U S- Kenya

Clinton urges African countries to focus on good governance

Article published on the 2009-08-05 Latest update 2009-08-05 17:22 TU

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the opening session of the eighth AGOA Forum in Nairobi
(Photo: Reuters)

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed sub-Saharan African countries at the African Growth and Opportunity Act conference in Kenya on Wednesday. She urged African countries to focus on good governance as an opportunity to attract more investors on the continent. She said marginalisation of women across Africa was hampering economic progress and that true economic progress in Africa depended on governments that rejected corruption.

After nine years of existence, Agoa’s results have fallen below original expectations. In the textile industry, competition from non-African countries has stifled sub-Saharan countries’ ability to compete in the US market.

"There has been a slight rise in exports, but unfortunately the exports are concentrated on energy products, that is, oil and minerals...primary products, not manufactured products," said Sunil Boodho, the deputy trade director at Mauritius' Foreign Affairs Ministry who is attending the  forum in Nairobi.

Clinton added that farm investment for greater food security is part of the Obama administration's new foreign policy.

"We are convinced that investing in agriculture is one of the most high-impact, cost effective strategies available for reducing poverty and saving and improving lives," added Clinton as she toured the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute.

This is the first leg of Clinton's 11-day, eight-nation trip to Africa. She is scheduled to visit Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Cape Verde.

Clinton is in Africa not only to concentrate on economics, but to focus on good governance and politics as as well.

She pushed Kenya's leaders to bring to justice those responsible for the rioting and violence after the December 2007 elections.

"Despite the setbacks of the recent past and the difficult road ahead, President Obama and I are convinced that the leaders of this nation have the capacity to reclaim the dream of one Kenya," she said after meeting with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

US Secretary of State is concluding her visit to Kenya where held meetings with Kenyan leaders over the slow pace of reform in the country and also address a major investment promotion conference.

Clinton moves next to South Africa but used her Nairobi visit to confer with Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who is struggling to fend off a three-month-old insurgent offensive.

Washington fears that war-ravaged Somalia could become a new haven for Al-Qaeda and the Obama administration recently admitted that it has been supplying weapons to Somalia's transitional government to help ot fend off an offensive by radical Islamic militants.

Daniel Volman is Director of the Africa Security Research Project and also advises the US government on Somalia. He says Washington's approach to the crisis is "ill-considered and quite dangerous."

"I think that they have chosen to pursue what are essentially unilateral US military actions, although they are clearly cooperating with the UN and with the African Union and seeking to conduct this policy through the instrument of the AU peacekeeping force in Somalia," Volman told RFI.

"It's very much an American initiative and also very much in line with President Obama's belief that the global war on terror doesn't make sense and that the way to pursue that global war on terror is through primarily military instruments," he added.