The Africa eJournal

President’s Message - April/May/June 2024 eJournal

Corporate Council on Africa’s last quarter was truly an exceptional one for us with the highlight being our 16th U.S.-Africa Business Summit held May-6-9 in Dallas, Texas.  We were honored to host 6 African Heads of State or government, 46 ministers from 16 African delegations, participation by three members of President Biden’s Cabinet along with heads of key agencies and other senior U.S. government officials, and over 1,000 U.S. and African business executives and entrepreneurs from major multinational corporations to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Importantly, under the leadership of John Olajide, Founder and CEO of Axxess – a Dallas-based home healthcare technology company - and CCA’s first ever diaspora African Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Summit benefited from the sustained and energetic support of the City of Dallas government and the Dallas business community, including the Dallas Regional Chamber and the Dallas Citizens Council and their many esteemed members.

To the 1800 Summit attendees, our Board Members, CCA member companies and organizations, and especially our many sponsors – a huge thank you. It is your success for which I and the CCA team strive. The Summit theme was “U.S.-Africa Business: “Partnering for Sustainable Success”, and it reflects CCA’s ongoing commitment to supporting our members, the U.S. and African governments, and other stakeholders in realizing a strong and prosperous U.S.-Africa trade, investment, and business relationship.  As we reflect on the successes of this year’s Summit in Dallas, I and the entire CCA Team look forward to being value-added partners and working with our members and strategic partners to further expand the immense potential of the U.S.-Africa economic and business relationship. For those who joined us in Dallas and others who could not, we hope you enjoy some of the highlights that made the Summit a success, click here to watch the recap video.

The successful State Visit of President William Samoei Ruto, President of Kenya – the first State Visit of an African Head of State since Ghana’s Kufuor in 2008 – built on the Summit’s success and highlighted the growing attention of the United States to its African partners.  I was delighted to attend a number of events in both Atlanta and Washington, DC that were a part of President Ruto’s State Visit.  In Atlanta, I attended an event during which President Ruto and key Coca Cola senior executives, including CCA Board member Karyn Harrington (Vice President for Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability), committed to expand Coca Cola’s investment in Kenya and to launch a new Coke product that will be sold across the continent.  At the Prosper Africa reception, I had the opportunity to greet President Ruto and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and shared CCA’s longstanding efforts in promoting U.S. economic engagement with Kenya and other African nations.  It was a special honor to attend the White House Arrival Ceremony for President Ruto and as a proud alum of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), I welcomed hearing President Ruto’s excellent address on climate change and the stake as well as role that Kenya and other African nations play in addressing this global challenge.  

CCA continues to focus on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement and ensuring that the private sector – especially U.S. companies – understand how AfCFTA will transform the African market by removing tariff and non-tariff barriers to intra-African trade, facilitating Africa’s integration into global supply chains and incentivizing foreign direct investment from U.S. and other businesses. On April 10th, I participated in the Brookings Africa Growth Initiative’s event “Leveraging the AfCFTA to Accelerate U.S. trade and investment in Africa” – joining AfCFTA Secretary General Wamkele Mene and a panel to discuss AfCFTA implementation, tools the U.S. can leverage (including AGOA) in enhancing the U.S.-Africa economic relationship, and opportunities for global and American businesses in the world’s largest free trade market.  CCA also joined the Chamber’s U.S.-Africa Business Center in organizing a roundtable featuring AfCFTA Secretary General Mene that focused on the recently adopted digital trade protocol and provided member companies with specific details of the protocol’s provisions and how the protocol will boost digital commerce on the African continent.

Over the last months, CCA has also continued our work to underscore the importance of reauthorizing and renewing the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) – the cornerstone of the U.S. trade and investment relationship with the nations of sub-Saharan Africa.  I was pleased to participate in a panel discussion on May 31st with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass – a longtime supporter of AGOA – as she launched LA’s Africa trade strategy.   Participating as a witness during the House Ways and Means Committee’s June 6th hearing on “AGOA and looking beyond 2025” provided an opportunity to highlight the ways in which AGOA has promoted trade, created jobs and fostered economic growth in many of the African beneficiary nations as well as benefited U.S. businesses, workers, and consumers, click here to read my testimony.  I enjoyed being part of a Wilson Center Africa Program on June 18th on the “Road to AGOA Reauthorization: The Future of U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment” and hearing remarks from Senator Chris Coons – another longtime supporter of AGOA – who, with Senator Ritsch, recently  introduced a bill to renew AGOA for 16 years and, if adopted, would also make some key enhancements to improve AGOA utilization and incentivize U.S. buyers to source from and American companies to invest in African value-added products that can be shipped to the U.S. under AGOA.  It was my pleasure to participate in the African Union’s AGOA Midterm Review on June 21st – joining members of the African diplomatic corps and other stakeholders in a “Dialogue with the U.S. Private Sector, Think Tanks and Civil Society on U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment Relations and AGOA Beyond 2025.”  Last but not least of a whirlwind of AGOA-focused activities, CCA will once again be organizing the AGOA Private Sector Forum in July during which we know African Ministers, the USG (led by U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai), and U.S. and African business r representatives will discuss both the challenges and opportunities of AGOA and hopefully rally for its quick and long-term renewal.

I was especially pleased to speak on June 13th at the Afreximbank Annual Meeting in a session on “Emergent Global Africa: A Platform for Sustainable Economic Transformation.”  Hosting its first-ever annual meeting outside of Africa (this year in the Bahamas) was an important way to highlight this concept of a “global Africa” that brings together the people and enterprises of Africa, the Caribbean, and the entire African diaspora. As a Panamanian-born immigrant to the U.S. and someone who has focused on Africa for most of my career, you can imagine how much I truly resonate to this concept and embrace the work CCA can potentially undertake to build supply chains between Africa, the Caribbean nations, and the United States.  

In the coming weeks we look forward to sharing CCA’s plans for events in connection with the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) High Level Week in September and to announcing a venue for the 2025 U.S. – Africa Business Summit which will be back in Africa.

Please join me in welcoming CCA’s new Director of Member Relations (Justin Underwood) who hit the ground running and is working to meet in person or virtually with every member and recruit new CCA member companies. If you’ve not had a chance to connect yet with Justin, please contact him at junderwood@corporatecouncilonafrica.com.  Justin joins my incredible team and colleagues at CCA without whom CCA would not be what it is – i.e., the premier U.S. business association exclusively focused for more than three decades on promoting U.S.-Africa commercial engagement.  Thanks so much team for your dedication to CCA and for your excellent service to our members and other partners!  Let me also take this moment to say a special thank you to Ambassador Carl Paschall who, on loan from the State Department, has served so effectively as my Senior Advisor for almost two years.  Carl has recently departed to take on a special high-level assignment at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations before retiring from a stellar career in the U.S. Foreign Service.  Best wishes to you Carl and we look forward to seeing you at UNGA.

I wish all of you a wonderful rest of the summer and thank you for your continued partnership and collaboration with CCA.  

Sincerely,

Florizelle Liser
President & CEO
Corporate Council on Africa