[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5836 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5836

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President 
to provide assistance to establish partnerships between businesses and 
   postsecondary educational institutions in developing countries in 
Africa to increase economic freedom and competitiveness, promote civil 
      society, and improve the quality of life in such countries.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 17, 2008

 Mr. Carnahan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President 
to provide assistance to establish partnerships between businesses and 
   postsecondary educational institutions in developing countries in 
Africa to increase economic freedom and competitiveness, promote civil 
      society, and improve the quality of life in such countries.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Students in Business Development in 
Africa Assistance Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) There is a growing need in developing countries in 
        Africa to educate and properly train future business leaders in 
        such a way to help them adapt to the demanding complexities of 
        leadership.
            (2) This growing need has led to the call for Africa to 
        develop and train the next generation of leaders that will 
        bring Africa forward into a peaceful and prosperous new century 
        and ensure that democracy lasts across the continent.
            (3) One of the ways to help train the next generation of 
        leaders is through entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurship 
        may be one of the most important channels through which 
        education raises economic productivity.
            (4) All youth should be provided with the access to any and 
        all opportunities to develop skills, attitudes, and abilities 
        that are needed in later life that can lead to entrepreneurship 
        and leadership.
            (5) One of the goals of educators should be to train 
        students to become self-employed after graduation and produce 
        the goods and services that are needed locally, thereby 
        initiating significant internal economic activity.
            (6) It is important that the youth be assisted to achieve 
        higher levels of access and entry into the economy as 
        potentially self-employed people since there are simply not 
        enough employment opportunities within the private and public 
        sectors for them all.
            (7) Business and management education is especially 
        critical in Africa where, in the face of huge shortages in both 
        the private and public sectors, only 50 business schools exist 
        to serve nearly 800 million people, compared with 1,000 
        business schools in India and 1,200 in the United States.
            (8) While many institutions in Africa do offer a business 
        certificate/degree, the training can lack certain practical 
        elements, which makes it difficult for graduates to readily 
        apply their skills in the real world.
            (9) Studies have shown that globalization poses great 
        challenges for education, training, and enterprise development, 
        but there are potential opportunities for positive responses in 
        policy and practice, one of which is the enhancement of 
        individual, societal, and enterprise learning.
            (10) Educational institutions are not rapidly responding to 
        this urgent challenge.

SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO ESTABLISH PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN BUSINESSES AND 
              POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN DEVELOPING 
              COUNTRIES IN AFRICA.

    Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 105 the 
following new section:

``SEC. 105A. ASSISTANCE TO ESTABLISH PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN BUSINESSES 
              AND POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN DEVELOPING 
              COUNTRIES IN AFRICA.

    ``(a) Assistance Authorized.--
            ``(1) In general.--The President, acting through the 
        Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development, is authorized to provide assistance, on such terms 
        and conditions as the President may determine, to establish 
        partnerships between businesses and postsecondary educational 
        institutions in developing countries in Africa to further the 
        education and entrepreneurship skills of students at such 
        institutions in order to increase economic freedom and 
        competitiveness, promote civil society, and improve the quality 
        of life in such countries.
            ``(2) Role of nongovernmental organizations.--It is the 
        sense of Congress that the President should provide an 
        appropriate level of assistance under paragraph (1) through 
        nongovernmental organizations, including non-profit 
        organizations, that have a minimum of 30 years experience 
        working to further the entrepreneurship skills of students at 
        postsecondary educational institutions.
    ``(b) Activities Supported.--Assistance provided under subsection 
(a) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be used to--
            ``(1) enable students at postsecondary educational 
        institutions in developing countries in Africa to practice in 
        the field what they are learning in the classroom and thereby 
        acquire relevant business and management experience;
            ``(2) provide opportunities for individuals in developing 
        countries in Africa who are unable to receive a formal 
        education to benefit from the transfer of knowledge and skills 
        by students described in paragraph (1); and
            ``(3) carry out other appropriate activities, including--
                    ``(A) training students described in paragraph (1) 
                and faculty to build sustainable programs;
                    ``(B) institutionalizing and promoting 
                sustainability of program leadership;
                    ``(C) supporting the launch and development of new 
                in-country operations;
                    ``(D) investing in other United States assistance 
                programs for long-term sustainability and support of 
                African programs; and
                    ``(E) demonstrating results and sharing best 
                practices.
    ``(c) Report.--The President shall transmit to Congress a report on 
the implementation of this section for each of the fiscal years 2008 
through 2012. The report shall include an assessment of the impact of 
the assistance provided under subsection (a) and an analysis of the 
extent to which such assistance could be provided in other regions of 
the world.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there are authorized to be appropriated to the President up to $800,000 
for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012.''.
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