Africa: Statement by Mark Green, USAID Administrator, on Prosper Africa at the Corporate Council on Africa Conference

Press release

Maputo, Mozambique – GREEN ADMINISTRATOR: Thank you for this kind introduction and for your excellent leadership. And a special thanks to Florie Liser, President of the Africa Business Council, for inviting me to join you today. As many of you know, I was ambassador of the United States to Tanzania, a magnificent neighbor of Mozambique to the north. My time there, where I led initiatives like PEPFAR and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, taught me a lot about what I know about development in Africa. But, what has taught me even more, what has shaped it even more, it is the time that I spent in Africa some twenty years ago. At the time, I was teaching at school in a small village in Kenya, not far from the Ugandan border. Most of my students were poor. Most of my students were barefoot. Our school lacked reliable water and electricity. We had no light, only windows. In some classes we had a textbook for every dozen students. Americans are sometimes surprised when I tell them that, throughout the year that I served in this middle school, none of my students ever asked me for money. They might have asked to borrow books; they often asked for extra lessons, but they never asked for documentation. They really wanted a helping hand, a chance to make their own way. I often think about those days, these barefoot children, with big eyes and even bigger dreams. There are millions and millions of young people like them everywhere in this beautiful continent. More and more every day. The median age of Mozambican is a little over 17 years old. Across the continent, he is just under 20 years old.

Sixty per cent of Africans are under 25, and in a decade there will be about 320 million Africans between the ages of 15 and 24. Each of them has bright eyes and big dreams, eager to make his own way. And, I think the challenge for our generation is to make sure these opportunities are there. It will not be easy By some estimates, Africa will need 18 million new jobs a year over the next 20 years just to match these new entrants into the labor market. Can the government create these jobs? Even if they could, I doubt they are exciting opportunities that these young Africans dream about. In terms of external aid, will these opportunities come from authoritarian donors? Most of the time, their help appears more like predatory financing than an honest to good help. A mortgaged future instead of a stepping stone to economic dynamism, chains instead of self-sufficiency. But we are here because we know that there is an answer. There is a way. This is the path that led to the South Korean miracle, the Indian miracle and so many others. Private enterprise is the most powerful force on Earth, it lifts lives and builds communities.

Our mission at USAID is to foster the path of self-reliance. And, we know that private enterprise is the force that brings the countries there. In terms of creating these opportunities, lasting opportunities for these young Africans in the making, nothing else is close. That is why Prosper Africa's Trump administration is important. This is not a program. it's a new approach. A new frame. A framework that seeks to liberate and mobilize private enterprise. I believe this gives us the opportunity to double bilateral trade and investment in the coming years. Prosper Africa brings together, harmonizes and leverages our support tools abroad to promote stability and good governance, as well as a business-friendly environment. Prosper Africa is different because it is demand driven and private sector driven. It aligns the tools of our public sector to leverage the innovation, resources, knowledge and networks of our private sector.

So what are the benefits for America? Well, Prosper Africa will contribute to the prosperity and security of America, fuel economic growth and job creation, and demonstrate the superior value proposition of the markets and private enterprise . What is there for Africa? Prosper Africa will help lift the debt trap, the trap that authoritarian donors have planted as antipersonnel mines in too many parts of the continent. Prosper Africa is creating options and alternatives for African leaders, who are looking for some help in planning their future. This will help Africans to seize the power of investment and business and accelerate their journey towards self-reliance.

Agree, the details of the plan of the administration. Prosper Africa will increase and prioritize US-led staff and programs to accomplish the following: First, facilitate transactions by providing blended funding, loan guarantees, market information, advocacy and other services. a range of services for risk investments. Second, expand the knowledge of the US private sector and the use of transaction facilitation services offered by the US government. Third, it will develop and deepen markets by engaging local companies to provide matchmaking services with US firms and African supply chain and value departments. Fourth, it will level the playing field for US companies by identifying and removing regulatory and logistical barriers to trade, thereby increasing transparency and reducing the cost of doing business in Africa.

Fifth, it will develop US trade and investment centers in multi-agency platforms. Sixth, it will include technical advisers in these centers to create an easily accessible trade and investment support package. Seventh, it will create an additional trade and investment center in North Africa. And eighth, it will increase the external business services of USAID's private sector catalysts in Africa to serve as "transaction facilitation teams" in strategic markets. Prosper Africa will develop real and concrete country-by-country strategies to improve private investment and financing. It will do so by removing growth and investment constraints in selected countries from analyzes that will create task lists to reduce investment barriers for US firms.

I think you can say that Prosper Africa is not a new program. It's a new way of doing business. It capitalizes on the re-authorization of EXIM Bank and the new Development Finance Corporation. In addition, it provides importers, exporters and investors with the full range of US government networks and resources. I'll understand if any of you were skeptical, after all, as Ronald Reagan said, the 10 scariest words in the English language are: "Hello, I'm here from the government and I'm here to help."

However, we have seen in recent years what thoughtful and business-friendly initiatives can do. Like Power Africa 2.0, where we help connect the projects of governments, financiers and private companies that will someday feed an entire continent. Like Feed the Future, help foreign farmers become more prosperous and better connected to global markets, bridging the gap between their needs and US businesses.

In each of these efforts, we have combined the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of American and African companies with the desire of governments to achieve sustainable development results. This is precisely what Prosper Africa will help to achieve, and I believe on a larger scale than ever before. I have therefore started today by telling you that my most memorable period in Africa has been that of teacher. I would like to end by giving you my second most memorable moment. It was my very first trip abroad as a director. I visited the Somali region of Ethiopia, an area that was entering its fourth consecutive year of drought.

Part of the program was to participate with our partner, the World Food Program, in the distribution of food products. And, I remember walking on a path where we had bags of grain that we provided to the families who desperately needed it. While we were walking, a wonderful Ethiopian lady approached me. She said, "I have a question." And I said, "Yes, ma'am." "First of all, thank you for this food." "We needed it." And my question is, "Can you help us with irrigation so that we never have to ask for food again?" His own future is what we need to exploit.

Nothing will meet their needs, nothing can exploit this spirit as a private enterprise. And nothing can, in my opinion, better serve the private company than to gather our tools in Prosper Africa. It's a collaboration between the government and you all. We have work. Sky is the limit. Thank you.