Charles,
It seems that France's conspiracy to thwart any attempt by the U.S. to settle down in Central Africa reached an ominous pitch in 1996 in the successful elimination of Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown....
Here's a reminder:
Susan E. Rice, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Address to the Corporate Council on Africa
Houston, Texas, April 25, 1999
"Attracting Capital to Africa" Summit Program
Mayor Brown, Congresswoman Jackson-Lee, Percy Wilson, Maurice Tempelsman, distinguished Presidents and Prime Ministers, business leaders, your excellencies and honored guests: it is a privilege for me to address the Corporate Council on Africa's Attracting Capital to Africa Summit. On behalf of the Administration, let me thank the city of Houston for its Texas-size welcome and hospitality.
I want to applaud CCA, Ambassador David Miller, David H. Miller and Kevin Callwood, for doing the almost impossible--organizing an even bigger and more impressive summit than the Westfields Conference of 1997. This event is testimony to how far we all have come together in building stronger public-private sector ties and a true partnership between the U.S. and the nations of Africa.
Some 5 years ago, in 1994, at the White House Conference on Africa, President Clinton challenged us all to get to work, "to develop a policy toward Africa that would unleash the potential of the African people in ways that would lead to a safer and more prosperous world, a better life for them and a better life for us." The long-term success of this policy depends on the collaborative efforts of the United States, the African people and their governments, and both of our private sectors. To coin a phrase used only in Texas, "you can't get lard unless you boil the hog." We all have to come through. We all--government and private sector, African and American--have to deliver.
And I am proud to say the United States Government is starting to deliver. The late Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown had already traveled twice to Africa when in Dakar in 1995 he radically recast our commercial policy toward Africa. His now famous words were: "The United States no longer concedes Africa's markets to its traditional European suppliers." (*) That same year, Vice President Gore inaugurated the U.S.-South Africa Binational Commission to broaden our bilateral cooperation on a range of economic, social and political issues. [...]
Excerpted from:
state.gov
(*)By uttering that mordant statement, Brown unwittingly signed his own death warrant....
Accordingly, as African leaders were first to acknowledge it, the loss turned out to be a severe standstill in US trade policy toward Africa:
The Post
ZAMBIA'S LEADING INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
No. 446, TUESDAY EDITION, APRIL 9, 1996
Columns
Orbituary: Africa loses out in Ron Brown's death
By Maidstone Mulenga and Sundie Sinkala
When the plane carrying US Commerce Secretary Ron Brown plunged into a hill in Croatia on last Wednesday, it shattered Africa's best link to trade and business with the United States.
Brown's death has robbed the Clinton administration of its most conciliatory voice on trade matters, and this loss will be seriously felt in Africa's quest to lure American businesses.
Brown's death will no doubt destroy the bound he recently created with African countries when he toured the continent searching for business contacts for the American-based companies. Brown lobbied hard to make "commercial diplomacy," or shared trade and investment concerns with Africa despite the negative rating the continent gets because it's seeming love for undemocratic power.
As Commerce Secretary, Brown took a global view of trade and made United States realise that Africa can be a viable business partner in the changing climate of import and export business.
Born on August 1, 1941, Brown did his military service between 1963-1967 before reading for a law degree in 1970 at St John's University after which he engaged in private law practice in Washington between 1981-1982.
Brown had risen through the ranks of public service and Democratic Party politics over the past 20 years to become what the Wall Street described as "the consummate Washington insider".
His contribution and dedication to public service began when he, as a lawyer, joined the National Urban League, a civil rights organisation. He became a general counsel and rose to be its deputy director before leaving to work for Senator Edward Kennedy as deputy campaign manager during his unsuccessful presidential bid in 1980.
And President Clinton, on his nomination lauded him for "displaying remarkable leadership skills... He was good at bringing people together". Predictably, the American President spoke of the many tasks ahead of him in the American business circles in relation to other countries.
"With Ron Brown as secretary of commerce," he said, "America business will know that it has a strong and independent leader and a forceful advocate."
And with regard to Africa, Brown strived to make U.S. businesses to get rid of the notion that only famine, political chaos and mismanagement comes from Africa.
By taking company executives on business tours, Brown sought to make these executives see beyond Europe and Asia as avenues for their business ventures.
But with his death, all that effort stands to go to waste as it is not clear how his successor would undertake the ventures that Brown initiated.
United States, being what it is, started talking about a possible successor even before Brown's body was positively identified at the crash site. Indications point to a former White House Chief of Staff as a successor.
Another issue that is worrying over Brown's death is that the Republican- Controlled US Congress is fighting to dismantle the Commerce Department and may seize this moment to push further.
By dismantling the department, the Congress would be robbing African countries of a centralised business contact for trade in the United States.
Without the Commerce Department, African countries and companies are susceptible to cunning tricks of American businesses.
That is why Africa should mourn Brown's loss. Besides, it's not everyday that a 'brother' holds such a high position in the US government.
Other portfolios Brown held include those of chief counsel to the US Senate Judiciary Committee, chief counsel to the Democratic National Committee in 1981 and later becoming its deputy chairman and chairman of the Task Force on Voting Rights and Voter Participation in 1986. He also became a senior political adviser to Michael Dukakis, the Democratic Party candidate in 1988.
His shrewd assessment with what went wrong with the Democratic Party after 1988 brought him to the forefront of party politics and got elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
It is said that one of the reasons Clinton picked on Brown was because of his efforts to revamp the Democratic Party.
"President Clinton chose me because he knows I know how to lead and to motivate, how to inspire and how to organise.... The mission is very simple," said Brown at his nomination. "We have to build the future of all our people. If we are serious about rebuilding our economy, if we are serious about creating long-term, high-paying jobs for our people, if we are serious about maintaining leadership in manufacturing as well as technologies, then we simply must have a national strategy to help our business and our workers complete."
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PS: HEY, VERNON JORDAN! Watch your back while going out of Lazard Freres' Paris HQ.... |
