Washington, DC — The African Union, whose members include 53 African nations, is this week marking the anniversary of the founding on May 25, 1963 of its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity. The 48 AU members with diplomatic representation who comprise the African Diplomatic Corps in Washington, D.C., have organized a week of activities focusing on the continent's achievements, culminating in the first annual Africa Day dinner on Thursday. The group is headed by Djibouti's Ambassador Roble Olhaye, who, as the longest serving diplomat in the city, is dean of both the African and the wider Washington Diplomatic Corps. The ambassadors from Zambia, Cape Verde and the Democratic Republic of the Congo visited AllAfrica to talk about the week's events and the efforts the diplomats are making to promote their countries and Africa in the United States. Excerpts from the round-table discussion:
What is the Africa Diplomatic Corps trying to accomplish this week?
Faida M. Mitifu (Democratic Republic of the Congo): We want to celebrate Africa and show to the American public what Africa has to share with the world. There are so many good things happening in Africa. Conflicts are going down, and democracies are emerging. We want to focus on that.
Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika (Zambia): We want to share some of the exciting things that have been happening in our continent, like the New Partnership for African Development (Nepad) and the gender balance in the African Union, and the involvement of women in parliament and government, an area where Africa is leading the world. Many people don't know that we have many dynamic new leaders and that we have over a dozen African presidents who have retired. If you look at the over 20 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, there are only two countries that have old presidents. The rest have been changing through democratic elections.
José Brito (Cape Verde): As the African diplomatic corps, we are acting collectively to change the image of our continent. In the past, we have relied on friends of Africa. This time, we decided to do this ourselves and do something bigger than we used to do. We are organizing ourselves differently now and changing the way we do business here.
So the African Diplomatic Corps in Washington is becoming more active as an organization. But all of you are representatives of governments, as well as members of the group. Do you find yourselves competing – for attention, for investment – even as you are cooperating?
Mitifu: As African countries, we have common goals, and those goals are defined within the African Union. We have common projects. When we talk about Nepad, when we talk about the importance of gender representation, when we talk about the development of Africa, that transcends the borders.
Mbikusita-Lewanika: I really don't see a conflict. Most people in this part of the world don't know much about Africa. They think it's one place. And we have found out that it's more beneficial for us to work as a group. When one nation works alone versus 53 countries or 48 ambassadors working together, there is a difference. We have more impact as a group, so most of the ambassadors advocate for the whole continent while at the same time advocating for their respective countries.
Brito: I represent a very small country, and I know if I spoke on behalf of Cape Verde, I would hardly be heard. Let's not forget one key issue for Africa is private investment, and the perception of Africa [among prospective investors] affects us all
You're saying that decisions about investing in one country can be affected negatively by news from another country, even if it is far away?
Mitifu: Unfortunately yes, and this is because the press, the mainstream press in the United States, tend to focus only on crises in Africa, and you will notice that when those crises are no longer there, nobody talks about those places anymore. My own country is a post-conflict nation and nobody's talking about the progress that has been made – the fact that soon we are going to have the first elections in 45 years.
You have said the African Diplomatic Corps is working on behalf of the African Union. How effective is the African Union, particularly with regard to key issues like conflict resolution and peacekeeping, and promoting economic cooperation across the continent?
Mitifu: The African Union has been playing a great role in terms of ending conflicts in Africa. We're living in a global world, and we need collaboration with our partners around the world to reinforce what we've started, whether we are talking about conflict resolution and African peacekeeping forces or Nepad. We cannot live in isolation. We need reinforcement from our partners so that we can be more effective.
Mbikusita-Lewanika: One thing [that is] important to remember is that this is the third year that the African Union has been in existence. It was established in 2002, and it started working in 2003. If you examine the history of other regional groupings - what they did in their third year and what the African Union has done in its third year - you will see that Africa has done much more.
Since the African Union began, we have seen more effective intervention in conflict. The Organization of African Unity had a mandate to decolonize Africa, and the OAU actually did accomplish that objective, but they had no mandate to intervene in conflicts. Since the formation of the African Union, you saw that the African Union intervened in Liberia and you saw that Sudan has come to the forefront. Problems in Sudan have existed for over 40 years, and nobody was brave enough or interested enough to bring Sudan to that table, except of course the women of Sudan who have been trying to bring peace to Sudan for some time.
Brito: I think this young organization is on a good track. An organization depends on its members, so if its members can see beyond their local problems and find a way to resolve problems by regions and as a continent, the African Union will emerge as an effective organization.
As you address people across this country, what kind of reaction do you receive and what is the level of interest you find about what is happening in Africa?
Mitifu: The first reaction is "wow" when you talk about what Africa has achieved and what Africa is looking forward to achieve. When you talk about the potential of Africa.
People need to be educated more about Africa, and that's what we're trying to do.
Mbikusita-Lewanika: The interest is definitely there. American citizens don't know much about Africa because the school system does not teach them, and the news doesn't give them the whole information. But they are open, they are very interested, and I find them very generous and supportive. I'm one of those who the American people invested in because I went to university here, and I know that Americans have kind hearts. When they hear stories of unfortunate people, they really want to get involved, and they want to go there. More and more people are traveling, and what a difference it makes. Americans document very well. That is one of your strengths, so they spread the news. If the media would give more information, they are ready to listen.
Mitifu: Two weeks ago, I participated in an outreach program that involved about 1,000 schools within the Pittsburgh area in Pennsylvania. We had teachers who have come up with a teaching method of Africa that I was truly impressed with. They showed Africa in its different facets, and they drew similarities between Africa and the United States, which is very important. Sometimes people think we are very different, but at the end of the day you see that we have more in common than [we have] differences.
Brito: Where [we] need to improve our outreach and education is on the investor side. That is the missing link. People are more aware about Africa, but at the level of investors, we still have a lot of work to do. This is mainly linked with perception, which is why our group is working on this issue. Our main task has to be to change the perception of investors about Africa.
Mbikusita-Lewanika: To address that challenge, we really need to partner with people in business. Companies have been operating in different parts of Africa for many years, and they are really making good profits. People in business tell us that, in many cases, it's more profitable to invest in Africa than anywhere in the world. But they keep quiet. When Africa is under attack, they conveniently keep quiet. I haven't figured out why people who are investing and making good money are not spreading this good news. I don't [know] whether they just want to be there by themselves. To convince an investor to go to Zambia, someone who is already investing and making good money could really have impact.
The HIV/Aids pandemic is a serious challenge facing Africa and is something that people think about when they consider investing or otherwise getting involved in Africa. What is your message when you are asked about this issue?
Mitifu: HIV/Aids has become a priority for each African government. Almost every country has its own program. This is a scourge we know we need to fight, and we know that we cannot fight it ourselves. We need everyone - companies, churches and other organizations to be very active when it comes to fighting HIV/Aids.
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Mbikusita-Lewanika: It is important to recognize that the percentages of infected vary from country to country, and in several countries, including Zambia, the infection rate has been going down. This is really good news. In Zambia, we have a very good partnership between the government and the private sector in fighting both HIV/Aids and malaria, which actually kills more people than HIV/Aids.
Brito: We should not forget that this is a global issue. The idea that it is an African problem is not correct. Today, we have the capability to keep people alive with Aids. There are now drugs for this, but for our people, accessibility [to the drugs] is a big problem, and it is linked to the issue of patents for pharmaceutical companies, which make these drugs very expensive. Concerned people in the United States could make pressure on the pharmaceutical companies and the government to provide the countries in the South with affordable access to the drugs. We need really to have a global alliance to facilitate the accessibility of these drugs for our people.
People outside Africa sometimes wonder what Africa is doing for itself. For example, along with seeking investment and trade from the United States and other wealthy nations, is Africa boosting inter-continental cooperation?
Mitifu: Yes, we have been encouraging what we call in French "Sud-Sud" [south-south] cooperation. Every region has an economic development component – Ecowas [the Economic Community of West Africa States], Comesa [Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa] and SADC [Southern African Development Community]. You have a higher rate of trade between African countries than ever before.
Mbikusita-Lewanika: You know the borders in Africa were drawn up in Berlin in 1885, and they've always presented a problem. But the women of Africa have always ignored them and traded with each other across the border. Now there are more formal efforts to transcend the borders, like the trade fair we have had in Zambia for some 40 years, where people from all our eight neighbors and from outside come to exhibit .
Brito: Investment is a two-way street. We have to do our part, and we are asking the world to do their part. In Africa, there's a lack of infrastructure, and to really develop, you need infrastructure. The investment requirement for infrastructure is huge. We cannot afford to do it, so we need a partnership. That's what Africa is trying to do. That's what Nepad is designed to promote.
