US President Barack Obama has said his Administration will do more to boost intra-African trade. Speaking to 50 African heads of state and American officials and business people in Washington on Tuesday, August 5 Mr Obama said the key to unlocking the next era of African growth is not in the United States; “it’s gonna be in Africa”. “We will do more to help Africans trade with each other because the markets with the greatest potential are often the countries right next door. It should not be harder to get to export your goods to your neighbour than it is to export those goods to Los Angeles... “Through our Trade African Initiative, we will increase our investments to help our African partners to build their own capacity to trade, strengthen regional markets, make borders more efficient, modernize the customs system. We want to get African goods moving faster within Africa as well as outside of Africa, said Mr Obama during a live broadcast The US, he added, would renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act to make it long term. Currently, much of the trade between the US and Africa is with three countries; South Africa, Nigeria and Angola. This is still heavily weighted towards the energy sector. On security and peace, Mr Obama said: “The future belongs to those who build, not those who destroy. It is very hard to attract businesses, investment, build infrastructure, and it is very hard to stay in entrepreneurship in the midst of conflict.” Senegal President Mr Macky Sall said the perception of the business, global, and political world on African democracy and governance is wrong. What you see in the media in one or two countries is not what is going on in the rest of continent Mr Sall said. “Africa has 54 countries. They are all trying on a day–to–day basis to build lasting democracies. We are organizing elections. That is the rule today in Africa,” he added. Tanzania’s President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete said Africa is more secure today that it was many years back. UTILITY “We don’t simply wanna extract minerals from the ground [in Africa] for our [US] growth; we wanna to build genuine partnerships that create jobs and opportunities for all our peoples and then unleash the next era of African growth. That is the kind of partnership America wants.” – President Obama
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 02:58:04 +0000
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