Bridge Builder Sees AGOA Offering Prospects in Africa

U.S. Engineer William Killeen anticipates "AGOA Effect" from Mauritius Forum

Port Louis, Mauritius -- While the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is designed to build trade bridges between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa, William Killeen actually wants to build bridges in Africa. And he thinks AGOA can help him do just that.

Killeen, an engineer and the president of Acrow Corporation of America, supplies prefabricated modular panel bridges worldwide. Patterned after the versatile "Bailey" bridge made famous by the U.S. Army during World War II, Acrow's lightweight steel constructions can be transported and lifted into place easily. They can carry multiple lanes of traffic supporting the weight of trucks. The bridges can be rented for temporary service as well as purchased, and Killeen's company will even furnish the expertise to site and install them.

On January 13 the businessman was manning one of 150 booths at the Freeport of Mauritius trade exhibition, a part of the private sector session of the second U.S. Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum that runs from January 13 to 17.

Killeen said he has already sold bridges to Sierra Leone, Angola, Botswana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He explained, "the bridging system is really designed to be easily taken into areas where the roads might be difficult. They are transported on small trucks and built by hand if necessary."

Headquartered in New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from New York City, the manager-owned firm does between $12 million and $20 million a year in business, he said.

While AGOA is not really designed to enhance his kind of business directly, Killeen expects there will be an "AGOA Effect." "I feel that for AGOA to continue to expand it will affect our business because roads need to be enhanced, bridges need to be enhanced. Our bridges are used in ports to connect the ships to land and so on. So, in the long run I think AGOA will have an effect."

The engineer said he had been doing business in Africa for "two or three years. And I must say, in Africa it's very easy to identify the needs and now it's just a matter of letting more and more people know that we exist."

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Witney Schneidman, who now works for Acrow, said, "I think Acrow has a great future in Africa, and I think it is just a question of mobilizing U.S. resources such as the Export-Import Bank to make financing available, that will provide the key to a lot of American success in Africa."

AGOA is also important, Schneidman said. "Just the fact that this Forum is happening here in Africa and there are more than 1,000 businesses attending is a very important development, because African and American business people need to get to know each other, and this Forum provides a unique opportunity."

As a State Department official in the 1990s, Schneidman worked on AGOA's passage into law. Now, he said, "I'm working with Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Bill Thomas and former Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater to develop a new generation of AGOA that will facilitate more American investment in Africa."

He explained, "The idea is that we do for Africa what was done for Puerto Rico in 1998. In other words, make it very advantageous to invest from a tax point of view. It is our position that if there is a zero tax on repatriated earnings, the profit margins on investments automatically go up 30%. The risk decreases and companies are made more competitive. So, we are hopeful we can get that done."