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Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2000 00:05:48 EDT
From: [log in to unmask]
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Subject: [AfricaMatters] Sparks to fly over US trade act

Mail and Guardian
South Africa
October 9, 2000

Sparks to fly over US trade act
JOHN GROBLER, Windhoek | Saturday

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THE United States' new African Growth and Opportunities Act is expected to
generate some controversy at a southern African economic summit in Windhoek
next week.
Many of the countries in the region have been excluded by the terms of the
new law, say the organisers of the Southern Africa Trade and Investment
Summit, which will be attended by leaders of the 14-nation Southern African
Development Community (SADC), financiers and captains of industry.
But at least three of the countries whose top leaders have been invited have
been disqualified from the terms of the act, which Washington has touted as a
means of halting Africa's growing economic marginalisation in the trend
towards globalisation.
Lesotho and Swaziland have been disqualified for unfair labour practises,
while Zimbabwe is currently facing a barrage of sanctions from the United
States for its perceived lack of respect for the rule of law.
The conference, organised by the Paris-based International Herald Tribune,
hopes to draw foreign investment into the SADC countries, seen as one of the
most stable and organised trading blocks in Africa.
But although a recent World Economic Forum competitiveness report on Africa
rated Botswana, South Africa and Namibia relatively highly in terms of
investor-friendly environments, this has had little impact on direct foreign
investment in their economies.
The 2000 UN World Investment Report, released earlier his week, showed that
Angola toppped the list for direct foreign investment, with a total of $1.8bn
invested largely in its energy sector.
Executive director of the Namibia Investment Centre David Nuyoma said the
investment flows into Africa as outlined by the UN report simply defied logic.
Namibia and Botswana, rated respectively as the third and fourth most
competitive countries in Africa, failed to attract the kind of foreign
investment that war-torn Angola and Sudan did, he pointed out.
This showed that foreign investors still looked at Africa simply as a source
of cheap raw material, such as oil and diamonds, he said.
The summit will address topics such as the potential for growth in
telecommunications, water supply, tourism, transport infrastructure, energy
and mining. - AFP

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