WASHINGTON CONVENTION CENTER (Islam Online) - In his speech at the opening of the five-day National Summit on Africa attended by more than 2,300 delegates, U.S. President Bill Clinton defended his policy on peacekeeping, conflict resolution and economic revitalization in the continent.
The Clinton administration has devoted million of dollars in its budget proposals for 2001 to resolve the several disputes that are ravaging Africa.
"In an era of globalization all countries are more vulnerable to one another's problems. We must be involved in Africa," said Clinton
Speaking before Clinton, Organization of African Unity (OAU) Secretary General Salim Ahmed Salim of Tanzania lamented the fact that Africa does not have a constituency in Washington. "A strong Africa is positive not only for Africa itself, but for its partners," said Salim
The National Summit on Africa organizers, a non-profit group funded by the Ford Foundation, held the summit for the first time in Washington. Participants envision the summit as a cornerstone in developing an active and lasting constituency for Africa. But many political leaders, lobbyists and policy analysts agree that Africa does not enjoy as strong support in the United States as Greece or Israel, for example. In some instances African Americans have played their role as Africa's U.S. advocates.
"Many people in America still see Africa as some far-off place that has little relationship to their lives. There is really no interest in Africa until some tragic situation is played up in the press," said Rev. Leon Sullivan, speaking in a pre-opening forum of the conference.
Sullivan heads 40 businesses in 18 African countries. He penned the Sullivan Principles that were used to govern U.S. business relations with South Africa during the Pretoria regime. The principles were a compromise to total boycott of South Africa.
A member of the House International Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) who had also traveled extensively to the continent as a peace broker in Eritrea often discusses his travels around his mostly African American south Florida district, but always the response is the same: nothing.
"Nobody says to me, I'm so glad you are helping our brothers on the continent. [Some people in] my district are as interested in day-to-day survival as people in the Sudan are. Therefore, they do not make any connection to Africa. When I tell them that I visited Africa, it means nothing at all. It is a political reality that complicates the efforts of those working to make Africa a priority for U.S. policy makers," said Hastings.
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), is a sponsor of the U.S. Trade With Africa bill that would liberalize U.S. trade with continent. The bill, however, is stuck in committee and has yet to be put to vote. "Africa is a priority with some sophisticated people. But among those trying to make ends meet, you may get a few laurels for raising something like the Africa trade bill," said Rep. Rangel.
Former deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs and president of the National Summit on Africa, the conference host, Leonard H. Robinson hopes to change that. He envisions the organization becoming a permanent presence that monitors issues, tracks congressional voting records and drums up support for Africa.
Citing the success of free South Africa movement, he said he wants "to make sure something is in place all the time if needed. Supporters of the group's goals say the need for a strong U.S. constituency for Africa has rarely been greater.
"I think the interest has been there about Africa in certain communities for a long time," said Imani Countess, a senior outreach fellow at the Africa Policy Information Center. "Where there is big inconsistency is in how this interest gets expressed in relation to U.S. policy toward the continent."
In 1998, the United States provided almost $700 million to victims of famine, war and disease in sub-Sahara Africa. Last fall, Congress appropriated $123 million for debt reduction, mostly in Africa, a small fraction of the $90 billion worth of debt reduction the Group of Eight (G-8) leading industrialized nations backed last June. Africa received $5 billion, or 3%, of the world's total foreign direct investment. In sub-Saharan Africa, with a population of 700 million, foreign aid totaled about $3 billion a year, according to Countess.
Public opinion surveys have found that Americans are generally supportive of aid to Africa. They favor increasing trade with Africa and even the prospect of military intervention for humanitarian reasons, Countess said.
Asked last June by Pew Research center whether the United States has the moral obligation to use military force to stop genocide in Africa, 58 percent of Americans polled said yes, a figure comparable to the 60 percent that said such intervention would be appropriate in Europe.
University of Maryland political scientist Ronald Walters, who has been a key official in several Africa lobbying groups, agreed that many of the problems with sustaining U.S. support for Africa are not related to negative attitudes. Instead, he said, it is the continent's sheer size - three times as large as the United States, and the vast variety of complex problems afflicting many of its 54 nations.
"We have shown that given the right set of issues, Africa has a political constituency," Walters said, arguing that much must be done to organize this constituency.
