DATE=3/22/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=AFRICA: TWO YEARS AFTER CLINTON'S VISIT-PART-II
NUMBER=5-45974
BYLINE=HILLETEWORK MATHIAS
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Two-years ago President Clinton spoke
enthusiastically of an African renaissance he said was
sweeping the continent. During his 12-day African
tour Mr. Clinton said democracy was gaining strength
and peace was making progress. In part two of his
series on Africa, V-O-A's Hilletework Mathias examines
U-S-Africa-relations and the African resurgence as
articulated by Mr. Clinton.
TEXT: The National Summit on Africa - the largest
conference of its kind ever held outside the continent
- occurred last month in Washington. The effort to
foster closer ties between Africa and the United
States came at a time when many say Africa lacks a
strong constituency in the United States.
In his keynote address to 25-hundred delegates,
President Clinton underscored Africa's importance to
the United States.
// CLINTON ACT //
Because we want to live in a world which is not
dominated by a division of people who live on
the cutting edge of a new economy and others who
live on the bare edge of broadened global growth
and expand markets for our own people, we must
be involved in Africa. Because we want to build
a world in which our security is not threatened
by the spread of armed conflict, in which bitter
ethnic and religious indifferences are resolved
by the force of argument, not the force of arms;
we must be involved in Africa.
// END OF ACT //
The delegates warmly greeted Mr. Clinton and other
senior U-S officials at the meeting. But some
criticized the administration for its limited
involvement in African peacekeeping missions.
/// OPT /// Former Liberian presidential candidate
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf chastised the administration for
coming to the rescue of Kosovo, but failing to act in
the brutal war in Sierra Leone, where rebels committed
atrocities against civilians. /// END OPT ///
The Washington meeting came almost two-years after Mr.
Clinton's trip to Africa, where he spoke about an
African renaissance. Then he noted the emergence of
what he called - a new generation of African leaders
devoted to democracy and economic reforms. Though he
did not identify the individuals by name, it was
apparent that he was referring to, among others, the
leaders of Uganda, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.
Washington considers the three natural allies because
of - among other things - their one-time opposition to
the Islamic regime in Sudan, which the U-S accuses of
supporting terrorism. Khartoum - now trying to
improve ties with Washington - has repeatedly denied
the charge.
Marina Ottaway - a senior associate at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace in Washington D.C. -
- is the author of the book "Africa's New Leaders."
She says the Clinton administration's characterization
of the three leaders is wrong.
// OTTAWAY ACT //
I think the Clinton administration has
misrepresented the so-called new leaders. They
represented them as democrats, while in fact
what they were doing was not to develop
democracy in their countries, but to put
together war-torn states. In the process of
reconstruction, all three countries become
entangled in conflicts. Ethiopia and Eritrea
are of course at war with each other. Uganda is
deeply involved in the war in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. So they have disappointed
the Clinton Administration. Relations with
those countries are not particularly good at the
present time.
// END OF ACT //
Elsewhere, there has been progress on the continent
since Mr. Clinton's visit.
Last year, the continent's two giants -- Nigeria and
South Africa -- held democratic elections. Recently,
voters in Namibia and Mozambique cast ballots in
general elections that international observers called
free and fair. In west Africa, Niger, and Guinea-
Bissau -- whose former leaders were removed by force -
- chose new presidents.
/// OPT /// In January, voters in Zimbabwe asserted
their powers by rejecting a draft constitution that
would have strengthened the nearly 20-year rule of
President Robert Mugabe. This week, Senegal's
President Abdou Diouf conceded defeat in presidential
elections described by observers as mostly free and
fair. ///END OPT ///
But these positive developments have been overshadowed
by conflicts in the continent.
The civil war in Congo-Kinshasa has drawn troops from
five African countries and threatened regional
stability. The conflict in Angola has erupted again
and spread to Namibia and Zambia. Civil wars are
continuing in Sudan and stateless Somalia. Ethnic
conflicts in central Africa remain causes for concern.
/// OPT /// Nigeria's efforts to build democracy --
after more than 15-years of military rule -- have been
threatened by ethnic and religious violence. Even
Ivory Coast -- a country long known for its stability
-- has had its peaceful image tarnished by a military
coup that ousted an elected government in December.
/// END OPT ///
Some of these conflicts, and the AIDS epidemic in
Africa, were made major agenda items during a U-N
Security Council meeting in January, when the United
States held the rotating Council presidency. U-S
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke devoted the entire month
to discussions of African issues. Several African
leaders, some involved in the Congolese conflict,
attended the meeting.
// OPT // Mr. Holbrooke tried to present the session
as an attempt to seek African solutions to African
problems. But critics saw this as a political ploy by
the United States not to commit its troops in Africa's
trouble spots. /// END OPT ///
Vice President Al Gore - who presided over the U-N
meeting - promised that the Clinton administration
would commit a further 150-million-dollars to combat
AIDS, which he said poses a threat to the world's
security. Some dismissed the offer as inadequate.
Professor John Macumba teaches political science at
the University of Zimbabwe in Harare.
// MACUMBA ACT //
The U-S has not done much to alleviate the AIDS
pandemic, the problems, which are caused by AIDS
pandemic on the African continent. It has, for
example, not facilitated the purchasing of AIDS-
related and AIDS-alleviating drugs from American
pharmaceutical companies at lower prices than it
will be sold to other countries in the global
market.
// END OF ACT //
But others say what is significant about the January
debates are that they happened at all. Kenyan-born
Ali Mazrui is a professor of African history at the
State University of New York in Binghamton.
// MAZRUI ACT //
He (President Clinton) did respond to appeals to
highlight the problem of AIDS in Africa. He and
Gore did bring it to the Security Council. The
first time the Security Council was engaged in a
major health issue at a high level under the
chair of a vice president of one of its
permanent members. So in general, this is a
president who has shown in his second term much
greater sensitivity to Africa than almost any
other president before him.
// END OF ACT //
Many analysts agree the U-S has significant political,
security, and economic interests in Africa. About 30-
million Americans trace their heritage to Africa. And
Libya and Sudan - which the U-S accuses of supporting
terrorism - are in Africa.
Economically, Africa's importance to the United States
is also apparent. According to U-S officials, about
13-percent of America's oil comes from Africa.
// OPT // Experts project that within the next
decade, U-S oil imports from Africa will surpass those
from the Persian Gulf region. // END OPT //
The United States also gets strategic minerals such as
platinum, cobalt, bauxite, and manganese from the
continent.
Analysts say if America is to secure its own future in
the 21st century, the new partnership Mr. Clinton
wants with Africa is not only a priority, but a
necessity. (SIGNED)
NEB/HM/RAE
22-Mar-2000 12:01 PM EDT (22-Mar-2000 1701 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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