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America.gov (Washington, DC)

Africa: State Department's Africa Bureau Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Charles W. Corey

9 October 2008

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In celebrating the 50th anniversary of the State Department's Africa Bureau, both Africans and Americans should look back at its history but also look forward to build upon the engagement, excellence and, at times, sheer persistence that have defined its work for the past 50 years, a senior U.S. official says.

Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer spoke to those who gathered for an October 6 reception held at the National Museum of African Art in Washington.

"If you just look around, there is real tradition here. There is a real legacy here in the very people that are in this office," Frazer told a capacity crowd that included African diplomats, present and past U.S. and African ambassadors, former assistant secretaries, business executives doing business in Africa, and a wide range of well-wishers and friends of Africa.

Frazer thanked everyone who has served the bureau over its 50-year history. She recalled that it was in 1958 that then-President Dwight Eisenhower created the Africa Bureau "to change what had been a traditionally Eurocentric policy view of Africa."

That decision, she added, "reflected an understanding that the emergence of an independent Africa was as important to Americans as it was to Africans -- so important that we needed to assign a much higher priority to our relations with the continent."

Since then, she said, "the United States has forged a vibrant partnership with the continent that seeks to support Africans as they build their lives, build their nations and transform their futures."

Sometimes, she added, "we forget that it has only been 50 years since African countries began obtaining their independence." During that past half century, African countries have "overcome great challenges and adversity and have achieved much success, from states obtaining their independence from colonial rule to ending apartheid, from the decline of conflict and the rise of democracy," she explained.

"Over the past decade," in particular, she added, "the African people have demonstrated a commitment to peace, security and development."

Frazer called on the Africa Bureau to view the next 50 years as "an historic window of opportunity for the African continent. The United States will continue our firm commitment to Africa's future," she pledged, as she reiterated President Bush's hope that the United States will remain focused on Africa in the future, well past the end of his administration.

Concluding, Frazer read a congratulatory statement from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who called the anniversary a milestone for the State Department and U.S.-Africa relations as well. (See the text of Secretary Rice's statement.)

Speaking for the African diplomatic community, Ambassador Roble Olhaye of Djibouti, the dean of the African diplomatic corps both in Washington and at the United Nations in New York, wished the bureau a happy birthday and called the bureau's creation "America's timely response to the wave of self-determination and decolonization of the African people across the continent in the late 1950s and early 1960s."

As a country with no history of colonialism in Africa, he told his audience, the United States demonstrated great enthusiasm "in our unfolding decolonization process and encouraged our struggles for independence."

Both Africans and the Africa Bureau, he said, shared both good and bad experiences over the years, but never lost track of a "shared belief in human dignity, mutual respect for the rule of law and material advancement for the people of Africa."

"We have come a long way," he told the crowd. "Africa and the United States have forged reliable partnerships and growing strategic interests to both peoples."

Despite growing anti-American sentiment in many parts of the world, he said, the United States is largely appreciated in Africa, a sentiment he directly attributed to U.S. policies implemented over the past 15 years and especially during the outgoing Bush administration, which has had an "incredible impact on the lives of our people."

Sharon Patton, director of the National Museum of African Art, opened the ceremony by welcoming everyone to the museum. She called the Africa Bureau's 50-year history amazing and said the museum has had a long-standing and strong relationship with the Africa Bureau since the museum's founding in 1964.

The National Museum of African Art is part of the Smithsonian Institution on the National Mall in Washington. It is the United States' only national museum dedicated solely to the collection, research, exhibition and preservation of traditional and contemporary African art. Through its unparalleled collections, the museum promotes a deeper understanding of Africa's rich artistic heritage and cultures.

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