The Future of U.S.-Africa Business Relations

On September 19, 2017, CCA hosted the Presidential Dialogue on the Future of U.S.-Africa Business Relations on the sidelines of the 72ndsession of the UN General Assembly in New York. The dialogue featured H.E. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, Aliko Dangote, CEO of Dangote Group, and was moderated by Rosa Whitaker, President and CEO of Whitaker Group. The dialogue kicked off with opening remarks from Iain Elder, Partner at Shearman and Sterling LLP. Shortly after, CCA President and CEO, Florie Liser welcomed attendees to the dialogue and emphasized the importance of increased U.S.-Africa business relations.Ms. Whitaker opened the discussion by highlighting Rwanda’s reputation as a model for post-conflict recovery, high growth rates, ease of doing business and gender equality and asked the president about the scalability of Rwanda’s strategy. H.E Kagame affirmed that Rwanda’s strategy is indeed scalable, and highlighted two key factors responsible for the positive indicators seen over the past few years; the crucial role of the public sector in creating an enabling environment for investment as well as the importance of centering people and investing in human capital.On the topic of integrating Africa into the global value chain, Mr. Dangote emphasized the importance of quality with an anecdote on how investment in robotic technology positioned Dangote Industries as a continental leader in cement production. He asserted that to take advantage of the youth dividend and opportunity in Africa, diversification of the economy and education of the workforce are key. He expressed his desire for oil prices to stay low to wean Africa off dependency on petroleum and affirmed that with a focus on agriculture, ‘Africa will become the bread-basket of the world’. Mr. Dangote declared that the current education system does not prepare students for the work force, and stressed the need for skills development. He also affirmed that the role of the government is not to create jobs but to create an enabling environment for entrepreneurs and investors.Both speakers emphasized the need for changing negative mindsets towards Africa. Mr. Dangote stressed the importance of releasing value into local economies, while H.E. Kagame called on investors to regard Africa as an equal and strategic partner and urged African stakeholders to think critically before entering any partnerships.Ms. Liser concluded the dialogue with a question to delegates, ‘How can we continue to grow, build and incentivize U.S.-Africa business relationships?’ She affirmed that CCA will continue to lead efforts to increase U.S-Africa business engagement and closed the session by inviting delegates to a networking reception. The dialogue was generously sponsored by BP, Chevron Corporation, Dangote Group, ExxonMobil, Gilead Sciences, Inc., Lockheed Martin International, Shearman and Sterling LLP, Sudatel Telecom Group and Zenith Bank.