Washington, DC — "Africans are making important progress on all fronts," United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told a foreign affairs 'Brain Trust' convened by the Congressional Black Caucus on Friday.
He cited Africa's role in peacekeeping efforts in the Darfur region of Sudan, as well as economic growth and reform and the mobilization of civil society groups in many parts of the continent as constructive developments. "At a time when African states are addressing their problems with new energy and determination, we must work with them and invest in them to build the better future that can be theirs," the Secretary-General said in the keynote address to an crowded gathering of more than 400 people at the Washington Convention Center.
In attendance were several of the 43 Caucus members, including the convener and host of the event, New Jersey Democrat Donald Payne. The caucus comprises African American members of the U.S. House of Representatives, currently all Democrats. The audience at the forum also included a number of African diplomats along with other participants in the annual four-day Legislative Conference organized by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. Also taking part via a video link with the U.S. embassy in Accra were representatives of the Ghanaian government, political parties and nongovernmental organizations, academics, journalists, and embassy staff.
"I thank you for your efforts, especially in calling for an end to agricultural subsidies and trade barriers that actually impoverish African farmers and producers," Annan said, addressing Caucus members directly. "But I think you will agree that we still need to do more, especially when it comes to trade," he added.
The Secretary-General said international support for Africa "remains crucial, if we are to consolidate hard-won gains and avert further crises," pointing to ongoing conflicts in Sudan and Côte d'Ivoire and the HIV/Aids epidemic. "And sub-Saharan Africa lags behind the rest of the developing world in achieving the Millennium Development Goals," he said.
Speaking about last week's gathering of world leaders at the United Nations, Annan said the meeting did not accomplish all he had hoped but did produce "some remarkable commitments." The summit's final document "cements the goals as operational targets, not just rhetorical goals," he said, and leaders agreed on a higher level of aid flows for African development.
Prior to the Secretary-General's arrival, the forum heard remarks from Mel Watt (D-North Carolina), the current Caucus chairman, and William Jefferson (D-Louisiana), who heads the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. Jefferson recounted a conversation after he accompanied President Bill Clinton to Africa in 1998 with his late grandfather, who reacted to hearing what his grandson had seen by remarking: "I always thought there's more to Africa than we see on CNN."
In another address to the forum, the U.S. assistant secretary of State for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, spoke about Africa's "very positive trajectory." Frazer, who took office three weeks ago after serving for a year as U.S. ambassador to South Africa, said "the image of Africa should be one of promise rather than the misery" that she said is so often portrayed in media coverage.
Outlining the Bush administration's policy goals, she said "It's critical to promote continuation of democracy across Africa [and] the institutionalization of the positive trend lines" in many African countries. A central tenet of the administration's approach is working in partnership, she said, "allowing Africa to lead and backing that leadership" That doesn't mean there will always be agreement, she said. "Sometimes we have to agree to disagree, as the South Africans taught me."
One administration priority, Frazer said, is resolution of ongoing conflicts. "Africa should be able to live in peace" When President Bush took office in 2001, she said, wars raged in Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Sudan and there was a major interstate war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, involving many neighboring states, "Today, we're on the path to peace," she said, chronicling the progress that has been made in many areas and citing scheduled elections in the Congo as positive achievements.
Frazer listed as another major policy goal transformation of major international institutions, particularly the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, "so that we can level the playing field" for Africa. The United States wants to end the practice of making loans to poor countries and replace them with grants, she said. Referring to the heavy burden of debt servicing, she said: "We can't rob Peter to pay Paul and we certainly can't rob Peter twice."
Turning to what she called the administrations "prosperity agenda," Frazer talked about a large increase in development assistance funding in recent years, U.S. support for debt relief at G8 meetings, and the positive impact of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which she called "the centerpiece of our approach towards economic growth and development." On the health crisis in Africa, she cited President Bush's commitment of $15 billion over five years to combat HIV/Aids and his recent pledge of $1.5 billion to eradicate malaria. In 2000, Frazer said global expenditure on HIV/Aids was about $300 million a year. As ambassador in South Africa, she said her budget from the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (Pepfar) was a third the size "of what was available globally a few years ago."
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Frazer also said it is "extremely important" to examine the issue of term limits, particularly third terms for African presidents, something that has raised controversy in a number of countries, including Namibia, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda. "No body is indispensable," Frazer said. "The example of John Garang should send a signal to all leaders," she said, referring to the Sudanese rebel leader who died in a plane crash in August just weeks after concluding a peace deal with his long-time adversary, the government in Khartoum.
The final panel at the four-hour forum included addresses by three former African presidents - Ketumile Masire of Botswana, Mahamane Ousmane from Niger and Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro of Cape Verde.
