Text: Bush Sets Policy Directions Before Visit to Africa

Major speech echoes CCA summit priorities of trade, democracy and health

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Washington -- On the eve of his first trip to Africa, President George W. Bush delivered a major policy speech on Africa to a U.S.-African business gathering June 26, emphasizing his Administration's continued commitment "to help Africans find peace, fight disease, build prosperity and improve their own lives."

(The White House announced June 20 that Bush will visit Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Nigeria July 7-12]

The President delivered a hard-hitting address punctuated by repeated applause from the 1000 participants -- including more than 10 African heads of state -- who were attending a luncheon on the second full day of the Corporate Council on Africa's (CCA) June 24-27 U.S.-Africa Business Summit held at the Washington Hilton Hotel.

Bush introduced several new initiatives worth more than $1,000 million aimed at helping African nations fight the effects of HIV/AIDS and feed famine-threatened populations. At the same time he decried the corruption that has sapped much of Africa's economic potential, declaring, "Corrupt regimes that give nothing to their people deserve nothing from us!"

The president was full of praise for progressive leaders on the continent who have advanced peace and prosperity for their people and the continent, but was unsparing in singling out two African leaders who have now proved to be severe impediments to the progress of their countries.

"The United States strongly supports the cease-fire signed earlier this month" in Liberia, Bush said, but "President [Charles] Taylor needs to step down so that his country can be spared further bloodshed."

Without naming him, Bush roundly criticized Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe as an example of "some on the continent" who have "mocked the standards for reform outlined in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Noting, "freedom and dignity" were "under assault" in Zimbabwe, Bush urged "all nations, including the nations of Africa, to encourage a return to democracy in Zimbabwe."

On the economic front Bush touched on the landmark piece of trade legislation, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), saying he would ask Congress to extend its favorable export benefits to eligible African nations beyond 2008 because "trade is the great engine for economic progress."

AGOA had been the central topic earlier in the day when the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar (Republican of Indiana), who had introduced AGOA in the Senate in 1999, addressed a Summit breakfast meeting on the trade act.

Now three years after the law was passed by Congress, Lugar said, "I believe AGOA has been a positive economic force on the continent." The lawmaker emphasized, however, "AGOA should not be seen as an end in itself. It is an initial step designed to expand development and decrease poverty by greater integration of Africa into the global trading community and the World Trade Organization (WTO)."

Noting that since 1999 the United States has provided $345 million in "trade capacity building support for sub-Saharan countries," Lugar said, "We need to do more to take advantage of opportunities presented at this intersection of trade and aid." It was essential, he said, "to overcome the regulatory and market barriers to African exports."

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick echoed Lugar's comments, telling the Summit he believed it was "vitally important...to connect Africa to the world economy." As it stands now, he said, "Africa is being left out of economic globalization. We think it's critical to reverse that."

Zoellick, who has made numerous trips to South Africa to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), noted that recent trade statistics bore out Lugar's assertions about AGOA's success in boosting African exports of more than 6,500 products into the U.S. market under its duty-free provisions. He pointed out that total U.S. trade with sub-Saharan Africa amounted to $24,000 million in 2002, which was greater than total U.S. trade with Russia.

Zoellick also said that AGOA "preferences should not be a permanent state of affairs but rather a helping hand toward integrating Africans into the world economy." He told the Africans at the Summit, "We don't want to replace colonialism with neocolonialism. We want to help you enter the global economy. We want to create a foundation for growth."

The Prime Minister of Mauritius, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, who was to meet with President Bush at the White House later in the day, rounded out the morning discussion on AGOA declaring, "AGOA has already shown that trade can develop economies." By raising the expectations of Africa and its people, "many African countries are becoming healthy and vibrant through AGOA."

"We are profoundly touched by President Bush's decision to extend AGOA," Jugnauth declared. "This movement in Africa to break out from the old aid mentality must continue."

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