Africa: CCA to Spotlight U.S - Africa Trade Success At UN Conference in Mexico

7 March 2002
Corporate Council on Africa (Washington, DC)
press release

Washington, D.C — The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) will convene an African trade roundtable to showcase new commerce and investment opportunities generated by the U.S. Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The roundtable will take place on March 21 in conjunction with the United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) in Monterrey, Mexico, which U.S. President George W. Bush is confirmed to attend.

The roundtable, held by CCA at the request of the U.S. Department of State, is aimed to help companies use AGOA to start or expand their business on the African continent. The roundtable will allow American businesses to dialogue with key African decision makers, learn the specifics of AGOA's benefits and examine government-sponsored projects. Keynote speakers and panelists will include high-level U.S. and African government officials, and leaders of the African and U.S. private sectors. Registration information is available through CCA's website at www.africacncl.org.

The AGOA legislation provides nearly 2000 African products from 35 sub-Saharan African countries the most liberal access to the U.S. market available to any country or region with which the United States does not have a Free Trade Agreement. AGOA also serves to promote American investment in African manufacturing facilities.

Following the roundtable, CCA will host a reception to honor U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. Twelve African leaders, including South African President Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, have announced plans to travel to Monterrey, along with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and World Bank President James Wolfensohn.

The UN conference (www.un.org/esa/ffd), taking place from March 18 to 22, will address key financial issues related to global development. Country delegations will include heads of state, representatives from finance, trade and foreign ministries, and business leaders.

At the Monterrey conference's opening forum on global business on March 18, CCA Chairman James Harmon will deliver a keynote address on new approaches to increasing capital flows in the developing world. Additional confirmed keynoters at the March 18 forum include Trevor Manuel, South Africa's minister of finance; George Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management; and Jeffrey Sachs, director of Harvard University's Center for International Development.

CCA, established in 1992, is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization of nearly 200 American companies dedicated to strengthening trade and investment ties between the United States and Africa. CCA members represent nearly 85 percent of total U.S. private sector investments in Africa. In February 2002, CCA received a one-year grant from the U.S. State Department to educate African and U.S. business leaders about the benefits of AGOA.

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