[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
[June 26, 2003]
[Pages 696-701]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the Corporate Council on Africa's United States-Africa 
Business Summit
June 26, 2003

    Please be seated. Thanks for the warm welcome. It is my honor to be 
here with the entrepreneurs and scholars who are committed to building a 
hopeful future for Africa. I'm honored to be with so many distinguished 
African leaders who know that market reforms and open trade can lift 
every nation on every continent.
    All of us here today share some basic beliefs. We believe that 
growth and prosperity in Africa will contribute to the growth and 
prosperity of the world. We believe that human suffering in Africa 
creates moral responsibilities for people everywhere. We believe that 
this can be a decade of unprecedented advancement for

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freedom and hope and healing and peace across the African Continent. 
That's what we believe.
    In 11 days, I leave for Africa, and I will carry this message: The 
United States believes in the great potential of Africa. We also 
understand the problems of Africa, and this Nation is fully engaged in a 
broad, concerted effort to help Africans find peace, to fight disease, 
to build prosperity, and to improve their own lives.
    I want to thank Stephen for his 
invitation. And I want to thank those involved with the Corporate 
Council on Africa. I appreciate so very much Frank Fountain, the chairman; Anita Henri, the 
vice president. I want to thank all the board members who are here. I 
want to thank you and your--if you're not a CEO, thank your CEOs of the 
companies you represent for not only serving our Nation by helping to 
create jobs but serving our Nation by helping creating more 
compassionate and hopeful countries in the continent of Africa.
    I want to thank very much Ambassador Robert Perry, who is a special adviser to the President on these 
matters. I want to thank the senior African government officials here, 
but I particularly want to welcome the African heads of state and the 
heads of government who are with us today. It was my honor to have the 
traditional photo op. But besides smiling for the cameras, I was smiling 
to see people who I had known before, and I was so appreciative that you 
all took time to fly here to our country. And our country extends a warm 
welcome, and we hope you have a great stay.
    I'm honored that President Chissano 
Alberto of Mozambique is here. After all, he is the incoming 
President of the African Union. And I'm pleased to see President 
Mogae Gontebanye of Botswana. The reason so is 
that he has graciously extended me and my delegation an invitation to 
visit his country, an invitation I have accepted. Botswana is a stable 
democracy, was one of the strongest economies of all of Africa. And I 
look forward to my trip.
    I'll go to Senegal and see west Africa's longest standing democracy, 
a country with a vibrant civil society and a growing independent media. 
I look forward to going to South Africa, where I'll meet with elected 
leaders who are firmly committed to economic reforms in a nation that 
has become a major force for regional peace and stability. I'm looking 
forward to my trip to Uganda, where the Government's visionary policies 
have brought about the most dramatic decline in the rate of HIV 
infection of any country in the world. And finally, I'll be going to 
Nigeria, a multiethnic society that is consolidating civilian rule, is 
developing its vast resources, and is helping its African neighbors keep 
the peace.
    My trip should signal that I am optimistic about the future of the 
continent of Africa. After all, there's a generation of leaders who now 
understand the power of economic liberty and the necessity for global 
commerce. And I also understand that freedom and prosperity are not 
achieved overnight. Yet the 48 nations of sub-Saharan Africa have an 
historic opportunity to grow in trade and to grow in freedom and 
stability and, most importantly, to grow in hope. On the path to freedom 
and with the friendship of the United States and other nations, Africa 
will rise, and Africa will prosper.
    This is a long-term commitment, and I know there are serious 
obstacles to overcome. Introducing democracy is hard in any society. 
It's much harder in a society torn by war or held back by corruption. 
The promise of free markets means little when millions are illiterate 
and hungry or dying from a preventable disease. It is Africans who will 
overcome these problems. Yet the United States of America and other 
nations will stand beside them. We will work as partners in advancing 
the security and the health and the prosperity of the African peoples.

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    The first great goal in our partnership with Africa is to help 
establish peace and security across the continent. Many thousands of 
African men and women and children are killed every year in regional 
wars. These wars are often encouraged by regimes that give weapons and 
refuge to rebel groups fighting in neighboring countries. The cycle of 
attack and escalation is reckless. It is destructive, and it must be 
ended.
    In Congo, nine countries took part in a 5-year war that brought 
death to millions. Now the parties to the conflict are moving to form a 
government of national unity, holding out the real possibility of peace. 
President Mbeki of South Africa deserves credit 
for his efforts to broker a peace agreement. All the Congo's neighbors 
have officially withdrawn their forces. Now I urge these Governments to 
actively support the creation of an integrated national army and the 
establishment, by June 30th, of a transitional government. The United 
States is working with the Congo and its neighbors to ensure the 
security and integrity of their borders. To encourage progress across 
all of Africa, we must build peace at the heart of Africa.
    In Liberia, the United States strongly supports the cease-fire 
signed earlier this month. President Taylor 
needs to step down so that his country can be spared further bloodshed. 
All the parties in Liberia must pursue a comprehensive peace agreement. 
And the United States is working with regional governments to support 
those negotiations and to map out a secure transition to elections. We 
are determined to help the people of Liberia find the path to peace.
    The United States is also pressing forward to help end Africa's 
longest running civil war in Sudan, which has claimed an estimated 2 
million lives over 20 years. Progress over this past year, aided by the 
leadership of Kenya, has brought us to the edge of peace. Now the north 
and south must finalize a just and comprehensive peace agreement, and 
the world must support it.
    I've asked my Special Envoy for Peace in Sudan, former Senator John 
Danforth, to return to the region in 2 weeks. 
He will make clear that the only option on the table is peace. Both 
sides must now make their final commitment to peace and human rights and 
end the suffering of Sudan.
    The United States supports efforts by African governments to build 
effective peacekeeping forces. America is providing resources and 
logistical support to African Union peacekeeping forces in Burundi and 
ECOWAS forces in the Ivory Coast. During my visit to South Africa, U.S. 
military forces will participate in a joint humanitarian and disaster 
relief training exercise with South African defense forces. Skilled and 
well-equipped peacekeeping forces are essential, because in the long 
run, Africans will keep the peace in Africa.
    The United States is also working with African nations to fight 
terrorists wherever they are found. Africans from Casablanca to Nairobi 
to Dar es Salaam have experienced firsthand the pain and the evil of 
terror. Kenya and other nations of eastern Africa are suffering under a 
particularly serious threat, and we're working closely with those 
nations to end this threat.
    Today I announced that the United States will devote $100 million 
over the next 15 months to help countries in the region increase their 
own counterterror efforts. We will work with Kenya and Ethiopia and 
Djibouti and Uganda and Tanzania to improve capabilities such as air and 
seaport security, coastal and border patrols, computer databases to 
track terrorists, intelligence-sharing, and the means necessary to cut 
off terrorist financing. Many African governments have the will to fight 
the war on terror, and we are thankful for that will. We will give them 
the tool and the resources to win the war on terror.
    The second great goal of our partnership with Africa is to make the 
advantages of

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health and literacy widely available across the continent. And that work 
begins with the struggle against AIDS, which already affects nearly 30 
million Africans.
    As former President Kenneth Kaunda of 
Zambia has said, ``We have conquered slavery, colonialism, and 
apartheid. We must now fight HIV/AIDS, the most deadly enemy we have 
ever faced.'' And he is right. And many others are fighting against this 
enemy. Yet my message today and my message when I go to the continent 
is, you are not alone in the fight.
    Under the law I signed last month, the United States Congress has 
authorized $15 billion over the next 5 years to fight AIDS abroad. That 
money will be used to support the Global AIDS Fund as well as specially 
focusing on 14 African and Caribbean countries where the crisis is most 
severe. Overall, this expansion of Americans' efforts will prevent 7 
million new HIV infections, treat at least 2 million people with life-
extending drugs, and provide humane care for 10 million HIV-infected 
individuals and AIDS orphans. This is one of the largest public health 
projects in history. America is proud to be a part of this cause, and we 
are absolutely determined to see it through until we have turned the 
tide against AIDS in Africa.
    My administration is ready to start this vital work. Now the 
Congress must appropriate the money it promised. In 2004, this effort 
will require $2 billion, including $200 million for the Global Fund for 
AIDS and other infectious diseases. Having passed the Emergency Fund for 
AIDS Relief, Congress must now fully fund this lifesaving initiative.
    The health of Africa also depends on the defeat of hunger. Forty 
million Africans are now at risk of starvation. They face severe food 
shortages or lack of clean drinking water. This year the United States 
will provide more than $800 million to address food emergencies in 
Africa. I've also asked Congress to provide 200 million new dollars for 
a Famine Fund, so that when the first signs of famine appear we can move 
quickly and save lives.
    Yet the problem of hunger requires more than emergency measures. To 
help Africa become more self-sufficient in the production of food, I 
have proposed the Initiative to End Hunger in Africa. This initiative 
will help African countries to use new high-yield biotech crops and 
unleash the power of markets to dramatically increase agricultural 
productivity.
    But there's a problem. There's a problem. At present, some 
governments are blocking the import of crops grown with biotechnology, 
which discourages African countries from producing and exporting these 
crops. The ban of these countries is unfounded; it is unscientific; it 
is undermining the agricultural future of Africa. And I urge them to 
stop this ban.
    Nigeria's former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development 
Hassan Adamu speaks for many in Africa. He 
speaks the truth. Here's what he says: ``To deny desperate, hungry 
people the means to control their futures by presuming to know what is 
best for them is not only paternalistic, it is morally wrong.''
    Africa's progress also depends on the education of Africa's 
children. Forty-two million boys and girls across sub-Saharan Africa are 
not even enrolled in schools. If Africa is to meet its full potential, 
these children must have the chance to study and learn. My 
administration is committing 200 million new dollars over 5 years to 
train more than 420,000 teachers in Africa, to provide scholarships for 
250,000 African girls, and to partner with Historically Black Colleges 
and Universities in America in bringing more than 4 million textbooks to 
African children.
    Every country, every business, every private organization that cares 
about this continent must unite to give Africa's children the literacy 
and skills they need to build Africa's future.

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    The third great goal of our partnership with Africa is to help 
African nations develop vibrant, free economies through aid and trade. 
Wealthy nations have a responsibility to provide foreign aid. We have an 
equal duty to make sure that aid is effective by rewarding countries 
that embrace reform and freedom. Too often in the past, development 
assistance has been squandered or used to prop up corrupt regimes. The 
world needs a new approach to foreign aid, and America is leading the 
way with the Millennium Challenge Account.
    Under my proposal, money will go to developing nations whose 
governments are committed to three broad strategies. First, they must 
rule justly. Second, they must invest in the health and education of 
their people. And third, they must have policies that encourage economic 
freedom. To fund this account, I've proposed a 50-percent increase in 
America's core development assistance over the next 3 years. And I urge 
the United States Congress to give full support to the Millennium 
Challenge Account.
    Corrupt regimes that give nothing to their people deserve nothing 
from us. Governments that serve their people deserve our help, and we 
will provide that help.
    Many African leaders are currently pledged to the path of political 
and economic reform. That shared commitment is expressed in the 
standards of NEPAD, the New Partnership for Africa's Development. Yet 
those standards are mocked by some on the continent, such as the leader 
of Zimbabwe, where the freedom and dignity of the nation is under 
assault. I urge all nations, including the nations of Africa, to 
encourage a return to democracy in Zimbabwe.
    We can add to the prosperity of Africa through development 
assistance that encourages your reform. Yet aid alone is not enough. 
President Museveni Kaguta of Uganda has put 
it well. ``By itself,'' he says, ``aid cannot transform societies. Only 
trade can foster the sustained economic growth necessary for such a 
transformation.'' He's right. The powerful combination of trade and open 
markets is history's proven method to defeat poverty on a large scale, 
to vastly improve health and education, to build a modern infrastructure 
while safeguarding the environment, and to spread the habits of liberty 
and enterprise that lead to self-government.
    Trade is the great engine of economic progress, the great engine of 
human progress. Yet sub-Sahara Africa, with 11 percent of world's 
population, has less than 2 percent of the world's trade. The peoples of 
Africa have been left out long enough. The United States is committed to 
making the transforming power of trade available to all Africans.
    Three years ago, Congress passed the African Growth and Opportunity 
Act, which gave greater access to American markets for African products. 
AGOA is proving the power of trade. Even with a weak global economy, 
AGOA countries' duty-free exports to the United States in 2002 were $9 
billion. That's a 10-percent increase from 2001. From countries all 
across the continent of Africa, AGOA is helping to reform old economies, 
creating new jobs; is attracting new investment; most importantly, is 
offering hope to millions of Africans.
    We must build on AGOA's success. Today I call on the United States 
Congress to extend AGOA beyond 2008. We must extend AGOA beyond 2008 to 
give businesses the confidence to make long-term investments in Africa. 
At America's urging, the World Bank will provide more than $200 million 
over the next 3 years to support loans to small businesses in 10 African 
countries. These loans will give African entrepreneurs the capital they 
need to achieve their dreams.
    Here's what we believe in America, and it's true elsewhere: 
Ownership and independence are the hopes of men and women in every land.
    To expand commerce between America and Africa, we're working towards 
a free

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trade agreement with the Southern African Customs Union. And in the 
global trade negotiations, we are pushing to open agricultural markets, 
reduce farm subsidies in wealthy nations, and to create new 
opportunities for African farmers.
    I also urge African nations to lower their own trade barriers 
against each other's products. Just as America can do more to open its 
markets, so can the nations of Africa. Together we can ensure that all 
our citizens have access to the opportunities of markets around the 
globe.
    The measures I've outlined today--actions on security and health, 
education, hunger, foreign aid, and global trade--constitute a major 
focus of American foreign policy. America is committed to the success of 
Africa because we recognize a moral duty to bring hope where there is 
despair and relief where there's suffering. America is committed to the 
success of Africa because we understand failed states spread instability 
and terror that threatens us all. America is committed to the success of 
Africa because the peoples of Africa have every right to live in freedom 
and dignity and to share in the progress of our times.
    The responsibilities we have accepted in Africa are consistent with 
the ideals that have always guided America and the world. Our Nation has 
more than a set of interests; I believe we have a calling. For a 
century, America has acted to defend the peace, to liberate the 
oppressed, and to offer all mankind the promise of freedom and a better 
life. And today, as America fights the latest enemies of freedom, we 
will strive to expand the realm of freedom for the benefit of all 
nations.
    The members of this council, with your energy and optimism, are 
bringing new opportunities to millions. I want to thank you for your 
efforts. I want to thank you for your heart. I want to thank you for 
your vision.
    May God bless the people on the continent of Africa. And may God 
continue to bless the United States of America. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 12:13 p.m. in the International Ballroom at 
the Washington Hilton Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Stephen 
Hayes, president, Corporate Council on Africa; Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of State for African Affairs Robert Perry; President Joaquim 
Alberto Chissano of Mozambique; President Festus Gontebanye Mogae of 
Botswana; President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa; President Charles 
Taylor of Liberia; President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe; and President 
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda.