    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
    [July 12, 2003]
    [Pages 865-867]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 865]]

    Remarks at the Leon H. Sullivan Summit in Abuja
    July 12, 2003

        Thank you all. Thank you very much. Thanks a lot. Please be seated--
    please. J.C., thank you for that warm
    introduction. I thought you might have lost your touch--[laughter]--as a
    retired Member of Congress, but you didn't. I'm proud to be introduced
    by my friend. And I want to thank you all very much for such a warm
    welcome.
        This the last day of our journey through Africa. And each of us is
    drawn to this summit by the vision of the late Leon Sullivan. And I'm so
    honored to be in the presence of Mrs. Grace Sullivan. It's great to see
    you again, Mrs. Sullivan.
        We believe that relationship between America and Africa will benefit
    both our people. Work of the summit to promote commerce and
    understanding across the Atlantic is important work, and I'm determined
    that the American Government will do its part. We will help nations on
    this continent to achieve greater health and education and trade with
    the world. Working together, we can help make this a decade of rising
    prosperity and expanding peace across Africa.
        We've got a great visit here, thanks to the hospitality of the
    President, my friend. Mr. President, thank
    you for your friendship. Thank you for your leadership. I appreciate the
    President's leadership on crucial issues. I particularly appreciate the
    fact that he's willing to confront the HIV/AIDS epidemic head on, with
    an honest approach.
        Madam First Lady, thank you very much
    for your hospitality as well. Laura and I have
    enjoyed getting to be with you. I thank the Vice President and all the
    members of the Government who are here.
        I'm particularly pleased to be traveling with such good company in
    Colin Powell and Condi Rice and Andy Card and
    other members of my administration. I want to thank Congressman William
    Jefferson from the State of Louisiana
    for being here. And I understand that Rodney Slater is here as well. Rodney, thank you for coming. Rodney,
    good to see you.
        I appreciate so much the Sullivan Summit leadership: Hope
    Sullivan and Carl Masters and, of course, one the great public servants in
    America--America's history, Andy Young.
    Thank you all.
        Dave O'Reilly understands the
    definition of corporate responsibility, and I appreciate the leadership
    of Dave and Chevron. Their job is not only to make a return for their
    shareholders; their job is to show compassion as well. And I appreciate
    your leadership, Dave.
        I'm especially thankful to all the citizens of Nigeria for such a
    warm welcome, such gracious hospitality. Nigeria is a nation of great
    diversity and great promise. My country deeply appreciates the
    friendship of Nigeria.
        This has been a wonderful week for Laura and
    me. We have seen the rich culture and resources of Africa as well as the
    continuing challenges of Africa. We have met really fine people. I have
    confidence in Africa's future because I believe in the goodness and the
    compassion and the enterprise of the men and women on this continent.
    With greater opportunity, the peoples of Africa will build their own
    future of hope. And the United States will help this vast continent of
    possibilities to reach its full potential.
        I began my trip in Senegal, where I met with President Wade and seven other leaders of West Africa. These
    leaders are committed to the spread of democratic institution and
    democratic values throughout Africa. Yet those institutions and values
    are threatened in some parts of Africa by terrorism and chaos and civil
    war. To extend

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    liberty on this continent, we must build security and peace on this
    continent.
        Several African governments face particular dangers from terrorists,
    and the United States is working closely with those nations to fight
    terror, and we will do more. I proposed a new $100-million initiative to
    help those governments in east Africa protect their people and to fight
    terrorist networks. The United States is also supporting the efforts of
    good friends all across this continent, friends such as Mauritania. We
    will not allow terrorists to threaten African peoples or to use Africa
    as a base to threaten the world.
        America is also committed to helping end Africa's regional wars,
    including those in Sudan and Congo, the Ivory Coast, and Liberia. In
    Liberia, the United States strongly supports the cease-fire that was
    signed last month. President Taylor needs to
    leave Liberia so that his country can be spared further grief and
    bloodshed.
        In Dakar this week, I met with President Kufuor of Ghana. He also leads ECOWAS. I assured him the
    United States will work closely and in concert with the United Nations
    and ECOWAS to maintain the cease-fire and to allow a peaceful transfer
    of power.
        This week, I've also seen the dedicated efforts of Africans who are
    fighting hunger and famine, illiteracy, and a deadly preventable
    disease. At the TASO clinic in Entebbe and here at the National
    Hospital, I saw the heroic efforts of African doctors and nurses and
    volunteers who are devoted to saving and extending lives. I also heard
    from men and women who are living with AIDS and continue to lead
    productive and hopeful lives. The progress we are already seeing in
    parts of Africa is proof that AIDS can be defeated in Africa.
        The people of Africa are fighting HIV/AIDS with courage. And I'm
    here to say, you will not be alone in your fight. In May, I signed a
    bill that authorizes $15 billion for the global fight on AIDS. This
    week, a committee of the House of Representatives took an important step
    to fund the first year of the authorization bill, and the Senate is
    beginning to take up debate. The House of Representatives and the United
    States Senate must fully fund this initiative for the good of the people
    on this continent of Africa.
        On this journey, I've also seen the economic potential of Africa.
    Botswana is a model of economic reform and has one of the highest
    sustained economic growth rates in the world. Yet, far too many Africans
    still live in poverty. And providing effective and promoting--providing
    effective aid, promoting free markets and the rule of law, and
    encouraging greater trade, we will help millions of Africans find more
    opportunity and a chance for better life.
        To be effective, development aid requires progrowth policies and
    strong reforms in the nations that receive the aid. The Millennium
    Challenge Account I have proposed would direct resources to countries
    with governments that rule justly, root out corruption, encourage
    entrepreneurship, and invest in the health and education of their
    people.
        Countries making these changes will gain more help from America.
    They will gain more foreign investment, more trade, and more jobs. And I
    call upon the United States Congress to finalize the MCA legislation and
    to fully fund the first year of this initiative.
        One specific obstacle to development in many countries is the lack
    of access to capital. Many Africans find it impossible to get a loan for
    a business or a home, and this makes it far difficult for people to
    build equity or to borrow money to start a business. The United States
    has some of the most effective mortgage markets in the world. We
    understand the flow of capital, and we want to share this knowledge with
    the nations of Africa.
        So I've asked Secretary of the Treasury John Snow to work with experts in America and Africa and with
    financial institutions like Fannie Mae and the Overseas Private

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    Investment Corporation to help strengthen and broaden capital markets on
    this continent. With the ability to borrow money to buy homes and start
    businesses, more Africans will have the tools to achieve their dreams.
        My travels this week underscore the critical importance of trade to
    the economic future of Africa. Open trade has proven its ability to
    increase the standards of living and to create new jobs and to encourage
    the habits of freedom and enterprise.
        In Botswana, I visited one of our new Hubs for Global
    Competitiveness that is helping African businesses sell their products
    into the United States and on global markets. I have seen--and I know
    you have seen--how the African Growth and Opportunity Act, AGOA, is
    bringing jobs and investment and opportunity to sub-Sahara Africa. And
    to help give businesses the confidence to make long-term investments in
    Africa, Congress must extend AGOA beyond 2008.
        Our Nation will work to complete a free trade agreement with the
    nations of the Southern African Customs Union to create new
    opportunities for farmers and workers and entrepreneurs all across
    Africa. To achieve our goals of a more peaceful, hopeful, and prosperous
    Africa, we need a partnership of our governments. We also need
    partnerships among our people, our businessmen and doctors and bankers
    and teachers and clergy. These are the kinds of bridges that Leon
    Sullivan dedicated his life to building. And you're continuing that good
    work, and I thank you for that.
        Eight years ago at the Sullivan Summit, delegates launched the
    MedHelp Foundation, which is training and equipping physicians in
    Senegal. This foundation has also assembled a team of American medical
    professionals in Senegal that has conducted more than 150 operations,
    including 88 open-heart surgeries.
        Another group established by Reverend Sullivan is the International
    Foundation For Education and Self-Help. Over the past 10 years, the
    foundation has helped build more than 182 rural schools in Africa,
    placed 820 American teachers in African schools. Today I'm pleased to
    announce that the United States Agency for International Development
    will give a new $5-million grant to the foundation, resources that will
    help send 90 American teachers to Africa to train more than 14,000
    African educators. In these and many other ways, you are doing more than
    fulfilling the dreams of one man; you're helping to unlock the potential
    of an entire continent.
        At Goree Island earlier this week, I spoke of how the struggles of
    African Americans against the injustices of slavery and segregation
    helped to redeem the promise of America's founding. Today, you are
    carrying the same passion for liberty and justice from America to
    Africa. Americans believe that people in every culture and in every land
    have the right to live in freedom and deserve the chance to improve
    their lives. And we know that the people of Africa, when given their
    rights and given their chance, will achieve great things on this
    continent of possibilities.
        May God bless Africa, and may God continue to bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:35 p.m. at Congress Hall. In his remarks,
    he referred to former Representative J.C. Watts; Rev. Leon H. Sullivan's
    wife, Grace Sullivan, and daughter, Hope L. Sullivan, summit president;
    Andrew J. Young, summit chairman; Carl Masters, summit vice chairman;
    President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and his wife, Stella; Vice
    President Atiku Abubakar of Nigeria; Rodney Slater, board member, Leon
    H. Sullivan Foundation; David J. O'Reilly, chairman of the board and
    chief executive officer, ChevronTexaco Corp., summit corporate sponsor;
    President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal; President Charles Taylor of
    Liberia; and President John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana.