"The Ball" is in Africa's Court

On June 14, 2010 Hillary Clinton held a conference on sub-Saharan Africa. Clinton specifically stated that she did not want to recreate her speech from the previous African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) forum. This year's AGOA she hopes will be different, being held in Washington D.C. and then Kansas City towards the end of the summer. Secretary Clinton believes that most of the work needs to be done in Africa, in particular by improving trade between African States.

"I Challenged African governments to change their own laws to increase more trade. If Africa traded - if sub-Saharan Africa traded among themselves the way Asian countries trade among themselves, the GDP growth would be significant in a relatively short period of time." While her thoughts on issues included state's corruption, capacity, and rivalries she stressed that African governments should use the United States as a resource.

In Clinton's words, the US has been waiting, and waiting, for an African state to tell the US administration exactly how it can be of assistance. She suggests that an African State use the US to restructure a state's laws. "I would love for some African government to come and say, go through our laws, tell us everything that needs to be changed that you believe would increase our GDP by 5 percent in the next 10 years, and we can tell you how to do it." The US would make sure the laws would be based around improving trade within the continent. Trade barriers such as tariffs and different regulations would need to be solved to foster a more effective economy.

Clinton has placed "the ball" in Africa's court, by saying, "The United States will do our part, but African countries have to start doing their part and making the changes that will grow the economies in the sub-Saharan region." As the 2010 AGOA conference approaches Clinton is determined that the US can assist Africa, but Africa needs to be more proactive.