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Corporate
Council Africa
Travel Contacts |
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Business Leaders
to Meet in Washington on U.S.-Africa Trade Issues
Washington, D.C.: The AGOA
Steering Committee of the Corporate Council on
Africa (CCA) announced today December 8 and 9,
2003, as the dates for the Third AGOA Forum Private
Sector Session. The Session will focus on
U.S.-Africa trade in agriculture, apparel and
handicrafts. Business and government
leaders from nearly 40 African countries and the
United States are expected to attend. According to
CCA President Stephen Hayes, the two-day event will
feature more than 20 workshops and plenary
meetings. In addition, a gala reception and
luncheons are expected to attract senior U.S.
administration and African government and private
sector leaders. Recent statistics from the U.S.
government have shown strong growth in African
apparel exports to the United States. Agriculture
and handicrafts, which employ millions of Africans,
are areas of potential growth. The Private Sector
Session will explore approaches to kickstarting
growth in these two sectors under
AGOA. Registration and detailed
program information for the Private Sector Session
are available on CCA's website at http://www.africacncl.org The event is organized in
conjunction with the U.S.-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade
and Economic Cooperation Forum, a series of
meetings between between trade officials from the
U.S. government and their African
counterparts. The Forum is required by the
African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), an
American law that provides preferential access to
the American marketplace for nearly 6000 African
products. The previous Private Sector Session was
held in Mauritius in January of this
year. CCA (www.africacncl.org),
established in 1993, is a nonpartisan nonprofit
organization of more than 170 U.S. companies
dedicated to strengthening the commercial
relationship between the U.S. and Africa. CCA
members represent nearly 85 percent of total U.S.
private sector investments in Africa. The Corporate Council on Africa American
and African Business Women's Alliance Selects
Corporate Council on Africa as Principal Partner in
the United States WASHINGTON, DC - The
American and African Business Women's Alliance
(AABWA), established to provide training,
networking and to promote trade and investment
among African women and between American and
African women, will locate its U.S. secretariat at
the Corporate Council on Africa, in Washington, DC.
The organization, chaired by Joyce Banda of Malawi,
has located its Africa secretariat in Kampala,
Uganda. Sandra Taylor, Vice Chair of AABWA and Vice
President of Eastman Kodak Company, said,
‚"Our organization was established two years
ago, after our first conference in Chicago. My
vision for the association is to empower American
and African women to engage in trade and investment
in African countries and with the United States.
American and African businesswomen have great
opportunities to grow their businesses through
international trade. The African Growth and
Opportunity Act, established to provide duty free
entry to the US for thousands of African products,
will only be successful for those who understand
how and have the means to take advantage of it.
AABWA wants to provide American and African women
training opportunities, information and contacts to
facilitate growth, through exports, and to foster
the development of women owned businesses and of
female executives." The Corporate Council on
Africa, a membership organization consisting of 165
corporations representing more than 80% of all US
private investment in Africa, seeks to enhance its
programs with African businesses and its focus on
small and medium-sized enterprises. ‚"Women
are the backbone of many African economies and are
increasingly involved in entrepreneurship and trade
in Africa. American women have been the primary
source of small business growth in our country in
recent years. CCA is pleased to establish this
partnership with AABWA, as our mutual objectives in
these areas can only be strengthened through our
new relationship,” commented
Stephen Hayes, President of CCA. AABWA has recently
incorporated as AABWA (US) Inc. and has filed for
tax-exempt status as a charitable organization in
the United States under section 501(c) 3 of the
Internal Revenue Code. Its U.S. Advisory Board
includes women and men executives and business
owners with years of experience and interest in
Africa. AABWA's last major event was in February
2002 in Botswana, where over 300 women from the
United States, 23 countries in Africa and the
Caribbean, networked and attended seminars and a
training course that was broadcast by satellite to
five countries throughout Africa. A full roster of
programs and training are planned over the next
year in the US and Africa in partnership with CCA,
with other business associations and with
like-minded organizations. Lauri Fitz-Pegado, member of
AABWA's U.S. Advisory Board said, ‚"AABWA does
not want to reinvent the wheel, but to partner with
existing entities which share our mission. We want
to add value through our membership and vast
network of women throughout the African continent.
Our economy and those in Africa face special
challenges today. These challenges of our times
require creative use of limited resources to reap
high returns on investment. AABWA wants to work
efficiently and effectively, maximizing the benefit
to our own membership and to all of our
partners.‚" For further information
about AABWA, contact www.aabwa.com The Corporate Council on
Africa |
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