Secretary Clinton enhanced economic opportunity in the U.S. and Africa.
Recently President Obama hosted the largest gathering of African leaders ever assembled by a U.S. President. The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit focused on issues critical for the future of our two continents, such as trade, collaboration, and investment. As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton recognized that Africa’s fast-growing economies and markets presented enormous opportunities for engagement. Sec. Clinton led a delegation of U.S. executives to connect with African business leaders and built partnerships for increased entrepreneurship and economic opportunity, strengthening the economic ties between the United States and Africa.
Strengthened the Ties between U.S. Businesses and African Countries
Sec. Clinton brought American CEOs to Africa, increasing U.S. focus on trade and investment.
According to New York Times foreign affairs editorial writer Carol Giacomo, “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made no fewer than three trips to Africa during her tenure, including one last August that took her to nine countries over two weeks. As Mr. Obama is doing, she brought along a delegation of chief executives from leading American companies, a sign that U.S. priorities, like that of many African countries, had shifted from a preoccupation with humanitarian and development aid to trade and investment.” [Carol Giacomo, New York Times, 6/28/13]
Sec. Clinton: “I have delivered one consistent message, and that is we want sustainable partnerships in Africa that add value rather than extract it.”
According to Sec. Clinton’s remarks on the U.S.-South Africa Business Partnership, “I have delivered one consistent message, and that is we want sustainable partnerships in Africa that add value rather than extract it. And one of the ways we are building those partnerships is to look to enhancing and strengthening the ties between American businesses and African businesses because, as we look across Sub-Saharan Africa, we see enormous economic growth even as the global economy continues to struggle.” [Remarks at the US-South Africa Business Partnership Summit, state.gov, 8/6/12]
Sec. Clinton to business community: “Africa offers the highest rate of return on foreign direct investment of any developing region in the world.”
“In the past decade, trade between Africa and the rest of the world has tripled, private foreign investment has surpassed official aid, and it will surely keep rising. Because – and I want all of my fellow American citizens, particularly our business community, to hear this – Africa offers the highest rate of return on foreign direct investment of any developing region in the world.” [Remarks at the African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum to Mark Global Economic Statecraft Day, 6/14/12]
Launched Programs to Grow Economic Opportunity in Africa
Sec. Clinton launched the African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program to help women “get their own businesses in order, to learn how to better achieve what they’re hoping for.”
During an interview on Africa 360, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “Women small business owners, women small farmers are actually the backbone of a lot of the economic development that can and should occur inside Africa. […] So the United States has started a program called African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program. And what we are doing is helping African women, who are among the hardest working people on the planet, to get their own businesses in order, to learn how better to achieve what they’re hoping for. And I’m very proud that the headquarters will be right here in Lusaka.” [Interview on Africa 360, state.gov, 6/11/11]
Sec. Clinton launched the public-private U.S.-North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity to “better link entrepreneurs and business leaders.”
According to a State Department fact sheet on the U.S.-North Africa partnership for economic opportunity, “As a follow-up to President Obama’s June 2009 Cairo speech and his April 2010 Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship, the Department of State is launching the U.S.-North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity (NAPEO), a new public-private partnership to better link entrepreneurs and business leaders in the United States and North Africa (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia). NAPEO will operate in close cooperation with Partners for a New Beginning (PNB) as the key regional entity to support PNB engagement in North Africa.” [“U.S.-North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity,” state.gov, 12/1/10]
Sec. Clinton launched the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance Initiative to drive private sector investment into Africa’s energy sector.
In her remarks at the launch of the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance Initiative, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “The U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance Initiative will help clean energy projects in Africa get started. This is an innovative partnership between three United States Government entities – the State Department, OPIC, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. We want to drive private sector investment into the energy sector. We plan to use an initial $20 million grant fund to leverage much larger investment flows from OPIC. That will open the door then for hundreds of millions of dollars of OPIC financing, plus hundreds of millions of more dollars from the private sector for projects that otherwise would never get off the drawing board.” [Remarks at the Launch of the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance Initiative, state.gov, 6/22/12]