Clinton in Addis: What’s on the Agenda?

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to arrive in Addis on Monday. It will will be the last of her visit to the continent, dubbed ‘African swing’, that commenced in Zambia, followed by Tanzania. At the end of her visit to Zambia, and on the way to Tanzania, on Saturday June 11, her aids gave a media briefing on the objectives of the swing.

According to the media briefing, Mrs. Clinton’s visit to the three African countries is ‘designed to do essentially four things’:

• to underscore the continued U.S. commitment to Africa’s sustained and long-term economic development
• to highlight the role of civil society as an engine for advancing democratic governance and sustained economic growth
• to showcase U.S. bilateral initiatives
• to emphasize the key role and function of regional bodies in helping Africa to resolve some of its political problems as well as deal with some of its economic challenges.

Further, the State Department officials indicated in the media briefing that:

We will also be engaging with civil society, particularly women, students, and young entrepreneurs. And we will also be stressing the need for strong democratic institutions, good governance.

In particular to Clinton’s stop in Addis, the officials noted that:

• in Addis Ababa we will be meeting with the prime minister of that country, Prime Minister Meles, who has been a strong partner in regional security efforts.
• We will also be meeting with Jean Ping, the head of the African Union.
• The Secretary will be giving a major speech at the African Union on Tuesday morning,
• she will also have an opportunity to meet with key members of the Government of South Sudan, including First Vice President Salva Kiir

The missing of Ethiopian opposition parties in Clinton’s itinerary appears certain. In fact, the Ethiopian opposition parties have already noted that they have not received invitations to meet her. Yet, the way the Ethiopian government was described in media briefing might be a consolation for them. The State Department officials said:

In two of the countries that we’re visiting, Tanzania and Zambia, we have countries which are committed to strong democratic principles. And in Ethiopia, the third country that we’re visiting, we will continue to encourage that government to strengthen its democratic institutions and to open political space for the opposition.

What else?

In response to questions from journalists, the State Departments officials said that they ‘anticipate that there will be Northern[Sudan] representation, but we do not know yet who it will be’.

Though Sudanese President Omar Albashire is currently in Addis, Clinton apparently do not wish to meet him. [The Sudanese President has been in a closed-door meeting with Southern Sudan officials, hosted by Meles Zenawi, that was supposed to end on Sunday. However, it appears the talks couldn’t be concluded as scheduled.]

The State department officials also noted the the issue of ‘Somalia is likely to arise in the discussions in Ethiopia, probably more so than in Tanzania’.

There were also two interesting questions on whether her recent talk of ‘China neo-colonialism’ will appear in private meetings with leaders and on her speech at AU.

On China

QUESTION: She was pretty strong on China, even warning of a new colonialism in Africa. And I wonder how much of that – whether that was also a factor in her private meetings with government officials (inaudible).

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL NUMBER ONE: China is indeed a reality and a presence, Kim, in Africa. I think that the Secretary was highlighting the desire of everyone to see China behave as a responsible trading partner and citizen as it deals with Africa, and that African nations should hold China to the same kinds of standards that they hold American, British, German, Western European, and Japanese companies to when they come in to the marketplace.

There is a distinction. The Secretary made it, I think, very clearly. When American companies come to Africa, they leave behind not only an investment, but they train people, they employ people, they provide people with opportunities to be a larger part of a corporate structure. We leave education and we leave technical skills. And all of this is part of the way we do business. And I think this is important for others to do this as well. It’s a two-way street and should not just be the exploitation of resources.

QUESTION: Do you think the African countries are holding the Chinese to that high standard, or do they just want the quick money projects that are coming in?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I think that individual African countries have reacted differently to China, but I think there is a growing awareness and sophistication on the part of African countries that they need to drive the best possible bargain and deal they can, one which not only provides them money but also technical skills, jobs, and technology transfers for their countries and people.

QUESTION: Which was done back in the ‘90s. Which country did not?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: I’m not going to get into naming countries.

Speech at the AU

QUESTION: Can I ask about the speech to the AU? To what degree is Libya going to be a factor in the speech? You talked a lot of about the successes at the AU, but you still have – won them over to your side on the Libya question. Is she going to bring that up, and do you regard that as sort of test case for how far cooperation with the AU can go?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Let me just say that I think that Libya will be a factor in the speech. It is a part of Africa, and Libya has played a significant role in African politics, so it will come up. But let me say African countries are very deeply divided and conflicted over Libya and president – and leader Qadhafi. But we have – are very proud of the fact that three African countries, all three African members on the UN Security Council, Nigeria, Africa’s largest and arguably most important state, South Africa, again, arguably again alike with Nigeria as being one of the two most important states in the continent, along with Gabon, voted for UN Security Council Resolution 1973. They were a part of that majority. They also voted for UN Resolution 1970, which authorized the no-fly zone and the action that’s been taken.

We are very pleased that a number of African states have come out very clearly and stated that they support the UN effort, and this has ranged from Batswana to Ethiopia, where we’re going, to Rwanda, and including the president of the country we just visited, Zambia. They’ve all come out in support. We know that there is hesitation on the part of a number of African states, in large measure because of the enormous influence that Qadhafi has wielded across Africa for such a long time, and they have shown some reluctance.

But we continue to make strides in our – advancing our policy. I’d just note that just two days ago we had two very prominent African leaders come out and say that president Qadhafi had lost the legitimacy of this people and must step aside. One of them was President Wade of Senegal who went to Benghazi and met with the TNC and asked Qadhafi to step aside. He said the time had come to allow the people to have a democratic transition. The other one was President Aziz of Mauritania, a country that strides both the Arab world and the African world.

So there is division, but we also note the key states, the important states, Senegal, South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, have all come out for – in favor, but he’s been asked again by the United Nations.