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Trade Offices Show U.S. Commitment to Boosting African Economies

Published date:
Wednesday, 24 August 2005

The four trade development offices operated by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Nairobi, Kenya; Gaborone, Botswana; Accra, Ghana; and Dakar are a prime example of the Bush administration's commitment to expanding trade and economic development across Africa, says Lloyd O. Pierson, USAID's assistant administrator for Africa.

Pierson made that point while briefing reporters on the importance of the USAID trade hubs at the recent African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum in Dakar. It was at that venue that the fourth hub -- located in Dakar -- was announced.

"We are not talking just exports to the United States," Pierson told reporters while speaking of the trade hubs, "although that is important. We are also talking about what we can do to do a better job of economic development within the continent -- on a country basis, on a regional basis, and on a continent-wide basis.

"What we will see as a result of all these activities," he said, "will be jobs, jobs, and jobs," along with the social responsibility and community activity that responsible businesses "bring with them when they get involved."

Pierson said that through the hubs, USAID is greatly increasing its number of public-private partnerships -- which now stands at 105 in Africa. "To show the aggressiveness" of this program, he said he had signed seven new public-private partnerships in the preceding three weeks.

As part of these arrangements, he explained, private sector organizations enter into agreements with USAID to participate in a broad array of health, education, and development programs that promote social responsibility and help the community.

"We want the economic development. We want the jobs. But we also want the social responsibility of what a business or corporation can bring to the community," Pierson told the reporters. A key part of that, he said, is being a good corporate citizen.

Pierson reminded his audience that in many African countries the unemployment rate is "staggering," both in rural and urban areas, and so the need for economic development is urgent. "The more we can do to spur economic development -- income, jobs, community activities -- â-oe then the better that community is going to be," he said. "The best way to help the poor is to make them not poor -- so that is part of the approach that we are doing" through the trade hubs.

Pierson said the public-private agreements run the gamut, including an agreement with the Nike Foundation in Ethiopia, a cashew agreement in Mozambique, and an agreement with a diamond merchant in Angola.

Pierson was joined by representatives from three of the USAID trade hub offices and by USAID's AGOA advisor.

Lisa M. Yarmoshuk, who represented the southern Africa trade hub in Gaborone, said that besides doing what Pierson described, her trade hub staff, like those of her colleagues, is concentrating on improving and streamlining transportation and customs issues across its region.

"As we have heard, getting product to market, getting inputs for product development -- there are a lot of inefficiencies" that add needless time and costs to trade. She said her staff, along with the other hubs, is concentrating on opening "transportation corridors" to make the flow of products more efficient within and across borders.

Additionally, she said, the trade hubs also work in a multipronged approach to help eliminate customs and trade barriers on key trade routes -- whether they are inside or outside their region.

Scott Allen, USAID's hub manager and regional trade advisor in Nairobi, said all of the hubs are working to "find the nexus" between key issues like trade policy, capacity building, trade facilitation, and customs issues.

"As we promote competitiveness, not just trade â-oe we also try to mainstream key issues with regard to gender, HIV/AIDS, environmental issues," Allen said. The East African hub, he added, also focuses on public relations and information dissemination.

Pointing to the inefficiencies cited earlier by Yarmoshuk, he said it takes 60 days to ship a large container from Kenya's port of Mombasa to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

"For those of you familiar with the United States, think of a container on a truck moving from Seattle [in the state of Washington on the West Coast] to Des Moines [in the state of Iowa in the Midwest]. If that took 60 days, there would be a revolution" in the United States, he said. That distance is customarily covered in the United States in two days.

Touching on West Africa, Andy Cook, the director of the USAID trade hub in Accra, said his staff is focusing on expanding trade in five commodities: industrially manufactured apparel; handicrafts, with an emphasis on home décor; fish and seafood; shea [a fat used in food, soap and candles]; and cashews.

"In these areas," he said, "we work directly with African entrepreneurs and companies, and in most of these areas we find that facilitating them to attend trade shows in the United States is a very good way to bring them to the attention of U.S. buyers."

Additionally, he said the hub is also working with regional organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to help smooth trade across the region and unify sanitary and phytosanitary standards so that goods can be exported to the United States.

Amanda Hilligas, USAID's African Growth and Opportunity Act advisor, told reporters that while AGOA has been a big success across Africa, future efforts must concentrate on achieving diversity in U.S.-Africa trade.

As part of that effort, she said, "we are launching national strategies in Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho, and Namibia" to help those countries diversify their exports away from a heavy concentration on apparel.

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