A Day on Capitol Hill with Young African Leaders, Power Africa, and the Library of Congress

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Africa Policy Breakfast Series, Cote d'Ivoire, Ex-Im Bank, General Electric, Ghana, Heirs Holdings, IVLP, Karen Bass, Liberia Newspapers, Mimi Alemayehou, OPIC, Power Africa, Power Africa focus countries selection criteria, Rwanda, Shaka Ssali, Symbion Power, Togo, Tony Elumelu, YALI

The room was dominated by portraits of old white men, including one holding a poodle.

Yesterday feelings of patriotism stirred in my bosom as I attended the Africa Policy Breakfast Series sponsored by Rep. Karen Bass (D – CA), a two panel Senate hearing on Power Africa, and I then passed a few hours reading Liberian newspapers at the Library of Congress before venturing over to New America and Arizona State.  It still strikes me as pretty cool that I can rub shoulders with prominent dignitaries and attend congressional hearings in person.

‘You Can Only Squeeze so Much Out of an Orange’ – but – ‘Power Africa Provides a lot of Sunshine’: Africa Breakfast on the Hill

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Africa Congress, Ed Royce, Kamran Khan, Karen Bass, Library of Congress, MCC, Nigeria, Olufunke Osibodu, Oren Whyche-Shaw, Paul Hinks, Power Africa, Symbion Power, Tanzania, USAID

 

The back of the heads of many an African Ambassador are seen in the front row

Yesterday Morning, I attended what I believe was the fourth installment of Representative Karen Bass’ Africa Policy Breakfast Series at the Library of Congress.  This session focused on ‘Power: Eliminating a Barrier to Trade, Development and Growth in Africa.’  It featured representatives from Symbion Power, a key player in Obama’s new Power Africa Initiative, the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and a Nigerian power official.  Congressman Edward Royce gave opening remarks and Ms. Oren Whyche-Shaw, Principal Adviser to USAID’s Assistant Administrator for Africa, moderated.

The Chair of the AU and the Presidents of Burkina Faso and Somalia at the CBC’s Africa Braintrust

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Africa Braintrust, African Union, Blaise Compaoré, Burkina Faso, Congressional Black Caucus, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, Joseph Huggins, Karen Bass, Nii Akuetteh, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Somalia

I skipped work today to attend the 2013 Africa Braintrust (this was my second time in three years of DC residence). The Braintrust takes place each year during the Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus and convenes a large crowd.

I entered at the end of Panel I, ‘Looking Back at 50 Years of African Independence’, but I’ll focus my summary here on the individuals cited in the subject of this post.

Africa Policy Breakfast #2: AGOA and Obama in Africa

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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

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

A South African History Lesson for the Office of Rep. Bass

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Africa fact check, Africa Rising, African growth, criticism of US Africa policy, Karen Bass, Obama Africa trip, South Africa independence, Tanzania

I recently gave Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) kudos for her Africa Policy Breakfast series. I do however, have to comment on a recent email that I received from her office, ‘Africa Update: African Growth, POTUS Travels.’

There are brief country profiles on South Africa and Tanzania (two of Obama’s three destinations on his Africa trip), obviously intended for businesspeople with little knowledge of Africa.

South Africa is described as being “ruled by a white minority from independence in 1948 to the end of apartheid in 1994.”  While the National Party, which formally implemented the Apartheid system came to power in 1948, I am not aware of any means by which South African ‘independence’ can be traced to that year.

The profile on Tanzania reads as if it was lifted from a tourist magazine: “Known for its spectacular landscapes, coastal plains and highlands, Tanzania has the largest land area among its East African neighbors. Situated between Kenya and Mozambique, Tanzania is bordered by the Indian Ocean and boasts pristine sandy beaches and Africa’s highest and snow-capped mountain, Kilimanjaro.”

It may just be small errors and romantic talk like this that leaves the US with a small share of the ‘Africa rising’ pie.

Congress Embraces ‘Africa Rising’ Over an Early Breakfast

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Africa Policy Breakfast Series, Benjamin Todd, Congress Africa, Department of Commerce, Doing Business in Africa, Elizabeth Littlefield, Ex-Im Bank, Karen Bass, Leocadia Zak, Library of Congress Africa, Michael Masserman, OPIC, OPIC Africa, US Africa trade, US investment in Africa, USTDA

This morning, I rolled out of bed to arrive only a few minutes late to the 8 AM Africa Policy Breakfast Series panel convened by Congresswoman Karen Bass (D – CA) on “U.S. Competitiveness in Africa – Leveling the Playing Field.”  I heard Bass say that she planned to start hosting these sorts of events at an earlier event I covered, so it was good to be in attendance and see the session in action.  I continued the morning by strolling over to the Senate offices to attend a Congressional hearing on Zimbabwe and will cover that session in a 2 part post Wednesday and Thursday.

The event convened several prominent financial figures