over the impact of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act on Africa began to brew. The President was called upon to submit five annual reports on American trade and development policy toward Africa. So began a trend that would prompt many in Congress to reconsider AmericaÆs economic ties to Africa. On April 24, 1997, a handful of members from the Congressional African Trade and Investment Caucus introduced the African Growth and Opportunity Act. One month later, Senator Lugar introduced an identical bill in the Senate. In mid-June of that year, the Clinton Administration formally embraced this new congressional trade initiative (Ahearn, 2000).
One month later, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright addressed the Senate Finance Committee in Washington, D.C. In her speech, Secretary Albright discussed the foreign policy rationale driving the African Growth Opportunity Act. Secretary Albright implored the Senate to consider some inspiring features of the new African continent. Among these, Albright highlighted the fact that the number of democratically elected governments in Sub-Saharan Africa had increased four-fold between 1988 and 1998. The Africans of today, argued Albright, have been ôliberated from Cold War divisionsö and are ôready and increasingly able to assume an equal place at the world tableö (Albright, 1998). 100,000 American jobs depend on trade with Africa, and given AfricaÆs potential for economic growth, our economies would surely benefit by being more intimately and benevolently intertwined. A ôstronger, more stable and prosperous Africa will be a better partner for security and peaceö, Albright pointed out, commenting that building real democracies based on open markets and respect for human rights must be the thrust of our policy toward Africa (Albright, 1998). According to Albright, the African Growth and Opportunity Act is geared specifically towards achieving these objectives.
In summarizing t...