/ 11 December 2012

New business council helps US compete in Africa

The initiative is the latest US effort to make up lost ground in Africa
The initiative is the latest US effort to make up lost ground in Africa

A leading United States business group on Monday said it was creating the US–South Africa Business Council as part of a broader effort to respond to increased competition throughout Africa from China, Europe and others.

"We need to elevate the business community's game in the continent. We have American investment there, but we have fallen behind frankly in the last 10 years," said Myron Brilliant, senior vice-president at the United States Chamber of Commerce.

The initiative is the latest US effort to make up lost ground in Africa, which this year is home to many of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the continent in August and acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank just returned from a trip to South Africa and Kenya.

It also comes at a time when South Africa continues to struggle with high unemployment and widespread poverty, two decades after the end of the apartheid era that lifted people's hope for a better life.

Investing in South Africa
"The goal of both countries is [to] create jobs, among other things. Jobs and economic growth," said Robert Hormats, US Under Secretary of State. "We really see this [new council] as part of a two-way win-win process where we can strengthen trade ties and investment."

US companies that invest in South Africa, the biggest economy on the continent, will be in a better position to compete throughout Africa, Hormats added.

Charter members of the Council include US beverage giant Coca-Cola, engineering and construction firm Black & Veatch and drug manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company, as well as smaller firms such as Solar Reserve – a solar energy project development company.

US companies see business opportunities in sectors such as mining, finance, communications, energy, transportation and infrastructure development, said Scott Eisner, vice-president for African affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce.

"There has been a shift in thinking in corporate America towards Africa. The Chinese owned the better part of the last decade when it came to investment there," Eisner said.

The US business community will use the new council as a vehicle to get into other emerging markets in Africa – such as Mozambique, with its plentiful natural gas resources and Botswana, with its huge coal reserves, he said. – Reuters