Bush
meets African leaders during their visit to Washington D.C.
Washington Post, June 14, 2005
To pay tribute to five African nations who
recently participated in peaceful democratic elections, President
Bush met on June 13 with the leaders of Mozambique, Namibia,
Botswana, Ghana, and Niger. During the meeting, Bush pledged
to increase aid to Africa through the Millennium Change Account
(MCA) MCA was launched to increase U.S. foreign aid to Africa
by as much as $5 billion by 2006. Thus far, however, only
$325 million has been dispersed to one country, Madagascar,
due to challenges in verifying that selected countries have
met the program’s criteria.
President
Bush claimed that the lowering of trade barriers between the
United States and 37 nations in Africa under the African Growth
and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has spurred on democratic reform
throughout the continent. Pointing to an 88 percent increase
in African exports to the United States, The American President
stated that “AGOA is promoting democratic reform in
Africa by providing incentives for those nations to extend
freedom and opportunity to all of their citizens.”
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