The Africa eJournal

President’s Message - July/August/September 2024 eJournal

As CCA President and CEO, I am always proud of the work we do to drive the U.S.- Africa trade, investment and business relationship, but I confess that I take special and personal pride in the work we’ve done and continue to do on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) – the cornerstone of the U.S. economic relationship with African nations. Beyond the many meetings we’ve been holding with Members of Congress and key staffers of House and Senate trade and foreign affairs committees to urge AGOA’s prompt and long-term renewal, we had the privilege of featuring three Biden Administration Cabinet/Sub-Cabinet officials at the 2024 AGOA Private Sector Forum held on July 24 in partnership with the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP). Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai and Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves each made clear the USG commitment to AGOA renewal as well as ways we can enhance utilization and build on AGOA towards a stronger U.S.- Africa economic relationship that benefits both American and African businesses, workers, and citizens.

I was pleased to provide the readout of the Private Sector Forum during the AGOA Ministerial meeting which included high-level USG and African officials, Members of Congress, as well as over 800 delegates. The private sector’s main message was to urge prompt and long-term renewal of AGOA and to propose several non-controversial enhancements to strengthen AGOA by, for example, expanding cumulation rules of origin to all AfCFTA signatories and reducing uncertainty in markets by changing the annual review period to once every three years. There was overwhelming recognition of the need to reauthorize AGOA given the expansive economic impact we’ve already seen and its importance in the United States’ overall relationship with the nations of Africa.

Both U.S. and African government and private sector leaders at the AGOA Forum expressed the will and determination to sustain and propel AGOA, and CCA was proud to be a prominent voice in that discussion underscoring strong U.S-Africa economic ties. I was happy to later trek to Capitol Hill in September to brief and educate U.S. Congressional staffers, and yes, influencers, on the benefits and necessity of renewing AGOA. Hosted by the Partnership for a Secure America (PSA) and the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), both I and my co-panelist, Tom Sheehy, one of the esteemed authors of the original AGOA bill, provided greater understanding on why this significant bill should be reauthorized without hesitation or delay. I’m confident our collective efforts on AGOA may move the needle with congressional decision makers.

Our CCA members are deeply rooted in industries across all sectors and regions of Africa and know all too well how AGOA enables trade and investment. I will proudly continue to use my full-throated voice, weight and advocacy of CCA to ensure our members on both sides of the Atlantic continue to enjoy the full, enabling benefits of this trademark bill.

September offered some key opportunities – both before and during the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) – to advance various initiatives, sectors and countries important to CCA and its members.

On September 12, CCA organized the first ever briefing of the U.S. private sector on the African Automotive Strategy under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This concluded a yearlong initiative supported by Prosper Africa during which CCA has educated American businesses on the AfCFTA, its protocols and provisions as well as the opportunities resulting from a continental free trade area free of barriers to both intra-African and global trade. The automotive sector is one of four key sectors targeted by the AfCFTA to boost Africa’s industrialization (the others are healthcare, agribusiness, and transportation). The webinar featured experts who discussed what is needed to grow Africa’s role in this important supply chain as well as the financing needed. CCA looks forward to continued work with the USG, African governments and institutions (like the AU, AfCFTA Secretariat and Afreximbank), and U.S. and African companies to facilitate B2G and B2B ties that advance AfCFTA goals as well as U.S.-Africa trade, investment and commercial ties.

CCA hosted and cohosted nearly a dozen dynamic events during UNGA ranging from health sector financing, energy, transition to respective Liberia, Nigeria and South Africa Trade and Investment roundtables, and finally separate MOU signings with Senegal and Liberia. Our energy transition and Nigerian Governors UNGA events offered special opportunities to build on and follow up from the CCA event on September 12 hosting the U.S.-Nigeria Strategic Energy Dialogue where Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ekperikpe Ekpo and his delegation engaged with the U.S. delegation led by Assistant Secretary for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt along with CCA member companies in the energy sector. Our UNGA energy transition dialogue featured Mauritanian President H.E. Mohamed Ghazouani. The importance of carbon market credits and financing of African energy transition projects – especially for Nigeria and Mauritania as major African oil and gas producers - were key issues discussed across these high-level dialogues and events.

On health, CCA was pleased to partner with AUDA-NEPAD and Afro-Champions to organize a high-level dialogue event on financing and investment in Africa’s health sector, featuring remarks by H.E. William Ruto, President of Kenya, former President of Liberia H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Africa CDCSG Dr. Jean Kaseya and launching the Program for Investment and Financing of African Health (PIFAH) – an innovative public-private sector initiative. This event falls under the umbrella of CCA’s U.S.-Africa Health Security and

Resilience initiative (HSRI) which advances public-private collaboration to improve African health systems, facilitate medical manufacturing on the continent, and promote regulatory harmonization for trade in pharmaceutical and medical equipment (this last part being done in collaboration with the U.S. Trade and Development Agency). This UNGA event on Africa’s health built on the West Africa Health Regulatory Workshop CCA held in July Abuja, Nigeria with key stakeholders from the public and private sectors discussing improving health regulatory harmonization across West Africa.

CCA was especially pleased to organize a Kenya Investment Roundtable with Kenyan President H.E. William Ruto on the sidelines of this year’s UNGA. It was a standing room only event and first opportunity tore-engage with the U.S. private sector since President Ruto’s historic State Visit to the United States in May. President Ruto proudly boasted Kenya workforce as the “Best human capital in the world” and I can attest his vision for Kenya was as riveting, as it was robust. President Ruto outlined a plan for Kenya, the third largest economy in Sub Saharan Africa, centered on strategic investment partnerships, harmonizing the tax space for doing business, expanding the digital footprint, and essentially making Kenya a tech hub and the “Silicon Savanah” of Africa. President Ruto’s remarks left CCA members and other stakeholders captivated as evidenced by Elon Musk’s retweet of President Ruto’s message live during the CCA event. CCA’s events at this year’s UNGA gave us the opportunity to distinctly frame the dialogue around key issues and challenges impacting the U.S.-Africa investment and business relationship and more importantly to explore the solutions that will redefine the future of that relationship.

Our UNGA events were wide-ranging and well attended; a strong testament to our broad, dedicated membership – to that end, I say thank you for making the 79th UNGA an overwhelming success for CCA.

Let me also use this message to share the great news about CCA’s 17th U.S.-Africa Business Summit to be co-hosted with the Government of the Republic of Angola in Luanda in June 2025. There is palpable excitement at CCA, among our members, and especially with our Angolan partners both in the government as well as private sector. Angola will be celebrating 50 years of Independence, assuming the African Union (AU) Chairmanship role, and garnering much investment and commitment by the U.S. government, private sector and neighboring countries for the unprecedented Lobito Corridor infrastructure project. We commemorated our new partnership on September 6, as I stood alongside His Excellency Angolan Ambassador Augostino Van Dunem to officially sign the MOU at the Angolan Embassy in Washington D.C. Together we have forged a delightful and extraordinarily productive partnership based on mutual goals of enhancing trade and investment in Angola and throughout Africa and making the 2025U.S.-Africa Business Summit the best one yet!

We were delighted to have a private meeting with Angolan President Lourenco on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. As the President perfectly described it, “It was a meeting of Yes!” Along with Minister of State Massano and Ambassador Van Dunem, we discussed the way forward with private sector collaborations, strategic partnerships and promotional endeavors for the U.S.-Africa Business Summit.

With so much happening in Angola, it’s no surprise President Biden is planning his historic trip to Luanda as the first sitting President to visit Angola. We are pleased that this trip – President Biden’s first to Africa during his Administration – was quickly rescheduled to now take place in December. The momentum is undeniable, and CCA is proud to be a driving catalyst in this effort. We have so much to celebrate together with Angola as we see and experience firsthand the promise of a strong, vibrant and prosperous Angola –leading continental efforts to enhance robust intra-African trade and investment as well as with its global partners including the United States. We invite all of you to join us at the U.S.- Africa Business Summit to be held in Luanda, Angola in June (date likely to be announced in the coming days). So stay tuned for more details on the Summit and please start planning to join us there.

Lastly, as you read through the pages of this edition of The Africa eJournal, I hope and trust you feel the enthusiasm, energy and dedication that the CCA team and I are bringing to advancing private sector issues throughout the halls of power in Africa and the United States. I am blessed to have an extraordinary team of colleagues. Let me introduce to all of you and welcome to our great team CCA’s new Senior Advisor, Ellen Tannor, who joins us from the State Department Senior Foreign Service ranks where she led Department of State’s largest public/private collaboration. Ellen has served at U.S. diplomatic mission throughout Africa to include Luanda, Angola, where she was the Management Officer and Acting Deputy Chief of Mission. She joins us with great insight not only in Angola, but on State Department policy and engagement and will be a tremendous asset especially as we host the 2025 U.S.-African Business Summit in Angola. Ellen looks forward to engaging with CCA members and our many other stakeholders and taking on some major assignments including shepherding implementation of CCA’s Strategic Plan.

From dialogue on critical minerals in Africa to energy transition, to advancing AGOA renewal and developing sustainable health policy, CCA is working to elevate and amplify issues you care about. Ultimately, we are working to advance U.S. and African trade, investment and business policies as well as practical engagement that support the private sector. We are immensely proud of the work we are doing to support members and our many stakeholders, and to make your experiences and connectivity to CCA value-added and unmatched. Thank you for your continued support – together there is much work to be done.

Sincerely,

Florizelle Liser
President & CEO
Corporate Council on Africa