/ 21 January 1999

CLINTON FOCUSES ON AFRICA

BILL CLINTON’S long-awaited Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, involving a free-trade package for Africa, was resurrected in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday. The Bill was killed in the Senate last year and was due to be reintroduced in the House of Representatives with revisions this year. Concerns about textile imports threatening certain US states’ economies may produce the same obstacles to the Bill as last year. However, African diplomats in Washington are pressing hard for passage of the Bill and may consider putting pressure on corporations doing business in their countries to support the Bill.