The onestop shop, as they call it. And the government above and beyond that is setting up a fund, a guarantee fund to assist these small and Mediumsized Enterprises of the private sector to get going and to grow strong this guarantee fund, we hope, that will help the young particularly who are entrepreneurs who have something to give, who are interested in doing something to get the necessary loans from lending institutions under the overall guarantee fund that the government is now offering to that end. Let me say a word about our external partners. The borders of republic of congo are wide open, and we have seen how Business Partners have come to us from very far away, as far away as australia, certainly europe, the United States and are active in various sectors of our economy, and we are all in favor of that. Were very pleased to see it because this will spur the development of our smes, but also, certainly, will redound to the benefit of our Larger Companies and the sectors of oil, iron ore, phosphates and numerous other Important Industries that exist in our country. At the government level, we have set clear guidelines, set a clear course for the next 15 years such that major investment had been made in the industrialization and the modernization of the country. Our vision of industrialization will be, certainly, also based on the development of ago row industry and agriculture both. You have been in office a lengthy period, and according to term and age limits set forth in your countrys current constitution, your second and final term as president ends in 2016. There is talk of efforts to amend the constitution to the allow you to serve a third term. Do you support these efforts, and if successful, will you seek a third term . And you have to realize we are getting ready for our own american president ial election in a few years where there are term limits. But a number of people are inquiring about your future plans. [speaking in native tongue] [laughter] translator on the matter of constitutional reform, there is ongoing discourse in my country on this subject. Thats no secret. And people are debating, legitimately, whether this makes sense. Whether the constitution should be reformed not so much, let me say, because of me personally. The issue has to do with the limits that are set in the constitution. This is not a question of one or another person. It is truly a constitutional issue. So the debate is being held, it is a free debate, and people are giving the matter some thought. Should the constitution be reformed to allow further mandate . That is something that the people of the republic of congo themselves will have to decide, and there would have to be a referendum to that effect. So its entirely up to them. It will, in any event, be the people itself that will speak out. This cannot be be in any way something that flows from any one individuals desire to cling on to power. This is a bigger and broader question. Its an open question. And one that really has to do with our future, with the visage that the country itself has of itself. So i just let the debate go on, and well see where it takes us. Thank you. In my introductory remarks, i mentioned how you are devoting your government to protecting human rights. Nevertheless, there are some human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and freedomhouse who feel there are still restrictions on press freedoms, the rights of assembly and the rights of free expression. As you answered the previous question so thoroughly, i wonder if i could ask you what will you do to continue to advance such freedoms in your country . [speaking in native tongue] translator well, these freedoms exist. I spoke earlier of countries in africa that have numerous different Political Parties. I think in the case of the congo for four million inhabitants, we have, let me be see, i think 150 Political Parties at last could be give or take at last count, give or take a few. These are legal, legally established, formally incorporated Political Parties that carry on their activities as they see fit. There are trade unions that are freely established and are certainly very free in conducting their business as they see it, and the press is perfectly free in my country. We are, i think, in a sense a mecca for the press. There isnt any freer press than the press in the congo. There is a law that has been voted upon by parliament that protects journalists. No journalist can be arrested or thrown into prison for his or her opinion. The freedom of the press, freedom of speech are absolutely guaranteed by law in the republic of congo, and so if 150 Political Parties are conducting their business freely and trade unions and the press too, i dont, i dont know a Single Person who has been detained for his or her opinion. The ngos are free. As i say, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech. I think its a reach to think that there is a limit. I think theres quite abundant freedom, at least as far as i can tell. Thank you. I thought it was important to ask the question, and im pleased you gave a very detailed answer. We are almost out of time, but before asking the last question, we have a couple of housekeeping matters to take care of. First of all, id like to remind you about our Upcoming Events and speakers. On monday, august 4th, his excellency, jacob zuma, president of south africa, will be our guest of honor on the 20th anniversary year of Nelson Mandela speaking at the National Press club as president , and im pleased that we have with us today as a distinguished guest his excellency, ibrahim rasul, the ambassador of south africa. [applause] on september 17th john g. Stump, ceo of wells fargo be, will be with us. And on september 19th, larry merlot, president and ceo of cvs corporation, and stay tuned for more speakers planned by our Speakers Committee under swrerly and donna for the remainder of the year. And now id like to present you, sir, with our traditional National Press club mug which we are always pleased to do. [laughter] for our distinguished leaders. I know you may have other mugs, but this one is very special. [laughter] and i would like to ask [applause] id like to ask any journalist who interviewed president nguesso to report back to me if you dont see that mug there. [laughter] [speaking in native tongue] translator well, i will take my morning tea in this mug, thank you very much. [applause] thank you. Our final question is generally in a lighter mood, but this is a question not meant to be light or serious, but a real, practical issue. How often is your country confused with the democratic republic of congo [laughter] and how do you answer, how do you handle such errors . [speaking in native tongue] how often is your country refused, the relick of congo, with the democratic republic of congo, and how do you handle such misunderstandings . Speak [speaking in native tongue] translator how often . All the time. [laughter] and wed like very much for the drc to become zaire again. That would do it. [laughter] [applause] i wondered a while whether i should ask that question, and im glad i did. [laughter] thank you so much, your excellency. And thank you all for coming today. [applause] and thank you to you all. Thank you, again, to our partners in the World Affairs council d. C. We are adjourned. Translator please return your receivers to the table outside to. [inaudible conversations] please return your translating devices our foundation on your screen here on cspan2, that is the former mayor of new york city Michael Bloomberg introducing day two of over 50 heads of african nations. President obama is hosting the threeday event and day two focusing on business. Opening remarks here from the former mayor, also commerce secretary Penny Pritzker. The president will speak later, also the Vice President and the heads of a number of mayor u. S. Corporations. Its just getting started, so is our live coverage here on cspan2. That part of our relationship still is vitally important, but africa has now developed into a Global Economic force, and so our relationship must evolve and mature. And that is the purpose of this forum, to recast our relationship as a full, equal and advanced Economic Partnership, a partnership that holds as much promise for african countries as it does for america. We have the people in this room to make that partnership a success, so to start off the morning, i would like to invite all of you to take a few seconds to introduce yourself to the person next to you or someone you have not met yet. [laughter] [applause] [inaudible conversations] we can go on with this. This is doing exactly what we want to do. [inaudible conversations] as we all know, as we all know whether its in our families or our businesses or our countries, relationships are what matters. And thats the whole idea here today, to get to know each other, to develop contacts and to show our Mutual Respect, one for another. And thank you. Thank you. Clearly, a lot to talk about, and there will be more opportunities to continue our conversations. There is so much to discuss because africa is todays biggest Market Opportunity in the global economy. And if you think im kidding, just look at the numbers. Africa is expected to reach a 5 overall growth rate in 2015. It boasts six of the worlds ten Fastest Growing economies. It registered more than 400,000 new companies in the last year alone. And its middle class or consumer class is the Fastest Growing in the world. The fact is africa is no longer emerging, it is here now. As africa begins a new stage in its journey, we in america want to walk by its side. But we also realize that we have some catching up to do. Foreign investment in africa has reached record highs, but the United States is being driven more by its own domestic policies, and we are letting europe and china go faster than the u. S. And while our exports to the continent are at a record high, its also true that only 2 of our total exports go to africa. And that means that were missing out on a major opportunity to create jobs here at home. In america there is a disconnect between the reality of the African Market and the perception of the African Market. And this conference is aimed at fixing that. Countries and companies that ignore the African Market do so at their own peril, and they will and that will become increasingly true with each passing year. The business that i own, bloomberg lp, has offices in six countries in africa, eight cities, employing more than 160 people including more than 120 fulltime and freelance journalists, and we are growing there. In fact, the First Business trip that i took after leaving office in january was to south africa to help expand our offices both in capetown and joburg. We also launched a 10 million Training Program to increase Financial Reporting on the continent and help make African Markets more transparent. We worked closely with african football institutions financial institutions, private companies and central bankers to help them maximize efficiency, mitigate risk and increase capital flows. And that not only helps the local financial markets, it also helps attract more foreign supervisionment. Investment. My foundation has also been investing in africa for years. We didnt just start helping africa, weve been doing it for a long time because the research is clear that perhaps the best single investment you can make to spur Economic Development is to improve public health. In zambia, for instance, were working to stop the spread of malaria. In tanzania, senegal, uganda and burkina faso, were helping to prevent maternal deaths. And in 34 countries were fighting to reduce the deadly scourge of tobacco use. All of those efforts are saving lives and also supporting Economic Development because the healthier a society is, the more productive it is and the greatest its potential for growth. Were also working to create jobs through Training Programs in rwanda and the democratic republic of congo. President paul of rwanda and the president of the democratic republic of the congo are both here today, and both have been leaders in promoting sustainable farming. And to support that work, we provide the resources and training to help women create independent Coffee Farming businesses. More than 108,000 women have benefited from this program so far, and if you had a cup of coffee this morning, you are benefiting from it too. Now, if you didnt get much sleep last night, have a second cup. [laughter] in the decades ahead, i dont think theres any limit to the progress that africa can make. Imagine for a moment an african labor force that will surpass indias and triple the size of europes. Imagine an africa where extreme poverty as we know it is virtually eliminated, where a consumer class with rising incomes has greater purchasing power be, where Broadband Access stretches from cairo to cape town and all points in between, where Climate Change policies that protect africas coastal cities and farmlands go hand in hand with Economic Growth and where people from around the world want to live and work to experience africas natural beauty, diverse cultures and tolerant societies. That is the africa that africans want for their children and their childrens children. And its the africa that all of us can help bring to life if we seize the moment. Based on the Incredible Energy in this room, ive never been more optimistic about africas future, and i know that president obama and secretary pritzker feel the same way. The secretary deserves an enormous amount of credit for her leadership in pulling this conference together, and it is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to her. Secretary pritzker . [applause] [inaudible conversations] terrific, thank you. Thank you. Good morning and welcome to all the heads of state and leaders of businesses here with us today. And thank you to Michael Bloomberg for your leadership, and thank you to bloomberg philanthropies for your partnership in organizing this forum. I also want to acknowledge my deputy chief of staff, theo la comet, who played the lead role on behalf of the department of commerce in putting together this extraordinary event. I have known Michael Bloomberg for over a decade. Hes been a great source of wisdom and advice to me. And ive admired the way he led new york city, the way hes run his businesses and the way hes committed himself and his organization to africa and its people. It is always great pleasure to work with him, and as part of the large gathering of african heads of state ever hosted by an american president , we are both excited to welcome you to this historic event, bringing together remarkable numbers of ceos to discuss Business Opportunities in africa. Last year president obama traveled to the university of cape town to usher in a new chapter of the u. S. africa relationship. He called on students there, along with leaders from the 54 distinct countries of the African Union and leaders from the United States, to embrace key tenets of his vision for our alliance; to advance progress in democratic institutions, to strengthen peace and prosperity, to encourage opportunity and development and to spur Economic Growth, trade and investment. As americas chief commercial officer, i feel strongly that this last pillar, the u. S. Africa Economic relationship, is fundamental to our mutual peace and prosperity. We know that businesses serve as a key bridge between our continents, but we also share the conviction that the ties of commerce can be stronger, deeper and more lasting. When i led a trade mission to nigerian ghana this past may, i heard a variation of this message from public and private sector leaders alike. The u. S. africa commercial partnership is essential, and the time to do business in africa is no longer five years away. The time to do business there is now. Today on both sides of the atlantic there is a clear, mutual desire to deepen our ties of trade and investment because doing so will spur growth across the United States and the countries of africa. Investing in africa will create jobs in charlotte, north carolina, and expand the power supply in ghana because of the 175 million deal to upgrade an electricity grid, a direct result of our recent trade mission. Investing in africa will support workers in california and strengthen the health of patients in nigeria because of the mou signed by Environmental Chemical Corporation to construct a stateoftheart cancer institute. Investing in africa will spur job growth in cincinnati through Procter Gambles 900 million 300 Million Investment in a new manufacturing plan. Because when p g expands in nigeria and elsewhere, it supports thousands of jobs at home. These deals and investments demonstrate that the time is ripe to Work Together as partners in a spirit of Mutual Understanding and respect. To raise Living Standards in all of our nations and to address the challenges that impede our ability to develop closer economic bonds. Make no mistake, our economic and commercial partnership is a twoway street. Goods and Services Exports from the United States to africa markets support roughly 250,000 jobs here at home. As africas middle class continues to expand, we hope to see our export numbers grow too. And through select usa, the administration is actively encouraging African Companies to increase their presence here in the United States. Closer economic ties and rising demand create ample opportunity for businesses in the United States and africa to build new partnerships, reach new markets and support new jobs in the years to come. With each passing day, our commercial connections are deepening, our business bonds are increasing, and our trade partnership is maturing. Yet we have only just begun to scratch the surface. President obama and the department of commerce are ready the write the first pages of the new chapter of our relationship by taking our alicense to the next Level Alliance to the next level. To advance the president s vision for africa, we are expantedding our foreign commercial expanding our Foreign Commercial Service presence. These are our economic diplomats on the ground in country that help american businesses navigate each African Market. We are doubling the number of commercial offices in africa with new sites in angola, ethiopia, mozambique and tanzania. Were expanding offices in ghana, kenya, libya and morocco. And we are returning a Foreign Commercial Service presence to the African Development bank for the first time in three years. The department of commerce along with our partners at the u. S. Trade and Development Agency is today announcing ten new trade missions to africa and ten reverse trade missions to the United States by 2020. Our National Institute of standards and technology is launching the Global Cities teams challenge to create teams of cities and innovators working together on issues like air quality, resource management, Health Care Delivery and modern energy grids to utilize the best technology to build smart cities and to promote u. S. Industry engagement in africa, we have created a onestop shop web portal, trade. Gov dbia. Think doing business in africa. Where american businesses can learn about African Markets, find financing tools and discover potential projects, contacts and resources. A catalyst for each of us to pursue new deals and new investments as we build the next phase of the partnership between the United States and africa. One of the highlights of my trade mission to africa this spring was visiting the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of technology in gone up on with young innovators receive the training, mentorship, and guidance needed to take their ideas, and turn them into vibrant businesses. Each intrepid Young African wants to learn how to build thriving enterprises. If they had active capital it would be no limit to their potential. With the speed of Technology Today and the global reach of communication, these entrepreneurs can build their businesses using only a cell phone, then sell the products of around the world. Any young person with a good idea can bring their products to the rest of the globe. At meltwater, i witnessed what the future of ghana and the entire continent of africa will look like. If we do everything we can to support young entrepreneurs and continue to build lasting partnerships. These aspiring entrepreneurs are living proof of what robert f. Kennedy described nearly 50 years ago at the university of cape town. They represent ripples of hope. Indeed, every entrepreneur in ghana, nigeria, angola or or elsewhere, starts a business and braces a new idea represents a ripple of hope for the prosperity of the community. Every student in morocco, ethiopia, or elsewhere, who earns a degree and joins the workforce represents a ripple of hope for the future of a family. Every Business Owner in mozambique, kenya, or elsewhere, decide to reach new customers by exporting more goods represents a ripple of hope for the growth of a country. And every acting leader who embraces Greater Transparency and Market Access speeds business processes and root out corruption represents a ripple of hope for greater prosperity for their people, and for ours. So, together, these ripples of hope reform formed a torrential current that lift up all of us on a wave of opportunity. This is our mission today, to Work Together to promote the future of shared prosperity. For both the United States and the nations of africa. As faith, one of the men told of a Young African leaders, and president obama just this past week, and i quote, africa is no longer a sleeping giant, but is awake and open for business. With the leadership in this room, we will keep the u. S. Africa Economic Partnership open for more growth and success. We will keep the United States and africa open for business. Your business. Thank you very much. Enjoy the day. [applause] the biggest lesson that ive seen between successful investment and successful Business Partnerships is the capability of having people on the ground that can make decisions. The right local partner is critical. The key to understand each other and to have the same objective. And taking time. It took us two days of being on the ground in nigeria with expenses before we actually entered into a partnership. Support of Government Policies are crucial. Waiting to partner with the firm. Really looking at which governments are very open to invest in. The results in uganda, this hydroelectric dam. African businesses are looking for expertise. Help you do it bigger, faster, better. And American Companies that are in it for the long haul. Helping build local companies, then there is a longterm future. We have some of the human capital, finding that could bring to markets like this which have tremendous opportunity for growth. U. S. Partnerships propel industries in africa. We are seeing the growth in technologies, mobile communications. It would be easy to plugin to the american parent company. American companies that want to partner with the who find it very easy. The message from algeria, be here in person. U. S. Industrials is very much interested in our invention. African companies are looking for investors to have an open mind. If they get involved, they will find its actually a very good investment. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome founder [applause] good morning ladies and gentlemen. Im the founder of the more group and the moral foundation. I was a refugee. Im a School Dropout and entrepreneur, a philanthropist to help to be an astronaut next year. And more importantly, im a fourth generation african. My family moved to africa in 1890 and the width of the unfortunate incident of e. I mean in 1972. We got kicked out and went to england, started again and then we came back on. We can back to africa. And 93 we moved to rwanda. Nine months later unfortunately the genocide broke out. My sister efforts were refugees during this genocide. We luckily again came out alive but, unfortunately, we lost everything. I then decided to quit school at the age of 15 and support the family. So took a load of 5000 or and so an ip company in uganda and then slowly made and african business. 18 years later the mara group is in 22 countries. Was about 11,000 employees and were focused on manufacturing, technology, real estate and financial services. Our nonprofit is focused on Youth Department and women empowerment. Today im pleased as we have our over two and 50,000 businesses across africa and we are partner in the Young African leaders and issued as a witch president obama announced a few days ago. As a Young African, and note how i emphasize young, as a Young African im excluding they happy to do. I think this summit is history in the making in the true sense. The United States entrepreneurial culture, the depth of entrepreneurship, the depth of capital in this country is unbelievable. Im a Firm Believer in rather than reinventing the wheel is the best combination of global and local. Global organizations partnered with local organizations like mara group and many others is the edge. A case in point, we set up a few months ago to buy banks in africa. We raised 1 billion within six to seven months and majority of our capital came from the u. S. And majority of the capital have never invested in africa before. So the appetite is there. I think we need change the narrative. People talk about bringing Silicon Valley to africa. Im a believer that rather than trying to bring Silicon Valley to africa, lets bring africa to Silicon Valley. I think its time we as africa become innovative, create solutions we can take global rather than trying to reinvent whats already been done. To sum up, somebody and sever cisco recently asked me, a media person asked, when is africa going to catch up . I looked at them and they said, look, im so sorry, we are not going to get you. A look at me quite shocked and said why . I say because were going to lead the way. So thank you so much for being here and god bless you all. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage president , chairman and chief executive officer, the dow chemical company, andrew. President and chief executive officer tom Walmart Stores inc. , mr. Doug macmillan. [applause] president and chief executive officer [applause] chairman and chief executive officer General Electric, mr. Jeffrey m. Old jeffrey m. Old. [applause] and our moderator, 42nd president of the United States, the honorable William Jefferson clinton. [applause] thank you very much. Good morning, everyone. Id like to begin by thanking secretary pritzker and mayor bloomberg for the in the amount of work they and their teams have done to bring us together and a im very grateful. Im grateful that president obama for sponsoring this. This is probably something we should of done a long time ago. There are many heads of state here from africa and political and Business Leaders from both continents. I do want to say that our partner with the leaders of liberia and new guinea and sierra leone have been a fugitive because because they had to stay home to do with the ebola outbreak, and we wish them well. I told the panels before we came out today that i hate panels that are over directed, and i dont like lines where the members filibuster, but i do want them to be able to say what they have to say about this issue. We all want more trade, more investment, better ties. It is generally known that africa is going to grow as it has som summer between five and as the continent. Six of the 10 Fastest Growing economies of the world are in africa. Imago to seven in the coming decade. A middleclass is growing, but in spite of the 80 billion in Foreign Investment and the 400 billion in exports we will see this year, three quarters of us exports are filled in oil and gas, metals, and diamonds. So the potential for Economic Diversification is great. There are 650 million cell phone users on a continent of 900 Million People. Only 300 Million People with electricity, about 170 Million People with generally good internet access. 23 of the people have a bank account, thanks largely to cell phone banking, and 5 have a credit card. So there are lots of obvious options here. To those of you a small number here who are interested in the subject but have not had a lot of contact with africa, i think it is important to say that are often families dont have to say it, the obvious, it is a continent not a country. And the laws of countries matter, and the practices and the cultures and the opportunities will be different from place to place. But all these panelists have a lot of experience on all the relevant issues. This conference is well organized. This is supposed to be about how business to business contacts can increase investment and economic activity. Then theres a panel on infrastructure, then theres one on finance which is a huge deal, then theres one on government actions. But i told our panelists not to worry too much because they will have to say some things about the constraints and opportunities in these other categories. So with that as a background, i would like to start with jeffrey immelt, because General Electric has been involved in africa for police 160 years. Since 1898. They are about to get the hang of it. [laughter] so i want to ask you, inspite of agoa which i signed almost 20 years ago, or 15 years ago, and all the things that have been done since, it strikes me that weve only barely scratched the surface of what we could and should be doing their, and that we are missing the boat. We shouldnt have, we should understanunderstan d, this is a massive opportunity for american business. So based on your experience, what do you want to say to the americans here and what you want to say to the africans here about what one or two things each of us could do to accelerate the spotlight . Thanks, mr. President to let me say thanks again depending and to the president for doing this. I think its a great step that shows the commitment and the potential that the region has. I would say to all of my fellow ceos, the number one thing is get local. I think too many of us conceded his early in our careers to the europeans, mainly because of youth market was so good. If youre an american of my age, and for longer time you didnt have to travel much. So we kind of gave africans the europeans first, and to the chinese later. But today its wide open for us but you have to get local. So thats step number one. I think finance is the number one gap at least in the businesses we are in. And whats lacking i think is what i would say in festival investment strategist governments need to put forward. Theres a right way to do a power Purchase Agreement and a wrong way, if you want people to invest in a. So we need more convergence around good standards on half of the governments. And we need more risk capital. Theres probably 25 billion, Infrastructure Investment in this room alone, but you all want to be the second person in after someone else has taken project risk. What we need is a good coordination of u. S. Government, x. Income world bank, people like that along with real investors were willing to put skin in the game to get that First Investment in and that, lets not kid ourselves about financing. And its got to fit come its got to be flexible flexible,com,com,comma got to fit the evidence standard. So get local, we need a flexible riskbased financing, and another thing i would say, this is a small thing on our behalf, i think all of us would benefit if there some regional integration in africa. In Eastern Africa alliance, a Southern Africa alliance that would add more than each country them i put together for five countries that we can invest behind. Those are the three things i would put forward. Well, let me ask you a followup question very quickly. We dont want to get in the middle of washingtons political wars but how important do you think it is for the future prospects of the more financing in africa from american businesses to renew the exportimport font . Ive been on record. Theres a lot of things to be critical about big busines busis about and theres a lot of things that dont work in Big Government but exporting is not one of them. The exim bank isnt one of the. The fact that we have to sit here and argue for it i think is just wrong. Theres 50 the export banks around the world. The u. S. On a relatively small basis is less than a lot of what europe does our what china does, but more importantly than anything else, mr. President , shows the u. S. Cares. Im not asking ge, caterpillar, ibm, now, we are not asking for favors. We are putting our own risk capital up against it. But these projects need i think the hand of the u. S. , the undermining, if he is unbreakable, if the world bank under its ideal, risk capital comes in. So we punch way above our weight with x. M. It speaks to the countrys interest in the region. Its a competitive weapon and it creates jobs here, loss of jobs and increase jobs in the countries we go to. So thank you. You have established some remarkable partnerships with iconic american brands, and you come i know from talking to you backstage, that you have some very clear ideas about what should be done. From the african side in what you think can be done to accelerate the Business Partnerships with lower investment and the creation of jobs . [inaudible] thank you. Mr. President , i think more than just looking at what we as africans can do, i think together what we can do is certainly look at the area of, look at areas that are challenging as african countries. And a key area for us is around young people that we have in africa. 1525 euros in africa make up 60 of the population of the continent today. And so a key issue is making sure that we have those people to be educated to be able to contribute towards the continued growth of our economy on the continent. And so looking at our partnership come and we been able to create partnerships with mcdonalds and with cocacola. Thats a key area for us. So, for example, with mcdonalds today we employ 300 people in south africa. What we have done is to focus on educating and drawing young people into our business. And so what we do is we have a significant focus on that. Something from a business perspective its important we focus on education and the comment of young people so that as we go forward we have the resources that we require to push the economies moving forward. And from that we within have the capability to be able to continue to grow economies in a manner that we need to do. Do you think it would be helpful if these major American Companies did more and the Education Training areas to design programs that are tied directly to the job market . This is not just a problem in africa. This is a problem in america. A problem all over the world. There is a job shortage were young people everywhere. It was part of what triggered the arab spring and the Tahrir Square in cairo, and now producing 400,000 College Graduates a year and know where the jobs for them because they werent trained to do the jobs that they were or might be brought there. Is this something we should do together . Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely. I think we definitely need to be focusing on pushing for more education of young people together. I think its a critical issue for us to focus on as we move forward because if you think about and what is the one article resource that we need to move our continent for and can eat to grow. Its to develop our young people. And then to then be able to continue to grow in other areas we know theres challenges we face. We know that our number of require significant investment. So what i would say is for american investors come into the african continent, the one thing that we need to be looking at is, you cannot be looking at coming into the african continent with the perspective of being able to invest immediately. As many of you know, because youve all been investors in the african continent. But its the issue of making sure that we are willing to invest in infrastructure requirement of the country after investing in. Whether it is investing in the people of the country or investing in infrastructure, it is important to be able to do that prior to the actual investment in the business. Because without that you wont have that continued growth of your business. You wont be able to support the country that you are. Thank you. Doug, first of all congratulations on your assuming presidency of walmart. You made your move into africa partly by acquiring a company, and you are successful in this country and around the world in no small measure, not just because the source of people who give you a good price that because you have a brilliant supply chain operation. I think based on my own expense working on trying to get a drug, aids drugs, tuberculosis drugs, trying to help a very Small Farmers become part of a competitive market, that the supplthesesupply chain issues ae profound but they should create an economic market. So talk to me a little about why did you go into africa by buying another Company First . And whats your take on this supply chain issue, and whether its both an opportunity and an obstacle for future investment. It is the issue for us and would love to talk about. First of all, thank you for having us. We are just so honored to be. I am excited about effort. Started going a few years ago the of the acquisition of that we may. As a look at what were trying to do in africa, we are super trying to provide customers access to Fresh Produce and other items added great value. To do that with god have a great supply chain but in the case of africa were taking some of the learning that we express from latin america and other parts of the world to invest in supplement in areas where its needed, but all of us need to doing that. We want to be able to take the Fresh Produce, for example, and reached to small and medium holders and enable them to be more productive in the yields to provide act houses where they need them, to put the pieces in place to great this system that supplies the store which creates great jobs for both value added goods as well as more commodity type items come to lift the whole thing and have a system that works. So for us as a longterm proposition and we invested 2. 6 billion in 2011, and thats just the beginning. What we are expecting and the reason we made investment is that we think the whole region, not just south africa but Subsaharan Africa including nigeria, kenya, and 70 countries around the continent, are going to do the right things to great the right rules, the right transferred to, some of us Infrastructure Investments so that the whole thing works. We want to do our part. One of the side benefits we have seen already is were tapping into those sources of supply for produce and do the things like wine and exporting the out of africa and something places like the United States and the uk. One of my favorite stories is about a couple of sisters who came back together after apartheid and for midwifery called Seven Sisters wind and were selling at 500 years supercenters and it sold about 5000 cases or. We never wouldve found and if we didnt have the presence in africa. Andrew, whats your take on the future of manufacturing in africa . One of the things i think that is worth pointing out is while manufacturing is the single most rapidly growing sector of economy in terms of annual productivity growth, therefore, every year more people can produce more stuff whatever that stuff is to the multiplying factor is quite high. And if we get better infrastructure and if we do better with the supply chain, and we should be able to build manufacturing centers, but as jeff said in his opening remarks, one of the things that has not happened within africa is that the original promise of these African Community and knee pad to have basic multinational, continental marketing and open markets, more free trade within africa, i think is slowing down a lot of manufacturing investment than might otherwise. So talk to little about that. What you think we ought to do about that and what can this conference do to help . Thank you, mr. President. I had my thanks are being invited here, and dow doesnt quite have a long pedigree in africas g. But we been there 60 years. We all cut our teeth working in south africa and in many decades of south africas forwards progress, one thing we havent discussed yet on this panel and a big country like dow and ge bring supply chains to africa also has philosophies and practices in governance and bad governance and beyond eight and how to use aid, how to address poverty. There is still a pie there that is expended believing a lot of people behind. And as you know income inequality and jobs for youth, and youve implement in general, as you both touched on is the center issue. The solution space the beginning in your like clustering, like free trade, like all things you mentioned, i think assigning an economy used to be thought of as a bad thing in making industrial policy and all that. I have been trying very hard across the world in my many travels in emerging nations to use singapore, thailand, a few other countries that have advanced their economies and generation skipped and you will not have to go through the learning curve of the United States and other industrialized nations of 100 ago. You can generation skipped, avoid pollution, great job multipliers, supply chain of the type you mentioned by eight to one. Instead of being an exporter which is where you start first and were their interest in you, American Companies are the type that we are, especially ge and dow. We bring training and would bring actually that technology to you early through local partnerships and we prefer the local partnership model. I joined dow with this vision of doing it in a ship which was very successful, where we prefer to be in those joint ventures and i think this whole notion of going local and then creating clusters around advanced manufacturing needs to be brought to a nationstate but if it never clusters and a great regional clusters, so be it but at least within countries of size like maybe i kenya. In fact, we have worked with the kenyan government to, in fact, do exactly that. How would you approach designing an economy such as you can take a bench of the most important resources you have, coach of agriculture and jeff to bring that into the modern century and not waste food but how much are people . How can you organize yourself for the instruction does get built with the Precious Capital you do raise . How can you build it they will come, how to take on that mentality . They are doing it and having a free trade zone and a port and building some industrial clusters which is the beginning of these supply chains. You cant solve it overnight. This is a generational move. You have to come in with a Training Program at the grassroots of the. As i speak i40 one and two people an idea people in ethiopia training local students on i shall have to do some of the stuff working with ngos so that i in the schools and Effective Partnership models and, of course, this is for africa by africans. So going local sfc can means reverse can. The Great American, the Great American enterprise has figured out how to local around the world by bringing value chain and creating jobs. Advanced manufacturing in the way destroys jobs. What youve got to do is you cant do what we used to do. Were going to go steal cement, petrochemicals, basic industries. Thats not enough. You got to figure way through advanced Economy Development learning lessons like how to complete an aviation supply chain, like morocco has done. They than that. They have a huge aerospace industry. Theres a whole supply chain that goes there. They been able to employ people. We call it an advanced manufacturing plant. We work with governments to do that and that partnership model, business, society and ngos can working with schools is a way forward. Africa can generation skipped if it does this faster than the learning curve of previous countries. Well, just to follow up on that, i try not to editorialize too much perhaps. I think that one of the great opportunities that the African Leaders and Business Leaders have here is to add the value of their own Natural Resources before they leave the country. You for the leave the region, before they leave the continent. And i think we really should, we need american investment. To look at these value added population. You know, i was talking with a group last night about the work we did in rwanda to try to bring them a coffee roasting operation. We sold all that coffee for years at fair trade prices but they were just coffee beans. Grow the coffee and market to the world and it made a huge difference and they made so much more money. All of which they used to reinvest in businesses, protect the topsoil, do all the things that you are talking about same thing with soybean process. So i think the opportunity there would surprising a lot of people who do a lot of business in africa, but not in the valueadded chain. There are lots of opportunities there. Just the one example, your coffee example, the crop of choice in africa. They are not very good so you can do research to help them complete the supply chain in africa and were doing work energy right now to place wheat flour and bread. Then suddenly this bread for africans based on the crop because of whole lot of cost and you can put on come in your stores but this is the sort of close supply chain which are making with coffee which is there if you go local. The point i want to make to the investment here is theres actually money in this. Real money. Africa i think is very underinvested. I wanted, i got a lot of of the question but i want to go to aliko the next because its been interesting to me to watch you, your emergence, not from being a person made a lot of money and the traditional industries, to someone whos thinking about where you want africa to be five and 10 and 20 years from now. And we were talking about nigeria before you came out and a fortunate we have been at least, knock on wood, so far that notwithstanding the political turmoil in the north which sometimes preextended to the middle of the country, they have been pretty much able to operate and continue to grow at a very, very brisk rate, which is highly important for all africans but you will build a national, and in a continental model because there are more people there than anywhere else. So just tell us what you want potential american investors to know, what you need the most, and what you think you and your fellow africans should do to help us build more partnerships. Thank you, mr. President. First of all, it is great to be here. Well, i think despite [inaudible] in times of bringing people together come in times of bring both africans and americans together, for us to know ourselves, because if you dont know yourself youre not going to do any good. And i think we will be partnering quite a lot of American Companies. I know that a couple of them, they have information on africa. Theyre still thinking about africa over the last decade or the last 10, 15 years. Things have changed very much. Africa now has been growing as about 5. 5 average in the last, you know, decade. And it means when you look at the future, the future is there. I mean, if we continue, mr. President , and the 5. 5 recent growth is actually without power. Theres no power, it means theres no work. When i say theres no power, you know, you look at a country, for example, like liberia where they have maybe 20 megawatts of power with a population of 3. 5 million, or maybe turkey with a population [inaudible] so i mean theres actually no power there. But still struggling, you know, period of, you know, transformation in terms of macro, micro and political setting, and, therefore, sometimes of course theres political issues here and there. But we are growing and if we continue to grow, even like this, the projection is that in the next 2050, 5. 5 i from africa will end up having about 15 trillion gdp. So i mean, its going to be a good story. We are growing very, very rapidly. And as you know, yes, theres perceived risk. People only talk about risk, the majority of them people dont know the story. They have not really been there. The president said something that africa is about 54 countries. Some people when you talk about africa, people believe that yes, africa is like one state. I mean, somebody like me, i need about 37 visas to move around in africa. For somebody coming from [inaudible] to get a visa and move around. So i think there must be this integration. August the i dont expect ge [inaudible] that if they go to west africa and the opening nigeria, then they should be Free Movement of goods, either, not even within the region but within the continent itself. [inaudible] quite a lot of opportunities. Attract a lot of companies. Also, there is good to go to africa and invest. But they dont have the partners who really know africa to invest with. So a lot of, most of these american countries must have zero doubt on whether to companies, of which partner. Further, i would like to announce that for us, dangote group, we have two major partnerships. One of which is the biggest, partnership [inaudible] which will be announced today, investing 5 billion jointly in power, power infrastructure, and infrastructure of course in Subsaharan Africa. [applause] with this we will definitely, you know, close the gap, thats quite a lot of gap. And this gap, we know about the gap and it is there. We will be very, very aggressi aggressive. The second one that we have is we will have 1 million to invest in petroleum refining, and also agriculture and financial services. But when, yeah, decide to do the africa fund, we contribute to that which is 15 million but they eventually raised 500 billion. They raised 728 million, and im sure that therell be quite a lot of big deal. And i hope somebody will be out there just remove who sells Power Generator equipment. Yet, we do. [laughter] just want to get that in there. I think thats the purpose of this conference. I should have been your agent. Let me ask you a question about power, all of you. Related to the supply chains. And again its only based on my experience in two or three countries where we do Business Development work through the Clinton Foundation and our partners there, but africa still has a lot of any court in terms of Economic Opportunity and options like all places city to country. The one thing that has spread like wildfire, as it has all of the world, is Cell Phone Technology which is why you got as many as 23 of the people having a bank account because of the Cell Phone Technology, and potential you could have twothirds of the people banking just on their phone, which is essentially what were doing in haiti today. And to some extent, at least on my experience, where we have to have some power source to preserve medical tests, for example, when we try to build Health Clinics in rural areas, we need a combination if we want to accelerate growth and make it even of centralized power off the grid and distributed power through solar, wind, and biomass is, solid waste. You do both. So what is your take on that . If you were the energy and Development Minister of any african country with a substantial rural population, would you pursue a dual strategy . And if so, what are the implications of that for Investment Funds and American Companies wanting to do business there speak with so i would say you need both. Your 100 did what, roughly 100 gigawatts of electricity in africa. Its just pervasive. I think the grid is not going to be invested in quickly enough. So i would advocate may be leading with distributive power. Youve got to solve to the gas availability issue. So you kind of start with fuel. You have countries that have hydro capability, and zohydro should be a real option. You have countries that have natural gas and the issue should be to get a natural gas price the right way so you put back in the system. Get some pipeline our Rail Infrastructure did you distributive power. You have countries that have wind capability like kenya, tanzania, where wind can be applicable. And the sun shines in most places, but solar, distributed solar will not solve africas challenges. So i would pick the countries that can get a gas through both large and distributed gas, the country that have hydro, due hydro. There will have to be some cold in the mix which will not be able to influence we need to be practical about where that goes. We are to have distributed solar programs throughout the region, and i think its going to take a multitude of Different Things but every government in this room should have a very Transparent Energy policy, and you should have a very transparent and whether its a bold trade agreement or power Purchase Agreement, theres a right way and a wrong way to do those things to attract customers to i would say, mr. President , things that can be localized here youre going to have an upscale here to build a low cost some gas turbine technology. You can localize a lot of wind. So not only are you solving and infrastructure, youll also solve job issue. But i start with the fuels and then go to the structure. The last point i would make is i always say solve the easy problems first. Doing Something Like building a Nuclear Power plant is the hardest thing on earth to do. If you like everything on earth down and picked the hardest, it would be the hardest. I just dont think thats going to be a Pervasive Technology against advanced in africa. I want andrew and doug, do you want to comment on the . I do because this is a passion of mine, Energy Policy for nationstates is something that they can learn from all the rest of us who got it wrong and this country still doesnt have it right. One thing that countries can do and regions of course is start at the efficiency conservation and and work backwards to the dualsource but because it ago the fuel way in just a nuclear is too hard, youre paying the price of oil or its proxy and thats a very hard thing to compete on a affordable energy. Affordable energy for these countries is the sinequan issue because youre not going to get all the things that we want from competitors and job creation and less its affordable so start with the btu, you never ever use rather than the one you create and pay too much for. So National Building standards, generation skip in terms of smart see signs like many countries are putting in place now, work out your traffic patterns, work actually just six, the whole notion of energy use in building. We waste 40 of the energy we use in this country through bad buildings and lack of National Building codes. If you can, in fact, intervene at the youth level and work your way back into the fuel sources, okay, and if youre fortunate enough to your own natural gas which is of course the cleanest fuel you can burn, then use that domestically before you end up exporting it for the one time again that end up getting 40 do that, bring that money back and do something wise with it in terms of using it within your economy rather than letting it get diffused away. This is an all of the above definition. Let me say before you go on to doug, in his former life mayor bloomberg, and at the end of his term, was chairman of a group called the sea 40, big cities of the world dedicated to Greater Energy efficiency and sustainability through clean energy in urban areas. And the Clinton Foundation was the basic technical implemented for a lot of this. There are a lot of african cities today are not in our coalition that are getting bus transit theyre trying to close other landfills and use the Energy Sources for recycling, or working up and down the line to get more out of whats there. So its no longer people thinking this is some touchyfeely of the irrelevant issue. I think its something that deserves more attention perhaps later in the day in the other panel. I do figures in a big company in america is trying to do more on the sustainable issue and walmart has. So what do you think about this . Is this an opportunity for in effect creating energy through sustainability and africas . Just connect the dot between your point around investment of ththis opportunity in africa wih distributive industry. Energy. We are in pursuit where we all around the world and use solar in this country can use a lot of hydro and wind in mexico and in africa just seems like theres a place given the outline that jeff davis for investments to accelerate this process and do some generation skipping. New equipment can do today compared to what old equipment used to require in terms of energy is a medically different. As ive visited a lot of stores and other and see what our competition is doing and what were doing, theres a lot of waste in the system that new money to generate, not on a more efficiency but a tremendous return to i think theres an Investment Opportunity there. I think the other issues also just looking at more involvement of the private sector. Is still very much a public centric driven area. And we need to have the private sector to purchase the in this. And then have you looked at that i would say that we need to have countries focus on Energy Sources that make more sense today. Because if you look at its not missing a beat answer to every question. For instance, gas is not easily available in south africa. But it is available in nigeria. So you need to look at fuel sources that are available and make the most out of those. So if us to look at it from a South African perspective, i would say that we need to use up the cold we have and then look at the renewal Energy Sources, which are government has already introduced and that is already being done. And Renewable Energy looking at the full picture seeing what can be introduced first and then bring about into account. But i think theyre still quite a lot that needs to be done in terms of the regulated side as well making sure we have that and having it in a matter that gives us stability. I think in africa, i believe we can generate power from various sources, you know. Some countries, we have hydro. We have coal, we have just. Today in nigeria we have potential Gas Development 262 feet of gas. Were not even using up to 1 billion to the feet of gas. So that quite offsite there and we can do quite a lot. But i think we need to pay a lot of attention to power. I think thats the basis. Because if we really want to have inclusive growth, most of the small and beat him, theyre not going to work unless you have power. I think [inaudible] okay. I think its something we need to do. I think it is very important and critical. Second lien with this, our interaction became African Union states can i believe its very important and paramount to extend and renew exim bank status. A lot of countries in what youre doing is they have what they call credit in terms of when you want to but it couldnt. America today is very competitive because of the chief energy that you have. Its very, very competitive because its not much but its the energy. So American Equipment is very, very competitive. That is not renewed. I think that will be a discipline issue. First of all were all having a vigorous agreement on this. I find it amazing. Economics is not theology. And if youre running a country youve got to try to create an opportunity for all your businesses to be competitive. Thats all the exim bank does. Ive heard more addicted things about the exim bank in the last six months and have in my adult lifetime. I also believe its important to extend agoa. And andrew, crude. I think we can to agoa in a way that would encourage more Economic Diversification in africa. And i wish that not only are african panelists, but others here would give some thought to that, you know. Right now we just want to get it extended, but we have to think about how to craft the extension so that we can support the Development Aspirations of the various african nations and what the people really need. Look, were out of time. We havent talked nearly enough about education and training, about the equal inclusion of women and girls and economic plan for the future. There are so may things that need to be said about finance infrastructure, energy that presumably would be said later. But i hope that everybody who is here and because youre interested though not yet involved is now more interested in more determined to be involved. And i hope that all of our african friends who are here will accelerate the opportunities we have to do things together. I think the United States and its Business Community needs this relationship as much or more as africa and its Business Community. This is a very important part of our future, and i would just like to say one final thing. When Ashish Thakkar was a pure talking for a came out and i one more time heard this story and i thought of all the people who were driven out of uganda and the Amazing Stories so many of them had made, it reinforced something that we shouldnt forget. Intelligence, dreams and a willingness to work are evenly distributed throughout the world. Investment, opportunities and systems that reward smart behavior are not. Thats really what this is about. All of us are being given a chance to either do our work like the gates foundation, and i do, or to make a lot of money out of the fact that this gap has occurred which should not be closed. And i see the World Bank President out of there. There. Is going to help us do it. The American Government is committed to help us do it. But just remember his speech. In a way that may be the most important thing that has occurred on this stage this morning. A guy drops out of school at 15 and does what hes done the last 18 years, and he should never have had to leave home a single day to do that. We want to create the african home as a place of opportunity for africans and for those who want to work with them. And i think we should give our panelists, special our african panelists, a big hand. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated. The africa summit is taking a brief break until about 10 15 a. M. Detrigger to begin next with a pill that looks at Capital Market and finance and it really remarks from treasury secretary jack lew followed by a discussion with heads of several private equity and financial firms. Also later this afternoon Vice President joe biden will speak at the president as well, and the heads of a number of major u. S. Corporations including cocacola, ibm and blackstone. While we wait for them together back in again in a couple of minutes, we will show you todays opening remarks from former newark city mayor Michael Bloomberg and commerce secretary Penny Pritzker. Well, good morning, everyone. I dont hear you. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you for joining all of us that he did want to especially thank president obama and commerce secretary Penny Pritzker for teaming up with our foundation, bloomberg, to host this groundbreaking event. With over 200 corporations and 50 african countries represented here, this gathering really does represent a new approach to Economic Development in africa, and a new moment in u. S. African relations. Since the dawn of africas independence movement, americas relationship with the continent has centered on foreign aid and the work of international institutions, particularly the world bank and the u. N. That part of our relationship still is vitally important, but africa has now developed into a Global Economic force, so our relationship must evolve and mature. And that is the purpose of this forum, to recast our relationship as a full, equal, and advanced Economic Partnership. A partnership that holds as much promise for african countries as it does for america. We have the people in this room can make that a partnership a success. So to start off the morning i would like to invite all of you to take a few seconds to introduce yourself to the person next to you, or someone you have not met yet. [inaudible] well, we can go on with this practice is doing exactly what we want to do. As we all know, as we all know whether its in our families or our businesses or our countries, relationships are what matters. And thats whole idea here today, to get to know which of the, to develop contacts and to show our Mutual Respect one for another. And thank you, thank you. Clearly theres a lot to talk about and adobe more opportunities to continue our conversation. The fact is, africa is no lodger emerging longer emerging, it is here now. As africa begins a new stage in its journey, we in america want to walk by its side. But we also realize we have some catching up to do. Foreign investment in africa has reached record highs, but the United States is being driven more by its own domestic policies, and we are letting europe and china go faster than the u. S. And while our exports to the continent are at a record high, its also true that only 2 of our total exports go to africa, and that means that were missing out on a major opportunity to create jobs here at home. In america there is a disconnect between the reality of the African Market and the perception of the African Market. And this conference is aimed at fixing that. Countries and companies that ignore the African Market do so at their own peril, and that will become increasingly true with each passing year. The business that i own, bloomberg lp, has offices in six countries in africa, eight cities, employing more than 160 people including more than 120 fulltime and freelance journalists, and we are growing there. In fact, the First Business trip that i took after leaving office in january was to south africa to help expand our offices both in cape town and joburg. We also launched a 10 million Training Program to increase Financial Reporting on the continent and help make African Markets more transparent. We worked closely with african financial institutions, private companies and central bankers to help them maximize efficiency, mitigate risk and increase capital flows. And that not only helps the local financial markets, it also helps attract more Foreign Investment. My foundation has also been investing in africa for years. We didnt just start helping africa, weve been doing it for a long time because the research is clear that perhaps the best single investment you can make to spur Economic Development is to improve public health. In zambia, for instance, were working to stop the spread of malaria. In tanzania, senegal, you uganda and burkina faso, were helping to prevent maternal deaths, and in 34 countries were fighting to combat the scourge of tobacco use and also supporting Economic Development because the healthier a society is, the more productive it is and the greater its potential for growth. Were also working to create jobs through Training Programs in rwanda and the democratic republic of congo. The president of rwanda and president of the democratic republic of the congo are both here today, and both have been leaders in promoting sustainable farming. And to support that work, we provide the resources and training to help women create independent Coffee Farming businesses. More than 108,000 women have benefited from this program so far, and if you had a cup of coffee this morning, you are benefiting from it too. Now, if you didnt get much sleep last night, have a second cup. [laughter] be in the decades ahead, i dont think theres any limit to the progress that africa can make. Imagine for a moment an african labor force that will surpass indias and triple the size of europes. Imagine an africa where extreme poverty as we know it is virtually eliminated, where a consumer class with rising incomes has greater purchasing power, where Broadband Access stretches from cairo to cape town and all points in between, where Climate Change policies that protect africas coastal cities and farmlands go hand in hand with economic be growth and where people from around the world want to live and work to experience africas natural beauty, diverse cultures and tolerant societies. That is the africa that africans want to be their children former mayor bloomberg from this morning opening up the u. S. Africa Business forum. Well take you back live now to a discussion on financing and Capital Markets. Jack lew, the treasury secretary, will be speaking shortly. Good morning and welcome. Honorable Michael Bloomberg, our host, honorable Penny Pritzker, secretary of commerce of the United States, excellence eleven says excellencies, heads of state in government, chief executive officers of u. S. And African Companies, leaders of delegations and ministers, ladies and gentlemen, im delighted to address this Business Forum on the occasion of the historic u. S. africa leaders summit. This engagement between government and business is an important steppingstone towards evaluating and strengthening the relationship between africa and the United States which is the purpose of our endeavors this week. This engagement coming at an important moment in the continent when many economic, social and political indicators are moving in the right direction. And theres general consensus amongst the leadership and citizens of africa that africa is taking charge of its destiny to navigate a different course towards prosperity. The consensus is reflected in the agenda 2063, and in the sectoral strategic and critical priorities such as agriculture, industrialization, mining, infrastructure development. We also agree that concerted efforts are necessary to make these changes irreversible in order to realize the vision of an africa that is integrated, prosperous and peaceful. These concerted efforts are reflected in our african priorities which form the basis of the partnership with seek to build this week. Africa has recorded sustained growth over the last decade not only in the resource sectors, but also in infrastructure and consumer sectors. Interafrican trade in west, east and Southern Africa has reached over 20 , and intraafrican investments now account for 18 of ftis. Public and private investments in Infrastructure Projects have grown exponentially over the last couple of years. However, in order to eradicate poverty and create decent jobs, africa needs growth at sustainable levels of about 7 in order to double incomes and eradicate poverty in one generation. It is, therefore it has no choice but to transform the structures of its economies through industrialization and diversification of its economies. The private sector in the continent has an Important Role to play and so do Foreign Companies investing into the continent. Ladies and gentlemen, excellence says, the transformation of african economies thus informs all our priorities and forms the basis of our actions as african states and regional and continental organizations. Firstly, africas most Precious Resource is its over a billion pop haitian, the population, the majority of whom are young and over half of them are women. Investing in their health, education, iss to basic access to basic services and infrastructure is, therefore, critical to governments, regional organizations and African Union alike. More specifically, while encouraging an african skills revolution to train hundreds of thousands of our Young Africans especially in science, technology, engineering, innovation and research so that they can take part and take charge of the social and Economic Transformation of the continent. But so that they can also be part of creating jobs, become entrepreneurs and get decent jobs. Sometimes skill shortages are often mentioned in competitiveness surveys as amongst the reasons for low Business Confidence while at the same time africa needs to develop skills in all priority ies in which it seeks to develop and grow. And i think business and government can Work Together in developing the skills that the economies need. Ladies and gentlemen, agriculture and agriprocessing is a second priority, and that was discussed at length yesterday in the side events about shirting the common african accelerating the common African Development program, implementing the declaration targets and, of course, increasing our partnerships with the United States in growing agriculture and investing in that sector. We need to modernize, mechanize our agriculture because we cannot attract young people into agriculture if we stick with traditional agriculture. Infrastructure is, of course, the third priority; transports, ports, harbors, energy, irrigation and ict. The Infrastructure Projects are critical to power and Grow Industries and agriculture and to connect markets in the continent. Infrastructure is one of the Fastest Growing sectors and one of the areas of partnership we continue to explore. The [inaudible] of Natural Resources and the development of manufacturing are the main components of africas industrialization strategy. We, therefore, proactively seek investments in addition to mining and seek to link mining and other instructive industries more closely to the rest of the economies. Many of us have made the point this week, but it is worth repeating, key to africas development is the capacity for resource mobilization. This will include improving in revenue collection and expenditure as well as stemming illicit flows from our continent. Studies indicate that at the very least africa loses in excess of 60 billion every year due to practice of illicit flows. What is more is that 60 of these illicit flows are from some corporates while 30 and 80 and 8 respectively are activities of organized crime and official corruption. Putting that in a context, the amount we lose in illicit capital flows out of africa every year is higher than the Development Aid we receive. We must, therefore, Work Together with companies to insure that companies do make their profit, but at the same time insure that africa can develop based on its resources. The empowerment of women has featured prominently in our discussions yesterday. No country origin can successfully operate at half capacity. Investing in women, their access to land, capital and other productive capacities are, therefore, critical in every sector of the economy. African governments, the African Union and the Regional Economic communities are making concerted effort to build and develop the private sector. They are making efforts to make, to the making, doing business in africa easy. A lot of countries now you can register your business in a few days and, therefore, we are making the Business Environment more easy and more accessible. So we invite you to work with governments and the african private sector to insure that we strengthen the business and environmental improvements in our continent. So as we invest, as we do business, we should also make sure that we do not destroy the environment since africa one of the continents that is going to be suffering most from the Climate Change. Excellencies, u. S. Remains the biggest direct investor in africa, larger than the e. U. And larger than china. Of course, china is growing faster than the u. S. , but it hasnt yet caught up with it. But these investments from the u. S. Have remained rell thively static relatively static, and the structure of these investments have not changed over decades. It remains primarily in the Natural Resource and predominantly in the fossil fuel sector. As we, therefore, move forward in our engagements with the u. S. , we hope that this will be the opportunity to review the structure of the u. S. Ftis so that investments are also directed in areas of men fishuation, Value Addition and manufacturing and agribusinesses in africa. Yes, africa is open for business, and we encourage participation in the continent of africa. In fact, i think without fear of contradiction now africa offers the best opportunities on the planet, and it also offers the best retains for investments. Such investments must be red candidated on predicated on a win win philosophy. It must be a partnership that benefits africas transformation inasmuch as it benefits the investor. A prosperous, integrated, peaceful africa is as much of interest to the current and future generations of africans, but it must also be of interest to current and future generations of the United States and the rest of humanity. So we look forward to deliberations in this forum, and we think that there is enough resources and energy and political will in this room to actually transform africa in the coming decades to becoming a real, prosperous, integrated and peaceful africa. And we must also recall thats can only be sustained and entrenched if young people can create jobs and have jobs. If young people can be skilled, if young people have a future in the stake of the country. So its important both for peace and prosperity that we, indeed, create jobs and get investments from this great country, i think. [applause] the numbers say it all. Our deficit is about 2 . Inflation about 2 . And so the country is growing at 910 a year. This is a great moment to invest in africa. For African Markets to survive and thrive, they need to instill investor confidence, and that depend