PEACE & SECURITY | Creating a more stable world
26 February 2008
Bush Urges Congress To Double U.S. Aid to Africa
New commitment to continent and empowering its people, delivering results
Washington -- Since taking office in 2001, the Bush administration has doubled U.S. aid to Africa in a move viewed as the single largest development undertaking since the reconstruction of postwar Europe under the Marshall Plan.
But before leaving office, President Bush would like to see U.S. aid to the continent doubled again.
“Congress needs to make America's commitment clear by fully and promptly funding our development programs, and presidential candidates of both parties should make clear that engagement with Africa will be an enduring priority of the United States,” Bush said in a February 26 speech, following his six-day, five-nation tour of Africa.
Since taking office, Bush has more than doubled U.S. development assistance from about $10 billion in 2000 to $23 billion in 2006. This funding, in the hands of a new generation of African leaders committed to the ideals of freedom and justice, has helped cure diseases, educate children, and build new roads and infrastructure and has unlocked Africa’s entrepreneurial potential by promoting new business opportunities.
When Bush visited the region in 2003, only 50,000 people were receiving medicine to treat HIV/AIDS, but thanks to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) -- a $15 billion investment to deliver anti-retroviral drugs and upgrades to health care services -- more than 1.3 million Africans are getting care today.
Bush also has asked Congress to double funding for PEPFAR as well, to provide $30 billion over the next five years to continue the delivery of medicine, health care services and education on how to prevent HIV/AIDS.
“This program is saving lives. There are tangible results,” Bush said, recalling meetings with patients, their families and staff at PEPFAR-built clinics in Tanzania, which are also laying the foundation for improved health care systems across the region.
While in Tanzania, Bush also announced an expansion of his administration’s $1.2 billion President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) with the distribution of more than 5.2 million mosquito nets -- enough to protect every child in the country under age 5. Locally manufactured, these nets also provide jobs for 1,200 local workers, he added. (See "Tanzanian Children To Receive Free Bed Nets, Bush Says.")
In Zanzibar, PMI has helped shrink malaria infection among infants from 20 percent to less than 1 percent. While in Ghana, Bush also announced a $350 million initiative to target other, more neglected tropical diseases, such as river blindness and hookworm.
“Having the power to save lives comes with the obligation to use it,” Bush said.
In Benin, Bush said, $307 million in supplementary aid from the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is alleviating poverty and saving lives through improvements to the port of Cotonou, extending microcredit loans to small businesses and enabling the government to pursue judicial and land reforms. (See "Benin Visit Symbolizes U.S. Commitment to Africa.")
“We're treating African leaders as equal partners,” Bush said. “We expect them to produce measurable results. We expect them to fight corruption and invest in the health and education of their people and pursue market-based economic policies.”
Bush concluded a $698 million MCC agreement with Tanzania and a bilateral investment agreement with Rwanda, and attended a USAID-sponsored trade fair in Ghana featuring companies benefiting from U.S. market access under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
“Sometimes we take entrepreneurship for granted,” Bush said. “The spirit exists, but sometimes people just need a little help, and that's what we're doing.”
In Benin, Ghana and Liberia, President Bush and first lady Laura Bush visited schools that have received scholarships, school supplies, textbooks, even entire libraries through the administration’s Africa Education Initiative, as well as ongoing support from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
“The best argument for our development programs is found in the people they benefit,” Bush said. “You see it when you hold a baby that would have died of malaria without America's support. You see it when you look into the eyes of an AIDS patient who has been brought back to life. You see it in the quiet pride of a child going to school for the first time.”
