Presidents to attend US-Africa Business Summit

DRC President Joseph Kabila and President Denis Sassou-Nguesso from the neighbouring Republic of Congo (ROC) have confirmed they will attend the third biennial US-Africa Business Summit to take place in Philadelphia from 16 - 20 September, the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) has announced. According to CCA, a 180-member business group, the summit is expected to draw nearly 1,000 US and African business and government leaders, and every African nation will be represented. Nearly one-third of the agenda will focus on showing how US and African small businesses can tap into trade opportunities, with more than 200 African businesses on hand in hopes of meeting potential US business partners. Africa "represents one of the greatest market opportunities still untested by US business," CCA President Stephen Hayes said, citing opportunities in energy, telecommunications, health care, agribusiness and other areas.

Optimism about US-African trade has followed a new law that, since October, has given 34 sub-Saharan African nations improved access to the US market and encourages multinational corporations to invest in Africa. The new law, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, highlights the apparel industries that officials see as the "entry point" for manufacturing in African countries, assistant US Trade Representative Rosa Whitaker said. "It's the kind of sector that you can take into a poor country and get people to work immediately even if they're illiterate," Whitaker said. "Even in Asia, they didn't start with cars and computers. They started with making clothes."

But concern looms about the continent's continuing difficulties. "A lot of the issues in Africa will have to be resolved in Africa," Hayes said. "Businesses simply aren't going to invest in areas of war and plunder."