US embassy cable - 03ABUJA1339

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ABUJA 001339 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
PLEASE PASS TO ALL AFRICA POST 
LAGOS FOR ADMIN 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, ECON, PREL, SOCI, EINV, XA, NI 
SUBJECT: THE ABUJA SULLIVAN SUMMIT WAS A SUCCESS 
 
1. Summary:  The Sixth Leon H. Sullivan Summit, 
convened July 12-17 in Abuja was momentous and 
successful.  The overarching Summit theme was "Africa: 
A Continent of Possibilities" and the week lived up to 
its name.  President Bush, the first Republican 
President to visit Africa, made a historic address to 
open the Summit.  Hosted by Nigerian President 
Obasanjo the Summit was attended by approximately 15 
African Heads of State, important private sector 
figures and representatives from NGOs and academia who 
came to the event to strengthen the relationships 
between Africans and Americans in the key areas of 
business, trade and investment, education, health and 
agriculture.  The late Rev. Sullivan's legacy of self- 
help and bridge-building across the Atlantic was 
affirmed by the Summiteers, including President George 
Bush in his opening remarks.  In addition to Secretary 
Powell, National Security Advisor Rice and White House 
Chief of Staff Card who were part of the President's 
delegation, the Summit was well attended by senior USG 
officials, representing the U.S. Agency for 
International Development (USAID), the U.S. Trade 
Representative (USTR), the Department of 
Transportation (DOT), and the Department of Energy 
(DOE).  Ambassador Jeter hosted a welcome reception 
for the Summit delegation.  End Summary). 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
THE SETTING: QUITE AN ASSEMBLAGE 
-------------------------------- 
 
 
2.  The Sixth Sullivan Summit gathered together an 
expressive roster of government and private sector 
personalities and talent from both sides of the 
Atlantic.  Thirty-one African countries were 
represented by Heads of State or other senior 
government officials including President Obasanjo, 
Senegal President Wade, Mozambique Chissano (current 
African Union Chairman), President Kerekou of Benin, 
Namibian Prime Minister Gurirab, Burkinabe President 
Compaore, President Kufuor of Ghana, Gambian President 
Jammeh, President de Menezes of Sao Tome and Principe, 
President Mkapa of Tanzania, President Nguema of 
Equatorial Guinea, Togo's Eyadema, and even embattled 
President Mugabe of Zimbabwe attended the event 
(probably in an attempt to lessen his growing 
political isolation). 
 
 
3.  In addition to paying tribute to Rev. Sullivan, 
the African leaders energetically discussed the 
panoply of development challenges facing their 
countries and their continent.  American and Nigerian 
corporate leaders were represented in significant 
numbers, described their interventions in support of 
development in Africa, and made commitments to 
continue their efforts, including to help prevent the 
spread of HIV/AIDS and other preventable diseases, 
increase the use of information technology, and 
improve food security.  A bit of Hollywood luster was 
added by the attendance of actors Chris Tucker (Rush 
Hour) and Joseph Phillips (The Cosby Show). 
 
 
4.  The more than 600 delegates participated in 
plenary sessions and workshops that produced 
actionable recommendations building on agreements from 
earlier Summits and other global fora. 
Recommendations in the thematic areas of agriculture, 
health, education, and energy, trade and investment 
are intended to expand public-private partnerships to 
produce healthier and more educated populations in 
Africa, increase cooperation between Africa and the 
United States, and enhance Africa's position in the 
global economy.   The Summit recommendations will be 
issued as a Summit Action Resolution and cited on the 
Summit website at www.thesummit.org. 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
PRESIDENT BUSH: OPENS THE SUMMIT/SETS THE PACE 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
 
5.  In a historic first for the Summit, the sitting 
President of the United States opened the affair. 
President Bush eulogized Rev. Sullivan and reaffirmed 
key components of our Africa policy - the Millennium 
Challenge Account (MCA), the PMTCT, the Emergency AIDS 
Initiative, and anti-terrorism.  He also announced a 
grant of $5 million dollars to one of Rev. Sullivan's 
organizations, the International Foundation for 
Education and Self Help (IFESH) to support teacher 
training.  President Bush was accompanied by Mrs. 
Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, National 
Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, and White House 
Chief of Staff Andrew Card.  Other senior officials of 
the Bush Administration were also in attendance, 
including Assistant Secretary of State for African 
Affairs, Walter Kansteiner, Senior Advisor on Africa 
to the President Jendayi Frazer, Assistant 
Administrator, Bureau for Africa at USAID Constance 
Berry Newman and Assistant Administrator, Bureau for 
Global Health at USAID Anne Peterson. 
 
 
6.  Before President Bush's address, President 
Obasanjo delivered brief remarks welcoming the 
delegates to Abuja and acknowledging the great 
contributions Reverend Sullivan had made strengthening 
the relationship between Africa and America.  Hope 
Sullivan, President and CEO of the Sullivan 
Foundation, acknowledged the many American and 
Nigerian corporate sponsors of the Summit, including 
Chevron Texaco, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Archer Daniels 
Midland, Chrome Energy Corp., Coca Cola, Sea, 
Petroleum and Gas, World Airways, SunTrust Oil, and 
USAID. 
 
 
7.  On July 14, Ambassador Andrew Young, Summit 
Chairman and Chairman of the Sullivan Foundation and 
Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar addressed the 
opening plenary session.  Young stated that Africa is 
the missing cog in the world economy.  He stressed 
that realization of Rev. Sullivan's dream of building 
a bridge between Africa and America would promote 
mutual development that will make use of the 
heretofore untapped resources and wealth on the 
African continent.  After welcoming the delegates to 
the "emerging city of Abuja," Vice President Abubakar 
stated that democracy will endure in Nigeria and that 
the Obasanjo administration will pursue new 
investments, infrastructure enhancement, capital 
growth, and enabling environment.  He further stated 
that Nigeria is removing barriers to investment, 
banking practices are being liberalized, severe anti- 
corruption laws are being implemented and a level 
economic playing field is being created. 
 
 
8.  The Summit theme, "Africa: A Continent of 
Possibilities" was explored through the lens of four 
themes: 1) Agriculture, 2) Health, 3) Education, and 
4) Energy, Trade and Investment.  Summit organizers 
emphasized that each theme is integral to sustainable 
development and economic growth and urged delegates to 
make forward-looking and pragmatic recommendations 
that will have practical application. 
 
 
--------------------------------------- 
AGRICULTURE: MAKING FOOD MORE PLENTIFUL 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
9.  Discussion of agriculture, held on July 14, 
consisted of a plenary and three break-out sessions. 
Plenary speakers were Dr. Walter Hill, Tuskegee 
University, Nigerian Agriculture Minister Bello, Ms. 
Eva Clayton, FAO and South African Agricultural 
Minister Didiza.  Break-out sessions focussed on 
Biotechnology and its Impact on Food Security and 
Sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa; Reducing Hunger 
in Africa; and Models of Successful Agribusiness 
Development and Trade in Africa. 
 
 
10.  Speakers in the plenary and break-out sessions 
made significant points, including: a) poverty, 
environmental degradation and malnutrition rob African 
nations of vitality and the opportunity to develop 
their people and resources; b) science and technology, 
(currently constrained by low funding in most African 
nations), improved application of best practices can 
make a significant difference in tackling Africa's 
chronic malnutrition and poverty; c) food security is 
a paramount issue for the security of states; d) 
agriculture is central to poverty reduction, but faces 
the challenges of low increases in yield, low input, 
and little value-added processing; e) women play a 
critical role in agriculture in Africa; f) and NEPAD 
is a concrete demonstration of African collective 
political will to promote agriculture and economic 
development in general. 
 
 
11.  Agriculture recommendations included: a) science 
and technology in agriculture (e.g., through research) 
needs to be addressed by encouraging both private-and 
public-sector investment; b) women's role in 
agricultural production must be enhanced and 
safeguarded; c) biotechnology must factor n an overall 
strategy to promote agriculture growth and assure food 
security; d) a strategy to expand the role of the 
private sector and the potential of expanded use of 
science and technology needs to be developed; and e) 
Africa must create an environment that encourages 
private-sector investment in small-scale farming. 
More information on the Agriculture presentations and 
recommendations will be available on the Summit 
website at www.thesummit.org. 
 
 
---------------------------- 
HEALTH: LONGER, BETTER LIVES 
---------------------------- 
 
 
12.  The Health Plenary, held on July 14, featured Dr. 
Anne Peterson, Assistant Administrator, Bureau for 
Global Health, USAID, South African Health Minister 
Tshabalala-Msimang, Professor Babatounde Osotimehin, 
 
SIPDIS 
Chairman, National Action Committee on AIDS, Nigeria, 
Dr. Eamon Kelly, IFESH Board of Directors, and Jay 
Pryor, Chevron Nigeria.   Break-out sessions were held 
on these topics: Mobilizing the Needed Leadership in 
the Fight Against HIV/AIDS; Rolling Back Malaria; 
Nutrition and Food Security; and MEDHELP Foundation's 
Open Heart Surgery. 
 
 
13.  Plenary and break-out session speakers addressed 
the nexus between health and development, 
acknowledging the threat to sustainable development 
caused by the prevalence of debilitating illnesses and 
the general deterioration of national health 
infrastructures, despite undoubted advances in some 
areas.  They pointed to the many key determinants of 
health and disease that lie outside the direct control 
of the health sector: water and sanitation, education, 
agriculture, employment, environment, trade, tourism, 
energy, housing, security, as well as technology. 
Speakers urged the use of affordable technologies to 
assist HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support. 
Peterson, in particular, aligned the need for adequate 
investments in health with national policies on 
poverty reduction.  Speakers called for stable and 
high-quality assistance and public-private 
partnerships to combat poverty, HIV/AIDS, food 
insecurity, gender inequalities, other priority 
development issues, and to move Africa toward the 
millennium development goals (MDGs). 
 
 
14.  Health recommendations were made in each break- 
out session and they include:  a) African governments 
should create enabling environments for stakeholders 
to meet key national, regional and international 
health goals (e.g. MDGs and the Abuja Declaration on 
Fighting HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria);  b) 
African and US governments, businesses and 
international PVOs/NGOs; c) African and US governments 
and development partners should ensure that model 
multi-sector approaches to address health challenges 
are implemented and assessed including what does not 
work, in addressing African health problems; the 
information should be widely shared using information 
technology; e) All African development partners should 
provide more support for research and scientifically 
tested utilization of African traditional medicine, 
keeping in mind the need for local patent protection 
of any medicines  produced; and g) The Sullivan Summit 
should use its web site to highlight innovative 
partnerships that effectively address HIV/AIDS and 
other African health challenges.  More information on 
the health presentations and recommendations will be 
available on the Summit website at www.thesummit.org. 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
EDUCATION: THE NEED TO KEEP PACE 
-------------------------------- 
 
 
15.  Education sessions were held July 15.  Dr. 
Frederick Humphries, President and CEO, National 
Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education 
(NAFEO) chaired the plenary panel of distinguished 
speakers:  Mr. Julius Harvey, Vice President, Chevron 
Texaco's West Africa Products; Mr. Noureini Tidjani- 
Serpos, Assistant Director-General, Africa Department, 
UNESCO, Paris; Honorable Constance Berry Newman, 
Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Africa, USAID; and 
Mr. Michael Omolewa, Permanent Representative of 
Nigeria, UNESCO, Paris.  At the end of the plenary 
session, Chevron Texaco committed $5 million to the 
Sullivan Foundation for the Books for Africa Program. 
 
 
16.  Break-out session topics were: Institutionalized 
Development Collaboration Between Historically Black 
Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and African Colleges 
and Universities; Prioritizing Universal Primary 
Education and Gender Equality; Utilizing Information 
Technology and the Training of Trainers in 
Strengthening Basic Education; and the Role of the 
Private Sector and NGOs in Capacity Building. 
 
 
17.  Plenary and Break-out speakers identified 
challenges and trends that warrant further 
consideration for educational development in Africa 
and examined potential strategic US/Africa 
partnerships, with an emphasis on women and children. 
Many substantive points were made, including the 
following summary items: a) despite improvements 
within the past decade, inadequate access and quality, 
particularly for girls continue to hinder education in 
Africa; b) Africa has the lowest school enrollment 
rates in the world, with a corollary of low literacy 
rates; c) equal access to education is key in 
eradicating gender inequality; d) education is a 
precursor to an increasingly skilled workforce, a 
strong civil society, and economic growth; e) many 
African countries will not achieve Education for All 
goals by the 2015 target; f) holistic education in 
indigenous learning contexts is important along with 
the need to educate communities of people; and, g) 
various commitments by donors and the private sector 
can assist Africa to achieve qualitative education for 
all: the U.S. Presidential initiative, the African 
Education Initiative (AEI), UNESCO's efforts to 
eradicate gender inequality, and Shell's scholarships 
to students. 
 
 
18.  Education recommendations included: 1) African 
countries need to commit more resources to education; 
2) the NEPAD Secretariat should develop an education 
action plan, addressing advocacy, measuring success, 
teacher training, support counseling, and production 
of resource materials; 3) HBCUs should establish 
linkages with African and Caribbean universities, 
particularly through a network of international 
virtual universities that will employ technology 
transfer, teacher training, etc.; 4) address gender 
inequalities through aggressive campaigns; and, 5) 
Summit and international organizations should  post 
and adopt best practices in capacity building at the 
community level.  More information about the Education 
presentations and recommendations will be posted on 
the Summit website at www.thesummit.org. 
 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
ENERGY, TRADE AND INVESTMENT-PATHS TO GROWTH 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
 
19.  The Energy, Trade and Investment sessions were 
held July 16.  George Kirkland, President 
ChevronTexaco Overseas Petroleum (USA) served as the 
chair and gave the keynote address.  Other speakers 
included: Vice President Abubakar; Dr. Rilmanu Lukman, 
Special Adviser to Nigerian President Obasanjo on 
Petroleum; Congressman William Jefferson; Mr. Kofi 
Appenteng, Chairman Board of Directors, African- 
American Institute (USA); Wiseman Nkuhlu, Steering 
Committee Chairperson, NEPAD (South Africa).  Break- 
out sessions were held on the following topics:  Trade 
and AGOA; Energy-Potential and Possibilities; and The 
Potential of Investment Opportunities. 
 
 
20.  Vice President Abubakar pointed to tremendous 
investment opportunities not only in Nigeria's energy 
sector but in agriculture, solid minerals, cement, 
fertilizer and tourism.  He announced that the GON 
will privatize industries in the energy sector and has 
started this process by unbundling for the mammoth 
state-owned electric company, NEPA.  Atiku applauded 
the United States' AGOA partnership with Africa and 
welcomed the extension of the Act by the Bush 
Administration; he said Nigeria's textile industry was 
well positioned to take advantage of AGOA.  He 
recommended that United States companies should invest 
more in Nigeria's energy sector, especially in the 
natural gas sector and that United States 
entrepreneurs should invest in and develop non-oil 
sectors such as agriculture, petrochemicals, solid 
minerals and tourism. 
 
 
21.  The main points and recommendations that emerged 
from the Energy, Trade and Investment sessions 
included the following: 
-- a) Speakers acknowledged that Nigeria will be at 
the forefront of deepwater oil and gas extraction over 
the next ten years, that Nigeria's local and regional 
gas markets have yet to be tapped, and oil development 
will remain strong for the foreseeable future; 
-- b) Nigerians must take advantage of the transfer of 
explorative and extractive technologies; 
-- c) Nigeria must develop its local gas market 
through investor incentives; 
-- d) The Gulf of Guinea will likely supply the United 
States with 25% of its crude oil by 2010, therefore, 
the region must make the country's bidding process and 
regulations more transparent and predictable; 
-- e) Nigeria should encourage investment in coal, 
uranium and gas sectors. 
-- f) Nigeria should stoke investment in non-oil 
industries, such as agriculture and mineral resources, 
by offering investors tax and import incentive in 
order to create more wealth and stability in the 
country; 
-- g) The GON must pass the required legislation to 
become AGOA eligible; 
-- h) The GON should provide concession incentives to 
gas, petrochemical and fertilizer companies to 
encourage development; 
-- i) Nigerian businessmen should use OPIC, the 
Export-Import Bank and the U.S. Trade and Development 
Authority to a greater extent for greater access to 
much needed investment insurance, capital and training 
opportunities; 
-- j) the United States should name Nigeria an area of 
vital strategic importance; 
-- k) African American and Nigerian businessmen should 
forge closer business links through the Black Caucus 
Foundation, the Sullivan Foundation or other 
organizations that promote African interests; and 
-- l) Western donors should contribute to NEPAD and 
partner with Africa countries as part of an 
overarching program to bring prosperity and peace to 
Africa. 
More information about the Energy, Trade and 
Investment presentations and recommendations will be 
available on the Summit website at www.thesummit.org. 
 
 
-------------------- 
PRESIDENTIAL PLENARY 
-------------------- 
 
 
22.  The Presidential Plenary was held on July 16. 
Led by President Obasanjo of Nigeria, the African 
Presidents expressed hope that the Summit would lead 
to greater corporate investment in Africa.  President 
Kerekou of Benin emphasized the cultural ties between 
Africa and the U.S., the need for more cooperation 
between HBCUs and African Universities, and praised 
AGOA as a way of increasing trade and NEPAD as a 
framework for effective action.  President Wade also 
held up the vision of  NEPAD as one of good governance 
and involvement of the private sector.  He stated 
that, a plan created by African decision-makers has a 
better chance of being implemented than one prepared 
by a technical expert.  Citing that the private sector 
developed the U.S. Europe and Japan, he said it can 
also develop Africa.  Having hosted the Summit of 1997 
in Zimbabwe, President Mugabe paid tribute to Rev. 
Sullivan and stressed the need for NEPAD.  However, 
his message, although in support of a good cause, also 
came with a touch of malice.  He asked the Summiteers 
to support NEPAD in order to "help Africans become 
ourselves.  Help us not to be puppets." 
 
 
23.  The coup in Sao Tome added unexpected drama to 
the Presidential Plenary.  Timing the coup with 
President de Menezes' absence may have been convenient 
for the putschists to achieve their takeover; however, 
it was terrible timing as far as the diplomatic public 
backlash to their action.  Not only did the Summit 
produce a convenient venue for the Heads of State to 
privately confer about the coup, each Head of State 
that ascended the rostrum condemned this arrogation, 
sending a clear message that coups were no longer 
acceptable practice in Africa.  When President de 
Menezes rose to speak, the audience erupted in 
applause and gave him a standing ovation.  He stated 
that, although already in Abuja, he decided not to 
attend the Summit after the coup was staged.  However, 
President Obasanjo persuaded him to attend the Summit 
to demonstrate that he was not cowed and to make a 
strong public appeal against this undemocratic action. 
 
 
23.  Other African leaders spoke at the ceremonial 
Final Funeral Rites of Rev. Leon Sullivan held on July 
17.  The ceremony was steeped in tradition as numerous 
traditional funeral dances were performed.  It was a 
very touching and moving occasion. 
 
 
LIBERI