The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) today congratulates Jacob Zuma on his election as the fourth president of a democratic South Africa.
“We look forward to working with President Zuma and his government to strengthen economic growth and development between the U.S. and South Africa,” CCA President and CEO Stephen Hayes said. “CCA members applaud the peaceful political transition in South Africa. We have met Mr. Zuma several times and know that we share with him a commitment to U.S.-South Africa trade and investment relations that are based on the acknowledgement that a broader and stronger private sector that truly incorporates all South Africans will benefit everyone.”
CCA hosted Mr. Zuma in October 2008, soon after he became president of the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa’s leading political party. Mr. Zuma then spoke to CCA member companies about the ANC’s perspectives on further cooperation with the U.S. and identified economic growth and development as one of the priority focus areas for the South African government. In late 2007, CCA President Stephen Hayes held private talks with Mr. Zuma during an unofficial visit to the U.S. by the South African leader.
South Africa possesses Africa’s largest single economy and the country is a leading economic partner in Africa for the American private sector. Total two-way trade between the U.S. and South Africa in 2008 was valued at nearly approximately $16.5 billion. Since the end of apartheid, CCA has worked with South African business and government leaders to increase American private sector investment in South Africa and to help develop South Africa’s growing business sector.
CCA’s South African International Business Linkages (SAIBL) program, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), helps to increase market-driven employment opportunities in South Africa. This is achieved by developing the capacity and competitiveness of black-owned small and medium sized enterprises, and linking them to trade opportunities and domestic and international business partners. Since its inception in 1998, the program has resulted in more than $1.4 billion in business transactions for South African companies. SAIBL has created more than 17,000 jobs. CCA has also organized U.S. trade missions to South Africa and has sponsored market research missions to the U.S. by South African companies.
Other CCA initiatives involving South Africa include CCA’s U.S.-South Africa Business Council, which serves as a forum for senior executives to share best practices. In 2007, CCA organized its biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Cape Town, the first time that the event had been held outside the United States.
The election of Mr. Zuma as president had been a foregone conclusion since the African National Congress handily won the country’s national elections on April 22. The formal election of Mr. Zuma took place according to South African constitutional guidelines that allow the political party with the most seats in the national parliament to elect the country’s president. The elections had attracted worldwide interest and had peacefully engaged the passions of millions of South Africans.
About The Corporate Council on Africa
Established in 1993, The Corporate Council on Africa is a nonpartisan 501 (c) (3) membership organization of nearly 180 U.S. companies dedicated to strengthening the commercial relationship between the U.S. and Africa. CCA members represent nearly 85 percent of total U.S. private sector investments in Africa. The organization is dedicated to bringing together potential business partners and to showcase business opportunities on the continent. From September 29-October 1, 2009, CCA convenes the U.S.-Africa Business Summit, the premier private sector trade and investment forum between the U.S. and the nations of Africa. For more information, visit www.africacncl.org.
For more information, contact Andrea Todd, Communications Manager, at (202) 835-1115.
