(10 minutes read)
Dear Sir,
Let us at the outset congratulate you, Sir, for getting elected as the 46th president of the United States of America and for securing the highest number of popular votes in the history of the country. That speaks very high about your popularity, grace and dignity you command. We also welcome Kamala Harris as the Vice President. She is the first woman and the first person of color, part Jamican and part Indian, to be the Vice President. We feel elated and privileged by her election and consider this as a testimony of the United States of America’s recognition of the contributions of the colored people to the great country, a melting pot, which encouraged all denominations, races, faiths etc. to realize their potentials.
Sir, your election can set right many things which went wrong in the recent years. Permit us to recount a few such instances. We always believe the destiny of Africa and the US are intertwined. It is not alone driven by the presence of a large number of African Americans or the increasing quantum of trade and investments between our two regions. We always looked up to the US as an ally who knows the development imperatives of this region consisting of 54 countries and having 1.3 billion people. We are aware that we have to go a long way in realizing our demographic dividend, development goals and importantly a better standard of living for people. That needs accommodation and comforts from the world at large. As the largest economy in the world and having considerable influence among the developed world and multilateral organizations, your leadership should prevail in addressing the mounting debt of our countries, which are assuming a large proportion of gross domestic product of every country, threatening a good number of countries their very existence. The ongoing pandemic has exacerbated the debt positions. Our future growth dimensions very much depend on reducing our debt burden to channelize more resources for development works rather than for servicing debts. Postponement of debts will not get us anywhere. We are looking at debt waivers contracted from the multilateral and private sources to get us back into the development mode.
We Africans are committed to creating platforms for our self-help since we believe that we have the potential, girth and resources to make development self propelling. A number of multilateral institutions we have created to catalyze regional growth, such as African Union, African Development Bank, African Continental Free Trade Area etc. Of late, there has been a proliferation of entrepreneurship in most of the African countries. While the number of African billionaires having global interests have gone up considerably, we feel the growth of the small and medium enterprises holds the key to our inclusive growth. We also realize our enterprises can nurture in an ecosystem that attaches importance to cutting edge technologies that are suited to our pace of development. We need the support from the US in modernizing our industry, particularly small enterprises, to create more employment and income to the people. That also will help us to add value to our minerals and agricultural products that are now being exported as primary goods. We are aware of the various initiatives that the US has been taking over the years for promoting hand holding among the US and African businessmen. Could we think of a platform for ongoing dialogue between small businesses of both regions under AU, AfCATA or AfDB to widen the scope and range of the dialogue?
Harking back on the pain points of the past is a drag on unbundling the potentials of the future. Yet, we have to flag a few to crystallize the roadmap for the future. The single most factor that held back the global economic growth in the pre-Covid-19 days was the trade war that left an indelible downside on most of the economies, which in some countries precipitated a recession. Though it was fought between two -the US and China- its impact was felt all around. Africa as a continent felt the tremors more than any other geography. Sir, we are not
getting into the details of the trade war since in a war both sides will have their convincing arguments. We are emotionally moved by the statement that you have made to the world at large that the US would act as a unifying force to bring global peace and harmony. A matured and seasoned political person like you, Sir, knows what that can herald peace. When tensions are mounting across the world, leaders will have to behave responsibly and credibly in their actions and words. Policies that accommodate the “wish list” of poorer countries should be treated with empathy and compassion. I am sure you are aware of the flip side of the Africa focused programs pursued in the recent years. We would appeal to you, sir, to evolve a pragmatic Africa policy which is sustainable, endurable and pragmatic so that our regions come together, share a partnership agenda for future growth.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) since its enactment has been at the core of U.S. economic policy and commercial engagement with Africa. AGOA provides eligible sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the U.S. market for over 1,800 products, in addition to the more than 5,000 products that are eligible for duty-free access under the Generalized System of Preferences program. The rationale behind the Act is well recognized: to establish or make continual progress toward establishing a market-based economy, the rule of law, political pluralism, and the right to due process. Additionally, countries must eliminate barriers to U.S. trade and investment, enact policies to reduce poverty, combat corruption and protect human rights. 38 countries are eligible for AGOA benefits in 2020. In 2015, Congress passed legislation modernizing and extending the AGOA program to 2025.
In the meantime, several developments have taken place in the continent. Important among them is the formation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCATA), which will be the largest trading bloc when it becomes fully functional. The US along with other major developed countries would have considerable stake in this trading bloc. This calls for reconfiguration of the AGOA to give primacy to a continental -wide approach rather than one focused on bilateralism so as to engage countries collectively as a continent rather than bilaterally. This will shore up our collective bargaining power. We also hope that the election of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to lead the World Trade Organization (WTO), but vetoed by the Trump administration, will now be cleared for enabling an African to head the powerful body for the first time.
Since 1943, US presidents have been visiting Africa. That has been a part of the agenda of most of the presidents in the recent past. President Bill Clinton visited the continent 10 times and Barak Obama visited five times. In the last presidency, because of one reason or the other, there were no such visits. Presidential visits are important to cement the relations on a bilateral and multilateral basis. We invite you to visit this continent, which we feel is the growth hotspot of the 21st century and beyond.
In a globalized world, multilateralism is the cardinal principle to ensure trade and investment flows based on competitive advantage of each country. Unfortunately, there are overtones of protectionism resonating, particularly among the developed world, who should be the torch bearers of free and liberal trade. Viewed in the context, coinage like America First, hiking the tariff barriers unilaterally etc go against the spirit of free trade. We are confident that you would set right these lop –sided policies to ensure free flow of trade and investments.
The world is going through a difficult phase in its growth history. Amidst these challenging times, let us hope for an early solution to the coronavirus pandemic to bring back the global economy in the growth path. We wish your presidency and the people of the United States of America the very best for the decade, which will unfold before us in a few weeks time.
Thank you, Sir, for your attention. Let us engage, enrich and embellish ourselves for a win –win goal
** This letter is a collation view that www.trendsnafrica.com
received from its viewership. We will be encouraged to have your responses for the same to keep the dialogue going
