U.S. Official Sets Scene for 2003 AGOA Forum in Mauritius

State's Alan Larson is heartened by recent events on continent

Washington -- Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs Alan Larson says he is looking forward to joining some 40 African trade, economic and finance ministers in Port Louis, Mauritius, January 13-17, for the second U.S. Sub-Saharan African Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (informally known as the AGOA Forum).

Larson, who first became acquainted with sub-Saharan Africa as a teacher in Kenya in the early 1970's, spoke to journalists at a January 7 news conference held at the State Department's Foreign Press Center (FPC). He said he was heartened by recent democratic gains made in sub-Saharan Africa as well as a new outlook by the continent's leaders "deeply committed to the idea" that Africans must take "ownership" of their own economic futures.

The official said, "We are very excited to be having next week in Mauritius the second AGOA Forum. The first such forum was held in the United States last year (October 2001), and at that time President Bush said that AGOA is a roadmap for how the United States and Africa can tap the power of markets to improve the lives of our citizens."

Noting that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick would head the U.S. delegation to the AGOA Forum, Larson said, "I expect that, while the details of our participation are still being worked out in some instances, USAID Administrator Natsios will be attending. I will be joining the delegation myself, and I expect to have other colleagues at the under secretary level joining me for this important conference."

He added, "The meeting that is coming up next week in Mauritius has several themes, one of which is investment; a second is trade; and a third is a focus on investing in people in sub-Saharan Africa." Another part of the gathering will also serve as an NGO forum as well as a private sector business forum that includes a trade exhibition. "So we are building NGO participation into this particular meeting."

[President Clinton signed AGOA, the first U.S. trade act with Africa, into law on May 18th, 2000. President Bush signed amendments expanding its favorable trade provisions for eligible African nations August 6, 2002. The legislation seeks to spur export-led growth by offering quota- and duty-free access to U.S. markets for African goods, such as textiles. Thus far, 38 sub-Saharan nations have been deemed eligible for AGOA because of political and economic reforms they are undertaking.]

Larson pointed out that AGOA is "a centerpiece of our relationship with Sub-Saharan Africa. It's a piece of our trade legislation that enjoys very strong bipartisan support" among government policymakers, lawmakers and business interests.

"We have tried very hard to make the AGOA benefits accessible to the participating countries and we've had a number of activities since the enactment of AGOA to accomplish that," he said. "As recently as this past November, Secretary Powell hosted an AGOA business roundtable for U.S. business leaders. And this is really designed to bring attention to the opportunities that are available and to interest the U.S. business community in making a larger commitment to investment in Africa."

In addition, Larson said, "We have worked hard with participating countries on things like trade capacity-building of countries, to develop the capacity to be able to take advantage of the benefits that are provided under this law."

In the long run, the official said, "We have great confidence in the ability of African countries to join the long list of countries that have been able to spur their development over the course of a generation through export-led growth."

Larson said he did not expect African nations to operate in a vacuum. "We also, of course, believe that there is an important requirement for development assistance and we are very proud of the leadership of President Bush in the campaign against HIV/AIDS. For example, we were the first major contributor to the Global Fund on Infectious Diseases and we remain far and away the largest contributor, supplying about 25 percent of the total resources available to the Fund."

He also mentioned U.S. "leadership on education in Africa, where the President has increased our budget for that; and our emphasis on addressing agricultural productivity issues, where there have been some substantial increases in USAID's budget for agricultural productivity in Africa."

Larson drove home the point that business must be the engine for change on the continent, saying, "notwithstanding those important aid initiatives, we do believe that trade and investment are sine qua non, are absolutely necessary, and that's why we are so excited to be participating with our African partners in this particular forum."

On the question of extending U.S. preferential treatment of African textiles beyond the World Trade Organization's (WTO) plan to end all quota protection by the end of 2004, Larson said, "It's precisely because we recognize the concerns that African producers and some other smaller producers have that we have created a program that will give special preferential benefits to them after the end of quotas."

For example, he explained, AGOA means "tariff-free entry, and the tariffs on textile products vary product by product. But it means that for any particular product an African producer is exporting under AGOA, they would have an edge over some of the larger producers. Take China for example. Everyone realizes that China is a very, very big producer. Even if textile quotas come off as scheduled at the end of 2004, a producer in Africa would have the benefit under AGOA of having preferential access to the US market."

Commenting on political and economic progress on the continent, Larson said, "We have been heartened by the fact that there are a number of success stories in Africa. Mauritius has had some important success. We've been impressed with the things that Mozambique has been able to achieve in the decade since the end of civil war. Other countries all around the continent have had specific types of successes in specific areas, Mali in areas like agriculture and Uganda on education."

The official said he was especially heartened by the success of the recent presidential election in Kenya where reform candidate Mwai Kibaki won over President Daniel arap Moi's handpicked candidate in balloting that was peaceful, free and fair. The first African country Larson said he ever visited was Kenya where he taught school in Kiambu in 1972.

He added, "What impresses me is the fact that the African leaders and African nations, under initiatives like NEPAD [New Partnership for Africa's Development], are taking ... ownership over their own development, trying to learn from the successes of each other and to draw also, I'm sure, lessons from things that haven't worked out as well.

As far as the Bush Administration is concerned, Larson said, "We want to reinforce all of the good things that are going on. That's one of the reasons why the President, for example, has come forward with the Millennium Challenge Account which is designed to provide additional assistance for countries that are undertaking very, very strong policies and showing strong commitment to good governance and investing in their own people to create a climate within the country that is friendly to homegrown entrepreneurship."

Larson is the first career foreign service officer to serve in his position in the State Department. As the senior economic adviser to Secretary of State Colin Powell, his responsibilities include the entire range of international economic policy. From 1990 to 1993 Larson was U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Before that he served as an economic officer at embassies in Kingston, Kinshasa and Freetown.