Remarks at AGOA Forum
Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Washington, DC
July 14, 2008
SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. Well, thank you, Jendayi, for that
wonderful introduction. And I also want to thank you for your
extraordinary service in the Administration. Yes, in fact, this
President has had a great focus on Africa. He has cared about the
issues that affect Africans. He's believed in partnership with
Africans. He has believed in the potential of the continent and worked
hard to help the continent realize it. But one of the reasons that
he's been so focused is that Jendayi is always there, making sure that
he is focused. And so I want to thank you for your leadership, too.
Thanks to all gathered here from the other agencies around the
government. Especially, I'd like to thank my colleague Susan Schwab.
She's been tireless; also in making certain that AGOA works. And to
all of you, thank you for joining us. And to my fellow members here on
the dais, I am especially proud to have with us Comoran President,
Monsieur President Sambi, Cameroonian Prime Minister Inoni, Mauritian
Deputy Prime Minister Sithanen, and Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister
Kenyatta. Thank you for joining us.
Well, I've been honored to address the AGOA Forum every year since I
became Secretary of State. And of course, this is my last one as
Secretary of State. And I'm very glad that you didn't applaud at that
line that this is my last one. (Laughter.) I hope to see you at future
AGOAs, perhaps, as a private citizen, because this is an extraordinary
forum, and it has been a wonderful way for Africans to gather together
with America to talk about what we can do.
In the past eight years, I've had the honor to serve the American
people at a momentous time. I've had the opportunity to strengthen the
foundations of my country's security, to support leaders and citizens
across the world, who are trying to build peaceful, prosperous,
decent, free nations, and to participate in the liberation of 55
million people in Iraq and Afghanistan. But one of the most important
accomplishments, one that I've been proudest to work for, is what
we've done with you, my African friends and my colleagues.
My first experience of Africa was, actually, as a young girl. I
visited Liberia, where my aunt was teaching at the university in
Monrovia. I wasn't there for long. I was very young, and I frankly
don't remember much. But that was in the very early 1960s and it was
still the dawning hours of Africa's independence. The excitement was
palpable. There was a sense that anything was possible, and that the
free nations of Africa would soon take their place among the community
of nations, with equal dignity, with mutual respect, and with growing
opportunity for the African people. I will say that for a young girl
from Birmingham, Alabama, where freedom and justice were promised but
still denied, Africa's example was inspiring.
We all know that the benefits and the promise of independence were
slower in coming than independence itself. But that is history, and we
can't go back and change that history. What we can do is to shape a
better future. And I believe that over the past several years, there
has been a sea change in the way that your nations approach your own
challenges, in the way that America approaches our African friends,
and in the way that the world perceives Africa.
In short, more and more African leaders and citizens are reflecting
the dignity of high standards – the respect and pride that comes from
holding oneself and one's nation to the most ambitious goals of
political, economic, and social progress and meeting them by your own
energy and your own efforts. A new spirit of responsibility is alive
in Africa today among people and governments that are meeting their
own challenges, creating opportunity for all, connecting their
citizens to the world, competing and succeeding in the global economy,
and doing it themselves.
There is a new enthusiasm in Africa today – a renewed spirit of
independence and it's magnificent to see. And it's certainly changing
the world's perception of Africa. To be sure, Africa faces profound
challenges: from violence in places like Darfur and Somalia, to rising
commodity prices, to the disease and poverty that still rob so many of
their God-given potential. Yes, Africa has challenges, but Africa and
its people are not reduced to the sum of their challenges. They
deserve not the world's pity, but our partnership.
And this idea – partnership – is at the center of the approach that
President Bush has brought to Africa. Our partnership has been
sustained, not only by increasing responsibility and accountability of
Africa's leaders, but also by the deep generosity of the American
people in response and by the bipartisan commitment of our Congress.
Our partnership is evident in the growing cooperation among our
governments, but it is most powerful and promising in the
entrepreneurial spirit of our people as they work together. That is
why the idea of partnership is at the heart of initiatives like the
Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, which our administration has been
proud to renew and expand. And today we welcome the two newest members
of this Forum: Togo and Comoros.
The new partnership that Africa and America are building together
touches on every field of human endeavor that is vital to human
flourishing: ending conflicts, expanding free and fair trade,
investing in health and education, and strengthening good, lawful,
democratic governance.
President Bush and I are proud of the dramatic increases in support to
Africa that we have achieved since 2001: quadrupling U.S. foreign
assistance, billions of dollars of debt relief for Africa's 27 poorest
nations, launching the Millennium Challenge Account initiative,
signing nearly $4.3 billion worth of MCC compacts with ten African
nations, and forging historic partnerships to fight HIV/AIDS and
malaria. Ultimately, though, we measure the success of our partnership
with Africa not in dollars, but in the lives that we have sought to
improve.
We measure our success, Africans and Americans together, by the fact
that, since 2001, nine conflicts that long plagued the continent have
now ended, and we must remain vigilant to consolidate real peace. We
measure our success by the fact that freedom and equality, democracy
and the rule of law are popular in Africa, and growing more so. We
measure our success by the fact that, in just the past four years,
millions and millions of African citizens have received life-saving
information about AIDS prevention, more than 1.6 million people have
received life-enhancing medication, and nearly 6.5 million people,
including orphans, are now receiving critical and compassionate care.
And of course, we measure our success by the fact that, due to the
relentless drive of Africa's entrepreneurs, supported by AGOA, the
wealth of Africa grew nearly 7 percent in just the past year,
non-energy trade between the United States and AGOA nations has
doubled since 2001, and U.S.-African partnerships in health and
education are helping more and more people to share in the fruits of
Africa's economic growth.
Now this is not to say that there are not still major challenges.
There are, as we see in the heartbreaking plight of the Zimbabwean
people. In the Mugabe regime, we see the page of history that Africa
must turn – a leader for independence, which inherited a nation full
of promise, but which has devolved into a tyranny that values nothing
but power. It is hard to imagine how Africa will ever reach its full
potential until all of its leaders are accountable to and respectful
of the will of its people. Southern Africa will face perennial
instability until the peaceful aspirations of all Zimbabweans are
respected and reflected in their government. This is Africa's
challenge, and Africa must succeed.
But though these challenges do remain, ladies and gentlemen, I am
really optimistic about the future of Africa. I am proud of the
support that the United States has given to your success over these
past eight years. And I know that our shared future, like our shared
past, will continue to exceed all expectations.
Because you see, perhaps more than any two peoples anywhere in the
world, the American people and the people of Africa share a lasting
common bond. It was the stolen sons and daughters of Africa who showed
America the true promise of our own independence – the true meaning of
what the ringing phrase "all men are created equal" had to mean. It
was Africa's struggle for liberation half a century ago that inspired
the struggle for justice among descendants of Africa in my country,
and in my hometown. And in this new century, it will be the
partnership between your nations and ours, between your people and
ours; that will enable all the people of Africa to achieve the hope
and the respect and the justice that they deserve.
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