Photo: U.S Embassy, South Africa
REMARKS
TIBOR P. NAGY, JR., ASSISTANT SECRETARY
BUREAU OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS
UNIVERSITY OF THE WITSWATERSRAND
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
JUNE 21, 2019
As Prepared
Thank you Deputy Vice Chancellor Vilakazi for the introduction. I’m
grateful to you and to everyone at Wits University and the African
Centre for the Study of the United States for hosting today’s event.
And thanks to all of you here today for this wonderful welcome to
South Africa. I know many of you are still reflecting on yesterday’s
State of the Nation Address and that the rest are probably thinking
about how today is the last day of exams. Having served in both
government
and academia, I can sympathize with you all. So thank you again for coming today; I’m thrilled to be here.
I spent most of my 32-year career as an American diplomat on this
continent, and I was fortunate to serve in Ethiopia, Guinea, Nigeria,
Cameroon, Togo, Zambia, and the Seychelles.
The world, including Africa, has changed dramatically from when I became a diplomat in 1978.
When I first set foot on the continent, there were no cellphones, no
internet, few television stations, and to call back to America from
Lusaka required booking a slot days ahead to reserve one of the few
international lines available at that time.
Today, modern technology has changed all that. Mobile messenger apps
effortlessly connect people in Africa and around the world; and last
year when my grandson was born right here in South Africa, so far from
home, I was incredibly grateful for the gift of real time communication!
Since I assumed my current role last September, this is my fourth trip to Africa.
These trips provide me the opportunity to meet with government
officials, business leaders, civil society, and Africa’s dynamic youth
to hear a range of views and discuss concrete ways to strengthen
cooperation.
So today, I am truly excited to speak to you about the enduring
relationship between the United States and the countries of Africa,
especially South Africa.
Specifically, I want to talk about the U.S. government’s policy
priorities in Africa and how we are working with partners like South
Africa to achieve our common goals.
Our engagement in Africa is driven largely by four guiding principles:
- First, the United States is interested in promoting stronger trade
and business ties between Africa and America, to the benefit of the
people of both.
- Second, we must harness the potential of Africa’s tremendous youth
population to drive Africa’s economic growth and create real prosperity.
- Third, we must continue to advance peace and security across the continent.
- Fourth, I am here today to reinforce that America has an unwavering
commitment to Africa. No country in the world can match the depth and
breadth of America’s long engagement with the people of Africa.
The United States greatly values its partnership with South Africa as
the democratic and economic leader on the world’s fastest growing
continent.
Nevertheless, South Africa faces some tough choices as it seeks to
increase economic growth and come to grips with how best to manage and
reform struggling state-owned enterprises. I would be remiss to play
down the challenges you face. At the same time, we do not view these
challenges as obstacles but an opportunity for closer cooperation.
This U.S. interest in deepening trade and investment ties with South
Africa extends throughout the region, as well as the continent.
With the strong backing of the Trump Administration, our Congress recently passed legislation called the BUILD Act.
This law doubles the U.S. government’s investment capital from $29
billion to $60 billion and offers promising opportunities for more U.S.
direct investment in Africa.
This new legislation will enable the U.S. government to make equity
investments in African companies, and we hope to use these resources to
unlock billions in private capital from the United States.
Our government also recently unveiled the “Prosper Africa”
Initiative. Prosper Africa is an ambitious effort to significantly
increase two-way trade in goods and investment between America and
Africa.
Prosper Africa will help us expand the number of commercial deals
between U.S. and African counterparts and promote better business
climates and financial markets on the continent.
U.S. companies are investing in President Ramaphosa’s goal of raising
100 billion U.S. dollars in new investments over five years.
At last October’s investment conference in Johannesburg, U.S.
companies including McDonalds and Procter and Gamble announced large new
investments, Microsoft announced it would build three data centers, and
Amazon unveiled plans for a cloud-computing hub.
Most recently, United Airlines announced a new, non-stop flight to
Cape Town from the United States, complementing flights by Delta Air
Lines to Johannesburg.
Regionally, we are similarly excited to see U.S. energy companies
interested in investment opportunities in Namibia, production facilities
in Eswatini, and agriculture in Angola. This is what U.S. commercial
engagement in Africa looks like.
Our
second priority is harnessing the
potential of Africa’s youth population. We have seen time and again
that investing in education is the best way to invest in the future.
I saw this first-hand as Vice-Provost for International Affairs at
Texas Tech University. Africa’s population is projected to double by
2050 to around 2.5 billion people, of which over 60 percent will be
under the age of 25.
We must find ways to ensure the youth have the education and training that leads to enhanced employment opportunities.
Right here at Wits University, we have a great example of the
U.S.-South African education partnership in the IBM Research Lab. Just
this year, U.S. Department of State Deputy Secretary Sullivan visited
this Lab and was impressed with its capabilities and the potential for
private-public partnerships to help solve pressing challenges in South
Africa.
The Department of State has many programs to promote mentorship, networking, and career development for young people.
This includes, of course, the Young African Leaders Initiative
(YALI)/Mandela Washington Fellowship. This year, 700 young African
leaders from all across Sub-Saharan Africa were selected to participate
in the program. They are in the United States at this very moment for
training and academic coursework, networking and mentoring at 27 top
U.S. universities. When they return home, they will join approximately
3,700 Fellowship alumni, including 258 South Africans to tackle key
issues their countries face today.
In South Africa, alumni of U.S. government exchange programs have
made great strides in a variety of important areas. For example,
Murendeni Mafumo became a Mandela Washington Fellow in 2014 as a
scientist working in water purification and attended a program at Yale
University. Three years ago, he launched a social enterprise, Kusini
Water, with a locally designed water purification system. The system
uses an activated carbon filter made from macadamia nut shells.
For every liter of water his company sells, they provide 20 liters of
safe drinking water to communities that do not have access to clean
water. Murendeni is using his innovative work to bring systemic change
in underserved communities. He attended the Global Entrepreneurship
Summit earlier this month to share his expertise with the international
business community.
Ntsiki Biyela, an alumna of our African Women’s Entrepreneurship
Program broke new ground as the country’s first female black winemaker.
Her incredible story from domestic worker to winemaker is even more
impressive considering the marketing inroads she has made both here and
abroad, including in the United States.
But an educated and innovative population is only possible with our
third priority:
advancing peace and stability. The United States will continue to help
our African allies build secure and resilient communities bolstered by
capable and accountable security and defense institutions. These
institutions should help to foster an environment in which businesses
can flourish and the aspirations of young Africans can be met.
We support South Africa’s contributions to peace and security in
Africa. Of note, with over 1,100 peacekeepers serving in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and elsewhere, South Africa ranks in the top 20
of force contributors to UN missions. We greatly appreciate South
Africa’s contributions and the participation of forces from other SADC
countries, including Zambia and Malawi.
We would like to see our long-standing partnership with South Africa
extend to other fora, especially multilateral bodies. South Africa
currently plays an important role as a member of the United Nations
Security Council and a leader in the African Union.
We were also very pleased to see the positive role that SADC, the
Southern African Development Community, played when Lesotho faced a
security crisis. SADC sent civilian and security reinforcements to
support a neighbor in a time of need. This is exactly the role we would
like to see regional organizations play across Africa.
Finally, our
fourth priority – our unwavering support of Africa – brings us full circle.
The United States offers a different model of engagement in Africa
that is based on mutual respect, collaboration, sustainability, and
transparency. We don’t simply invest in Africa, we invest in African
people.
We have walked side-by side with Africans for decades. How so?
Through our programs like Power Africa, the Peace Corps, the
President’s Malaria Initiative, and our signature HIV/AIDS program, the
U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. These
programs have provided electricity to towns and villages.
They have brought enthusiastic American volunteers to rural areas
across Africa to focus on community-led health and education projects.
They have also saved lives that could have been lost to malaria and
HIV/AIDS.
Since 2004, PEPFAR has invested over $6 billion in HIV programs here,
partnering with hundreds of South African organizations (including
right here at Wits!) and the Government of South Africa.
In the region, PEPFAR represents a significant part of our foreign assistance.
We are tremendously excited, therefore, that a number of countries in the region are on track to soon reach epidemic control.
Through PEPFAR and our National Institutes of Health, the United
States supports pioneering biomedical research, including HIV vaccine
trials. Every day, American and South African scientists, researchers,
and public health experts are working together to enhance HIV prevention
and care and develop innovative approaches to HIV antiretroviral
therapy service delivery. There is no better way to demonstrate the
U.S. commitment to Africa than through our investment in its most
important resource – its people.
There is a Swahili proverb that says, “Unity is strength. Division is weakness.”
That is true within a country, and it is true between countries. As I
said at the top of my remarks, I am visiting to listen, learn, and to
find new arenas of cooperation. On this latter point, I also come to
reaffirm the United States’ unwavering commitment to Africa, and to
South Africa. We have and will continue to invest in people and build
partnerships that promote better health, jobs, skills, education,
opportunity, and security.
This is an exciting time to be in Africa. The dynamism of Africa’s
youth is apparent everywhere you look, and if governments, businesses,
and educational institutions unite in nurturing this next generation,
Africa’s future will be secured. Africa is the dynamic continent of the
future, and South Africa has proven itself a leader for other African
nations to follow.
“Unity is strength. Division is weakness.”
Let us take this proverb to heart and continue to work together with
common vision and purpose to promote shared American and African
prosperity and security.
Thank you.
