Speaking to state legislators gathered in Chicago at an Africa Fund consultation on U.S. policy toward Africa on February 28, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, Sr., the Special Envoy to the President for the Promotion of Democracy in Africa, linked expanded U.S. trade and investment in Africa with respect for human rights and democracy. Emphasizing that U.S.-Africa trade should benefit both Africans and African Americans, Rev. Jackson declared that "Trade...without humane values is slavery," and called for stronger American pressure on the Nigerian military dictatorship to release political prisoners and restore democracy. The Consultation, coming on the eve of President Clinton's March trip to Africa, provided a unique opportunity for the legislators to impact on U.S. policy.

Introducing Rev. Jackson as the keynote speaker of the day, American Committee On Africa President Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker spoke about the urgency of action against the Nigerian military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. Jackson responded that "there is no shortage of democratic values in Africa [but] from Abacha to George Wallace, despots don't want it."

Prominent state legislator attendees included Tennessee Representative Lois M. DeBerry, President of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators; Arkansas Representative Irma Hunter Brown; Indiana Representative Charlie Brown; Wisconsin Representatives Spencer Coggs and Johnnie Morris-Tatum; Illinois Senators Jesus Garcia and Donne Trotter; Kansas Representative David Haley; Wisconsin Senators Gwendolynne Moore and Mary Panzer; Michigan Senator Virgil Clark Smith; and Ohio Representative Vernon Smith. The legislators were joined by Illinois Congressional Representatives Danny K. Davis and Bobby Rush and church, union and community leaders who came together to explore ways to participate in the policymaking process and strengthen state and city economic, political and cultural ties to Africa.

Getting the right mix of aid, investment and trade in U.S. Africa policy was a major theme of the Consultation. Mlulami Lucas Singapi, South Africa's Vice-Consul in Chicago, noted that regional cooperation is key to development. In his review of various African stock markets, Jeffrey Lewis, Managing Director and General Counsel of DST Catalyst, Inc., noted that because of its strong banking and financial system South Africa is an attractive investment destination. Representative Irma Hunter Brown noted that when she asks her state trade office for information on Arkansas trade with Africa she is always surprised by how much is going on.

Several speakers addressed the African Growth and Opportunity Act now being considered by Congress. According to Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Salih Booker, "even though U.S. trade with Africa is greater than U.S. trade with all 15 countries of the former Soviet Union including Russia, there has been no official trade policy on Africa." The proposed Growth and Opportunity Act would for the first time give official recognition to the importance of this trade link by mandating an annual U.S.-Africa Economic Forum. However, Booker cautioned that African development was "not just about trade and investment but getting the mix right between trade and aid. It should not be an either/or situation."

In fact, Booker noted, except for oil, diamonds and such precious metals as gold and platinum, African countries produce few products to export to the United States and are unlikely to see short term benefits from the legislation as currently drafted. While the aim of the act is not to replace aid, Booker stressed, the reality is that U.S. development aid to Africa has been drastically cut in recent years.

Professor Robert Stumberg of Georgetown University Law School warned that a new global business treaty, the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) currently being negotiated by the US, Japan and Europe, would give corporations and foreign bureaucrats the power to veto local laws and override decisions by local elected officials. If the MAI had been in place in the 1980s, he cautioned, states and cities could not have adopted many of their sanctions against apartheid South Africa. It now threatens similar legislation against countries that are major human rights violators, including Nigeria and Burma.

Wisconsin Representative Spencer Coggs spoke about the city of Milwaukee's sister city relationship with Queenstown, South Africa and Milwaukee County's relationship with King Williams Town, South Africa. These relationships are both cultural and economic and underscore the innovative ways that local governments are expanding ties to Africa. Wisconsin Representative Johnnie Morris-Tatum talked about her experiences as the head of a delegation of 50 central city youth to three African countries and how the visit had changed these young peoples' lives.

Human rights was a major theme of the Consultation. Amnesty International's Adotei Akwei told the conference that, "There is a renaissance in the realm of human rights and democracy" in Africa, but that there was still a very long way to go. "African civil society must be supported whenever and wherever possible," he noted. Akwei warned that if President Clinton fails to address human rights issues in his upcoming Africa trip, "his silences will speak loudly."

Nigerian environmental and women's rights leader Barine Teekate-Yorbe of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) spoke forcefully about how the major oil companies, "Shell in particular as well as Chevron and Mobil, have sided with the military dictatorship... putting profits before human lives." She highlighted the suffering of the minority Ogoni people, whose peaceful protests against pollution by the Shell Oil Company have been violently repressed. "Nigerians have come to know that the military and the multi-nationals are good partners...in injustice and killings."

Closing the final session with a review of U.S. policy, Congressional Representative Bobby Rush argued that because of its natural resource base world interest in Africa was increasing but emphasized that the "terms of engagement must be different" from the racist and exploitative policies of the past.

Jennifer Davis, The Africa Fund's Executive Director, stressed that "this is a new period for Africa with new opportunities," and welcomed the President's upcoming trip to Africa as "long overdue." But she also encouraged Americans to consider the impoverished and the oppressed and ask "in whose interest?" when judging new policy initiatives toward Africa. "Find the links to African peoples engaged in struggles for justice," she concluded.

The Midwest Regional Consultation on U.S. Policy Toward Africa was sponsored by The Africa Fund with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The Consultation was co-hosted by Dr. Alice Palmer of the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy. Additional support was provided by Enron Corporation and Eli Lilly and Company. Founded in 1966, The Africa Fund works for a positive U.S. policy toward Africa and supports African human rights, democracy and development.

March 4, 1998