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Tag Archives: AGOA

Inaugural Sino – Africa DC Lecture: The Threads of Chinese Engagement in South Africa

13 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by africaindc in Events, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

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AGOA, China in Africa, Chinese during Apartheid, Chinese in South Africa, Fong Kong, Sino - Africa DC, Taiwanese in South Africa, Winslow Robertson, Yoon Jung Park

2013-09-12 18.26.56

I’ll confess, I wasn’t originally too excited about a lecture on ‘The Chinese, the Taiwanese, “Fong Kong,” and Labor in South Africa’ and a harsh day at work and a rainstorm didn’t help either.  However, I’m quite glad that I attended (alas, I had to leave before Q&A) the inaugural lecture of Sino – Africa DC, which is led by the indefatigable Winslow Robertson (I was quite taken back to see him fiddling with his phone throughout the talk – I only belatedly realized that he was live tweeting the event, I’m officially passé).  Continue reading →

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Africa Policy Breakfast #2: AGOA and Obama in Africa

02 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by africaindc in Uncategorized

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Ade Adefuye, AGOA, ECOWAS, Florie Liser, Grant T. Harris, Karen Bass, Microsoft Africa, Power Africa, Somduth Soborun, Stephanie Peters, Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, YALI

2013-08-01 08.21.21

As I have previously mentioned, AGOA is not a mechanism for American engagement in Africa that I find particularly compelling.  However, the glowing DC discourse on AGOA is probably indicative of a need for me to brush up on its provisions.

Yesterday I attended my second Africa Policy Breakfast (per my usual disclaimer I departed 30 minutes early), an 8am gathering of DC African power brokers in a very rectangular room in the main Library of Congress building.  I missed the full list of Continue reading →

Africa +, America +: My Legacy of being Irked by Robert Hormats

21 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by africaindc in Analysis, DC Corridors of Power, Uncategorized

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Africa Act of 2013, AGOA, Bingu wa Mutharika, Doing Business in Africa, Robert Hormats, South Africa gateway to Africa, World Economic Forum

I will take the opportunity today to pick on Robert Hormats, the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment.  While I recall hearing him delivering incredibly uninspiring remarks in person about two years ago (a colleague of mine said he sounded like a ‘political hack’), I want to focus today on his recent comments at the World Economic Forum in Pretoria, South Africa, which I find more irksome than uninspiring. Continue reading →

Why AGOA Helps the US More than Africa and Promotes Strong Men Over Strong Institutions

06 Monday May 2013

Posted by africaindc in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

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African Development, AGOA, Blaise Compaoré, Burkina Faso, Steve McDonald, Thomas Sankara, Wilson Center

I recently wrote about the pat on the back that Congress gave itself for good work done with the African Growth and Opportunity Act.  One of the speakers at the Library of Congress event was Steve McDonald, who is the head of the Africa program at the Wilson Center.

McDonald was apparently inspired by his presentation at the event to pen a piece on the Program’s blog that calls for an ‘enhanced AGOA’.  McDonald expresses concern that US corporate interests are losing ground in Africa.  While I will vigorously promote the disclaimer that I’m not an economics expert, I am generally concerned by what I suspect is the underlying assumption behind McDonald’s writing.  Lowering barriers to trade that makes cheap African labor more attractive to Western/US interests is not particularly helpful for Africa.  Rather, it makes the African policy elites in DC more relevant and strengthens their voice as capital increasingly flows to Africa.  As I mentioned in my earlier post on the event, my most intimate experience with AGOA involved a tour of an apparel factory that had been established in Namibia to take advantage of its provisions.  The owners of that factory were Korean, not African.

While I’m not a fan of Ronald Reagan, I won’t argue with those who may say that AGOA will bring some trickle-down benefits to Africans.  But in response, I’ll ask why should the US invest so much in a policy with only incremental benefits?  Why focus on enhancement of AGOA and not look at other policy approaches?

While my location precludes me from being able to attend many events of the Center’s Africa Program, I have recently been to functions the Program hosted with prominent officials from the DRC and Burkina Faso.  These are both autocratic states governed by warlords turned politicians who have managed to garner a strong veneer of legitimacy and enjoy strong support from the US.

If the Wilson Center focused its efforts on advocating for a shift in US policy, instead of praising Burkina Faso, which played a prominent role in instigating the civil wars in Liberia and the Ivory Coast, as a “stabilizing influence in West Africa”, perhaps more factories opened as a result of AGOA would be owned by Africans and not Asians.

The previous administration in Burkina Faso achieved almost complete food self-sufficiency in a few years, now it is governed by a regime that presides over one of the least developed countries in the world and is primarily (and incorrectly) celebrated for its role as a mediator in regional conflicts.

Congress Honors Itself for a Job Well done with AGOA

01 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by africaindc in DC Corridors of Power, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

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AGOA, Karen Bass, Rosa Whitaker, Stephen Hayes, Steve McDonald

I have previously voiced my skepticism of the trade agreement AGOA, which is often celebrated in US – Africa circles as one of this country’s biggest achievements in Africa.  This self-praise continued on April 25, as a range of public and private sector luminaries gathered (I was not among them) for an event in the Library of Congress on “Looking back at AGOA’s history to inform its future.”

An e-mail from Representative Karen Bass on the event lauds “our nation’s lead trade arrangement with African nations, [which has] helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs develop and strengthen new business sectors and lift million out of poverty.”  As a student in Namibia, I can recall touring a Korean owned apparel factory that had recently opened as a result of AGOA.  I mostly recall seeing a lot of not very happy looking women and a very cold building.

The Ambassador of Mauritius, the head of the Wilson Center’s Africa Program, the President of the Corporate Council on Africa, and the President of the Whitaker Group were featured speakers.

A Flickr photo album of the event is available here.

Johnnie Carson Rides off into the Sunset, Encourages US Corporations not to Cede Ground to China

26 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by africaindc in DC Corridors of Power

≈ 3 Comments

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AGOA, Charlie Rangel, Congress Africa, Ed Royce, Gregory Meeks, Johnnie Carson, Johnny Isakson, Keith Ellison, The Africa Society

2013-02-26 18.40.06

This evening, the Africa Society hosted “A Salute to Ambassador Johnnie Carson.”  The Event Chair was Congresswoman Karen Bass, and an array of African and US dignitaries were on hand to wish Ambassador Carson the best as he enters retirement.  Corporate sponsors, including Chevron and General Electric, funded a delicious culinary spread.  I gorged myself on ravioli, salmon, and roast beef.  The actor Tim Reid served as the master of ceremonies.  In the current tortuous political environment, Africa certainly seems to be something that can bring together both sides of the aisle.

Republicans offered the following tribute to Ambassador Carson: Continue reading →

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