Washington, DC — The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), an organization that has spearheaded much of the business and investment engagement with Africa by American firms for two decades has ended talks with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
"There was little appetite among members for a merger" said President and CEO Stephen Hayes in a telephone interview. And he said "a persistent whisper campaign that CCA was to be taken over" by the larger Chamber was negatively affecting the Council's work.
Paul Hinks, CEO of Symbion Power who chairs the CCA board, informed the Chamber's Executive Vice President Myron Brilliant that "CCA would not be merging," Hayes said in an email Tuesday to Board members. "The matter is closed."
CCA has some 180 members ranging from small entities to Fortune 100 firms, representing an estimated 85 percent of total U.S. private sector investments in Africa.
The overture to CCA from the Chamber is one of several signs of growing interest in Africa by the U.S. business community, which has not matched the aggressive expansion of investment and trade initiatives across the continent by China and other Asian economic powers. China's trade with Africa is now reported to be more than double that of the United States.
Another indication of increased interest was the U.S.-Africa Leaders' Summit convened by President Obama in August 2014, which drew participation at the CEO level from many of the largest American firms.
"The U.S. Chamber has a global program that represents the interests of three million businesses," Brilliant said in a statement emailed to AllAfrica. "Africa is of growing interest to the American business community, and we see great potential in expanding the commercial relationship with public and private sector partners there."
Both organizations are Washington, D.C. based. The Chamber is headquartered in a historic building with three-story Corinthian columns and an Indiana limestone exterior on H Street directly across Lafayette Park from the White House, while the CCA office suite is three blocks north on 17th Street, adjacent to the Mayflower Hotel.
Hayes said circulation of merger rumors "was having a deleterious effect" on both staff and prospective CCA members who have held off on joining to see the outcome of discussions. In spite of this, membership climbed four percent over the last year, Hayes said. "For this to have gone on further would have threatened to erode support," Hayes told his board.
CCA recently added several high-profile African directors. These include entrepreneur and philanthropist Aliko Dangote, who tops the Forbes list of Africa's wealthiest people; Tony O. Elumelu, a philanthropist and chair of Heirs Holdings Limited; and Jabu Mabuza, who chairs Telkom South Africa, one of the continent's largest telecommunications entities, operating in 38 countries.
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In May, the Council received a Presidential 'E' Award for what U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker called "sustained commitment to export expansion." In February, CCA is hosting its tenth biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. "This is only our second summit to be held in Africa," Hayes said in the interview. "We want to focus all our energies on making this another success."
A committee created by the CCA board has been exploring future directions. The committee is headed by Jeff Sturchio, a former Merck executive and CCA board chair who currently is president and CEO of Rabin Martin, a global health strategy firm.
Brilliant, who heads the Chamber's international affairs activities, said in the email to AllAfrica: "In responding to membership needs and desires, the Chamber has taken important steps to broaden our operations and promote commercial ties in Africa." These include the Africa Business Initiative launched in 2009 and the U.S.-Ecowas Business Initiative to expand business cooperation across west Africa, launched last week in New York.
During the 2014 U.S.-Africa Summit, the Chamber and the Council hosted a series of sometimes-conflicting events, with the Chamber holding a U.S.-South African Investment Forum, featuring President Jacob Zuma on the same day as the CCA's Africa Business Forum. In all, CCA hosted 23 events related to the heads-of-state event. In July, the two groups jointly hosted Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari at a dinner in the Chamber's grand Hall of Flags.
"We will continue to collaborate where feasible with the U.S. Chamber and other organizations," Hayes said in his email to the CCA Board.
