U.S. Trade Rep. Zoellick Sees "New Opportunity" for U.S.-Africa Trade

Meets with Pres. Moi, discusses AGOA, opens COMESA meeting

Nairobi, Kenya -- There now exists a "special opportunity" for expanded U.S. commerce with Kenya, as well as more U.S.-Africa trade in general, says Ambassador Robert B. Zoellick, the first U.S. trade representative (USTR) to visit sub-Saharan Africa.

Zoellick spoke to reporters February 14 after meeting with Kenyan President Daniel T. arap Moi and after opening the first ever United States-Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Trade and Investment Council Consultative Meeting.

Kenya is Zoellick's first country stop on a three-nation African trip that also includes South Africa and Botswana.

One of the reasons Zoellick came to Kenya first, he told reporters, is that he has a level of familiarity with the country and, most important, he "wanted to hear what Kenyans have to say." The USTR stressed the need for Americans and others to "listen" to what Africans think and say about the new trade relationships they are building with the United States and with the rest of the world.

Standing together with President Moi in the courtyard of State House in Nairobi, Zoellick told reporters that a prime topic of their discussion was the importance of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the new trade negotiation that was launched with Kenyan Minister of Tourism, Trade and Industry Nicholas K. Biwott at the recent World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Doha.

The U.S. official noted that Moi also mentioned the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the strategic development plan for African economic development created by South African President Thabo Mbeki and other African leaders.

Referring to NEPAD, Zoellick told reporters, "I think this is an extraordinary sign because this is a recognition by countries throughout Africa about the need to come up with their own development plan" and with positions on key issues such as the rule of law, corruption, and democracy. This effort, he said, should be connected "not only with open trade but with capacity building [and] investment prospects."

For America's part, Zoellick said, "I am optimistic and President Bush is optimistic about the possibilities for Africa. But, he acknowledged, "we know that there are many challenges."

During their talks at State House, the first stop on a whirlwind one-day visit to Kenya, Zoellick said he also thanked President Moi and the Kenyan people for the strong support they have shown the United States in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

"The first thing I did was to thank the president, recognizing that both countries have felt the pain of terrorism," he said, in reference to the tragic terrorist bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya in 1998, which not only killed Americans, but also killed 167 Kenyan citizens. More than 5,000 Kenyans were also injured in that bombing.

Gesturing toward President Moi, Zoellick said, "We have had an extraordinarily good partner here on this issue, but it does not surprise us because Kenya has for many decades been a close friend of the United States and the president has personally been a close friend of the United States."

In his comments to journalists, President Moi spoke briefly about the merits of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), saying it is because of AGOA that "many Kenyans are now succeeding" in business and trade with the United States.

He also talked about NEPAD, saying, "We here in Africa will do the best we can to eradicate corruption" and to remove old barriers that are limiting investors from investing in Kenya and across the region. Investors in Africa must be able to move freely from country to country, he said, if those investors and countries are to prosper.

Moi said the United States and Kenya enjoy "strong relations," and he said those strong relations are a good reason for Americans to invest more in Kenya, and other parts of East Africa as well.

Following talks at State House, Zoellick held a round table discussion with Kenyan and American business executives, manufacturers, and small business entrepreneurs, some of them women.

Louise Sauer, chairperson of the Organization of Women in International Trade and a managing director of her own tour company, attended the round table, which she termed "very significant. The organization that I represent," she noted in an interview following the session, "is largely made up of small and medium enterprises, and oftentimes, this category of business is left out of policy positions. So to be invited to sit in on a policy-level meeting is absolutely significant."

It is also quite important that the United States trade representative chose Kenya as his first trip stop, she said.

She added: "I see the U.S. as an emerging market for Kenya, largely because Kenya has traditionally done business with Europe and maybe with Asia a little bit. With the U.S., there was not enough knowledge or contacts to do significant business in the past. But in the last few years that has changed." And she noted that the preceding business round table was evidence of that change.

"Being able to sit down with the U.S. trade representative means that we can have some input into what we would like to see done to ease, foster, and enhance the growth of two-way trade between the United States and Kenya," she said.

Following the business round table, Zoellick went on to co-host the first United States-Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Trade and Investment Council Consultative Meeting. There he announced an $800,000 grant to the organization.

The grant is being made, Zoellick told the ministers, because "we believe that COMESA needs to be a very successful model for all of Africa."

Referring to the grant, he said $500,000 would be used to assist the eligible COMESA members to capitalize on AGOA by helping to establish additional information and market linkages and facilitating the duty-free exports of their products. The remaining $300,000 of the grant will be used, he said, to strengthen the COMESA Court of Justice, which will help settle any trade disputes within their own internal common market.

Additionally, he said, for each COMESA member that is eligible for AGOA and a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United States is offering one scholarship for a trade official to participate in the WTO's comprehensive training course on the WTO in Geneva.

Zoellick also went on to hail COMESA countries for enjoying a 3.2 percent annual growth rate in their economies. Although this is not as high as they would like, he said, it is "well above" the figure for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole.

Later in the day, Zoellick delivered a major speech to a forum sponsored by the Kenyan Association of Manufacturers, the American Business Association, and the Organization of Women in International Trade.

In that speech, Zoellick stressed that a "new breeze is blowing between the United States and Africa. While our relations were once marked by fears, suspicions, and inattention, today they are animated with a potential for dynamism, cooperation, and mutual respect."

He added: "The flower of economic development is beginning to bloom in Africa, but we would like to see that blossom bursting with the full life and color of this continent."

Before leaving Kenya for South Africa, Zoellick also held a press conference with reporters and toured the Nairobi National Park, where he was briefed on ways the park is helping to conserve traditional wildlife migration routes while also helping the people of Kenya.