Africa: Blair Commission for Africa Solicits Corporate Council on Africa to Provide U.S. Private Sector Input

6 January 2005
Corporate Council on Africa (Washington, DC)
press release

Washington, DC — Recommendations to G-8 African Action

Plan First time a G-8 chair seeks formal consultation with the private sector; Representatives of the Blair Commission on Africa and U.S. businesses will share information for Africa’s future development.

The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), the U.S. non-profit organization promoting trade and investment between the U.S. and Africa, will convene 30 of its members from the U.S. private sector and senior representatives from the Blair Commission for Africa on Thursday, January 6 to discuss Africa’s development – sector by sector. The resulting information will contribute to a report that British Prime Minister Tony Blair will present at the next G-8 Summit, where he will serve as chair.

The Blair Commission for Africa, an independent brainchild of the Prime Minister, is composed of 17 international commissioners, including nine African leaders selected by Blair. The Prime Minister’s goal is for the Blair Commission report to serve as a seminal set of recommendations for future relations between Africa and the developed nations of the world. The CCA-Blair Commission forum marks the first time that a G-8 chairman has formally sought ideas from the U.S. private sector to shape discussion at a G-8 Summit.

The Prime Minister’s commitment to Africa in the context of the G-8 Summit offers the possibility to mobilize African and international resources for African development.

“We are pleased to have been asked by the Blair Commission for Africa to bring together this caucus of minds,” said Steve Hayes, president of CCA, whose member companies represent nearly 85 percent of total U.S. private sector investment in Africa. “We applaud Prime Minister Blair for taking the lead in moving Africa’s agenda forward. Our participating member companies are among those who intimately understand the inner workings of doing business in Africa and can provide valuable input for future international economic investment policy on Africa.”

In addition to serving as chair of the G-8 Summit in 2005, Blair will chair the European Union, which also has placed Africa high on its agenda. In these dual roles, Blair has unparalleled opportunity to craft the agenda for both organizations.

While the Commission will examine Africa’s economy, natural resources, governance, peace and security, human development and culture, the CCA meeting will focus on the private investment climate in Africa. The business sector meetings will specifically discuss opportunities and challenges in: telecommunications and IT; health; transportation; energy; agriculture; infrastructure; small business; and financing.

During the Commission’s launch last year, Blair said, “Africa is the only continent to have grown poorer in the past 25 years. Its share of world trade has halved in this generation, and it receives less than one percent of direct foreign investment.”

Blair added a statement he originally coined in October 2001: "I have said on many occasions that I believe Africa is the scar on the conscience of the world, and I think it is right that we continue to treat this as an absolute priority over the coming years."

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