Photo: Corporate Council on Africa
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Office of Public Affairs
Department of Commerce
Washington, DC
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Remarks by Deputy Secretary Karen Dunn Kelley at the Corporate Council on Africa's U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Maputo, Mozambique
Good morning, and thank you, Florie, for your kind introduction. I'd also like to thank President Nyusi for hosting.
Your excellencies, honorable ministers, members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished guests, and ladies and gentleman.
It's an absolute
honor to be in Maputo, Mozambique on behalf of: the President of the
United States and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce at the biennial
"Corporate Council on Africa's" U.S.-Africa Business Summit, which has
now been held every two years since 1997. I'm also proud to continue the
series of important visits to Africa by the Trump Administration and to
join the ranks of: First Lady Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump in raising
the profile of women in Africa.
Let me begin by
expressing my deepest condolences to the people of Mozambique, Malawi,
Zambia, and Zimbabwe for your recent losses from cyclones Kenneth and
Idai (pronounced EE-DIE). As the U.S. Government and business community
moves from assisting with disaster relief to playing a leadership role
in the international recovery efforts, know that the thoughts and
prayers of the American government and people are with you.
In 2017, the
Secretary of Commerce had the honor of opening the U.S.-Africa Business
Summit in Washington, D.C., where he gave the Administration's first
cabinet-level speech on U.S. trade with Africa. The Secretary
highlighted Africa's spectacular rise, noting the explosive economic
growth, the rapid urbanization, and the massive expansion of Africa's
consumer class.
Two years later,
Africa continues to RISE. Africa's GDP growth forecast is projected at 4
percent this year, up from 3.5 percent in 2018, making Africa the
fastest growing region in the world after Asia, according to the African
Development Bank. In addition, the International Monetary Fund
forecasts that, this year, 6 of the top 10 fastest-growing economies in
the world will be in Africa. I'm confident that, in the next five years,
Mozambique will be on that list.
In that spirit,
yesterday, I had the privilege of experiencing the signing of the Final
Investment Decision for a 20-billion-dollar investment, the largest in
Africa's history, by the U.S. company Anadarko. This is a
transformational investment for Mozambique and for the African continent
at-large.
When the Secretary
spoke to you in 2017, he raised a critical question that decision makers
in Africa, including many of you, will have to grapple with in the
coming years: As these upward growth trends continue, with what types of
partners do you want to collaborate? The U.S. government has sustained
its commitment to the African continent, by continuing to serve as the
world's largest donor of foreign aid, providing over 9 billion dollars a
year to support Sub-Saharan Africa.
When it comes to
trade, however, there is room for great progress and opportunity. U.S.
exports into Africa have decreased by 32 percent from their 2014 high.
And we want to work with you to better understand how to reverse this
trend. We know that American companies offer an unrivaled value
proposition. Yet, we have lost ground to the increasingly sophisticated,
but too often opaque business practices of foreign competitors.
There are many
reasons for the decline in U.S. trade. Within the United States, the
U.S. Government's export credit and other financing tools were sidelined
or not optimized for current challenges. Many U.S. small and medium
sized enterprises have been unaware of the U.S. Government's export,
investment, and risk-mitigation tools. And, the U.S. Government's
personnel in Africa too often worked in silos.
Obstacles for U.S.
companies within Africa are also substantial. The President's Advisory
Council on Doing Business in Africa or PAC-DBIA noted in their 2018
report, "one of the main reasons U.S. firms are not winning projects in
Africa is because they are not competing." The PAC-DBIA Council also
identified a number of constraints U.S. companies face in doing business
on the continent, including structural issues such as, developing
infrastructure, actual and perceived risks and lack of data to calculate
risks; financial issues for example, underdeveloped capital markets,
currency volatility and lack of access to U.S. dollars, limits on
foreign banking and high costs of foreign and local borrowing;
regulatory and rule of law issues complicated laws and regulations, lack
of transparency, and trade barrier issues such as, costly and
time-consuming delays in customs practices and local content
requirements.
To address these
challenges, this Administration has launched a series of important trade
and investment initiatives between the United States and Africa: In
October 2018, President Trump signed the "Better Utilization of
Investments Leading to Development" or BUILD Act into law. This
established the new U.S. International Development Finance Corporation
(DFC), which doubled the cap on their financing opportunities; and
strengthened the focus on new frontier markets, including those in
Africa. Congress recently reinstated the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM)
Board quorum in May 2019. The Trump Administration is also expanding
efforts in Africa to promote procurement practices focused on best
value.
President Trump
also signed legislation in April 2018 that supports efforts to maximize
utilization of preferences under the African Growth and Opportunity Act
or AGOA—to increase the number of African nations utilizing AGOA and
provides the USG's Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) increased
flexibility.
In 2018, the
Administration launched Power Africa 2.0 to further develop innovative
ideas and enterprise-driven approaches to help expand power
opportunities across the African continent.
The Office of the
U.S. Trade Representative also announced in August 2018 its intent to
negotiate a bilateral free trade agreement with an African partner that
can serve as the basis for agreements with other African countries.
The United States
Department of Commerce has also signed Memoranda of Understandings (MOU)
with the Governments of Cȏte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Kenya to
increase bilateral trade and investment.
Today, I'm very
pleased to add another nation to that list, as we announce that the
United States will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with
Mozambique. These MOUs are designed to collectively identify priority
projects in key sectors. The United States will then share that
information with U.S. companies to pursue the identified projects, as
well as identify U.S. Government resources. The MOUs also establish a
forum for the governments to address and resolve business climate
issues.
The Secretary of
Commerce and Under Secretary of the International Trade Administration
led members of the PAC-DBIA on a historic, four-country fact-finding
trip to Africa last summer. That trip led to the signing of nearly $2
billion dollars in deals and commercial engagements and the four
previously mentioned commercial MOUs. The 2016-2018 term of the PAC-DBIA
was an enormous success, thank you.
I am thrilled today to announce the new members of the 2019 to 2021 term.
The new members are executives from the following companies:
• UPS
• GE
• Abbott
• ABD Group
• Acrow Bridge
• Akola
• American Tower Corporation
• APR Energy
• Bechtel
• Caterpillar
• Cigna
• Citi
• Credence ID
• CrossBoundary Group
• Dow Chemical Company
• IBM
• John Deere
• Kosmos Energy
• Mastercard
• Pfizer
• Rendeavour Inc.
• Shea Yeleen
• Synnove Energy
• Varian Medical Systems
• Vermeer Corporation
• Visa
We are fortunate to
have these companies' engagement to help inform implementation of the
Administration's new initiative on Africa, Prosper Africa. We
realized—with the help of PAC-DBIA—that we need a coordinated,
whole-of-government approach to increase U.S.-Africa trade.
We know that the
U.S. Government can and must do more to capitalize on the competitive
advantage of U.S. companies and the entrepreneurial spirit of the
African people.
For this reason, I am proud to roll out today, here in the presence of
Heads of States and Honorable Ministers, and private sector
representatives, additional details on the Administration's new
signature initiative, Prosper Africa. The goal of Prosper Africa is
quite simple: We seek to substantially increase two-way trade and
investment between the United States and Africa. Prosper Africa will
accomplish this goal by focusing on three coordinated lines of effort.
First, we will synchronize the capabilities and initiatives of the 15
plus U.S. Government agencies. We will ensure that our efforts to
facilitate company deals are coordinated with technical assistance and
capacity building and facilitated by timely policy engagement. This will
provide an easy-to-use, one stop shop. Second, Prosper Africa will help
facilitate transactions. We will modernize and coordinate the resources
of U.S. agencies to help U.S. companies better identify commercial
opportunities in Africa, taking advantage of the Commerce Department's
professionals in over 100 U.S. cities. Working in interagency deal
teams, U.S. Government experts can offer support to assist companies in
project preparation, such as feasibility studies, connect companies to
potential U.S. Government financing and risk mitigation tools, and where
applicable, help to expedite the deal through official U.S. Government
advocacy. In concert, and as the third line of effort, Prosper Africa
will: build African capacity to encourage private-sector led economic
growth and work to remove trade barriers that inhibit U.S. companies
from taking advantage of business opportunities in African markets, and
often impeded the growth of African companies as well.
As you can clearly
see, prosper Africa is not a traditional aid program, but rather an
ambitious new program squarely focused on expanding trade and investment
relationships between the U.S. and Africa.
For years, African
leaders, have asked the world to view Africa as a continent ripe with
opportunity. You have told the world that Africa's future lies in free
flows of investment and trade not exclusively in development and aid.
With Prosper
Africa, I am proud to say that the United States of America has not only
heard you, but we have listened and are taking action! You will have a
chance today to hear more about Prosper Africa: Administrator Green from
U.S. Agency for International Development will speak later today. There
will be a panel discussion on Friday on U.S. Tools to Support
U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment. And, lastly, Prosper Africa will be
featured in the plenary hall from 10:30am to noon on Thursday and
Friday.
In closing, I want
to say thank you: For welcoming the American delegation to your nation,
President Nyusi; for all of the hospitality that has been shown; and,
most importantly, for the openness to a new era of America Africa
business partnership through Prosper Africa.
On behalf of the
Secretary of Commerce, and the American people, thank you for welcoming
us to your beautiful country and we look forward to many years of
partnership ahead!
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