton administration. Steve Hayes, president of the Corporate Council on Africa, whose 165 member companies represent nearly 85 percent of total U.S. private investment in Africa, calls Kansteiner "a good friend of business" and a strong supporter of CCA. "He also needs to be commended for accomplishments in the area of the environment, particularly the Congo basin initiative, and the improvement in U.S. Angola relations, which is very important," Hayes said.
Kansteiner's approach has sometimes led to problems with Congress. During a hearing on Sudan in June 2002, he angered some members of the House International Relations Committee by dismissing their support for sanctions that would have barred oil companies operating in Sudan from raising capital or trading stock in the United States. "When you start interfering directly in your capital markets, you are playing with fire," he argued.
Before leaving office, Kansteiner travels next week to South Africa to preside at a 'chiefs of mission' for U.S. ambassadors from all over subSaharan Africa. He will visit Rwanda and Tanzania, as well as Equatorial Guinea for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at the new U.S. embassy that is under construction in Malabo.
Speculation about Kansteiner's successor is focused on Snyder and two other officials who have held the job of "principal deputy" in the Africa Bureau. Nancy Powell, who served under Rice and then became acting assistant secretary before Kansteiner took over in June of 2001, and Johnnie Carson, who has just completed three years as U.S. ambassador to Kenya and also served under Rice. Powell became U.S. ambassador to Pakistan only 15 months ago and may be unlikely to leave.
With the president's term ending in 15 months, Snyder's tenure as acting assistant secretary could be extended or he could be nominated for the post.
"I hope that the successor will be able to maintain the private sector focus Walter has had while giving energetic attention to issues on conflict resolution, democracy promotion and transnational security threats," Rice said.
Donald Payne, the ranking Democrat on the House Africa subcommittee and point person on Africa for the Congressional Black Caucus said: "It is pivotal that Mr. Kansteiner be succeeded by someone with strong Africa experience, someone who can provide continuity and strong leadership."
Vivian Lowery Derryck, senior vice president at the Academy for Educational Development who headed the Africa Bureau at the U.S. Agency for International Development during the Clinton administration, said Kansteiner has had a "thoughtful and strategic" approach to the job and his successor should be someone with the "same kind of commitment to the continent."
"The Africa Bureau faces challenges from Sudan to Liberia, and they need to have an experienced Africa hand at the top," said Ted Dagne, an African analyst at the Congressional Research Service. "Charlie Snyder has the background to do the job."
Snyder is a retired colonel in the U.S. Army, where he was an African specialist before joining the civil service in 1991 and serving as National Intelligence Office on Africa from 1992 to 1994. He was political/military advisor and director of regional affairs before being named a deputy assistant secretary of State in 2001. He became principal deputy earlier this year after William Mark Bellamy became U.S. ambassador to Kenya. Along with his involvement over the years in a range of issues from Angola to Liberia, Snyder has been a central player in the Sudan negotiations, which are now at a crucial point.
Foote says he hope consideration will be given to Jendayi Frazer, senior director for African affairs on the National Security Council (NSC) staff. "I'm hoping that Jendayi might want to switch jobs and do this one for a while," Foote said.
Relations between the NSC and Africa Bureau have been rocky, administration sources report, and this has been noticed on the outside. "It is unfortunate that the NSC and State Department have not been able to work more effectively together," Cashin said. "They would have been able to accomplish more of what they set out to do."
According to the Corporate Council's Hayes, the next assistant secretary should give priority to Africa's regional groupings, such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.
Hayes would also like to see increased focus on seeking better relations with two of the continent's big powers, Nigeria and South Africa. Kansteiner's departure coincides with turnovers in the ambassadorial posts in both Abuja and Pretoria.
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Howard Jeter returned from Nigeria over the summer after a tour that won praise from many who had dealings with the U.S. embassy there but was marked with tensions between himself and officials in Washington. Donald Steinberg, former ambassador to Angola, was named to the post before health problems made him ineligible to serve. He is now expected to take a position serving under Randall Tobias, who President Bush has named as his HIV/Aids czar. The Nigeria ambassadorship has been filled on an interim basis by Roger A. Meece, who was ambassador to Malawi for the past three years and was named a diplomat in residence to Florida International University before his reassignment to Nigeria.
State Department sources say John Campbell, deputy assistant secretary of State for Human Resources, is expected to be the president's nominee. He served as political counselor in Nigeria from 1988 - 1990 and in South Africa from 1993 to 1996 during the transition from apartheid to majority rule.
The next ambassador to South Africa is expected to be Katherine H. Peterson, who currently directs the Foreign Service Institute and was formerly ambassador to Lesotho.
Within the State Department and outside, there is surprise and anger that Carson wasn't chosen for the South African post. "It's such a shame when an experienced and respected diplomat of his caliber gets passed over for such a key post," said one former official who asked not to be named. "I just don't understand how that happens. Where can you point to a greater diplomatic success than the U.S. role in helping with Kenya's transition (from President Moi to Kibaki), and Johnnie was key to that success."
Carson was also on the shortlist for the assistant secretary post at the beginning of the Bush administration, when Kansteiner was tapped for the job. He is believed to have run into opposition because of his service as chief of staff to the Democratic-controlled House Africa subcommittee in the 1980s.
