Moving U.S.-African Relations Forward Focus of Panel Discussion

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MOVING U.S.-AFRICA RELATIONS FORWARD FOCUS OF PANEL
DISCUSSION
African Nation Leaders, State Department Representative
Bring Key Topic to Rice Program

Heads of state and senior government
representatives of four African nations will participate in a panel discussion “U.S. Foreign Policy in Africa: Which Way Forward” on Tuesday, April 27, at Rice
University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

The program will start at 9:30 a.m. in Baker Hall. The
panelists will be Botswana President Festus Mogae, Namibia President Sam Nujoma,
Gabon President Omar Bongo, Nigeria’s Vice-President-elect Atiku Abubakar and
Susan E. Rice, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African
affairs.

The panel discussion will be moderated by Baker Institute
Director Edward Djerejian. The program is open to the public.

“This forum at the Baker Institute featuring the heads of
governments and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Susan Rice is a unique
opportunity to discuss what the strategic goals and long-term vision of the
relations between the countries of the Africas and the United States should be,” Djerejian said.

“Africa faces major challenges in terms of economic and social
development, investment and trade, conflict resolution and the prospects for
regional integration. We hope this discussion will provide insights on how
Africa and the United States can move forward together in this
framework.”

The Baker Institute program is part of the “Attracting Capital
to Africa” Summit scheduled for April 24-28 in Houston. That event is being
hosted by Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Council on Africa.

The council selected Houston for its bi-annual summit because
of the city’s large volume of trade with Africa as well as its major
petrochemical industries. More than 550 Houston companies currently trade with
nations on the African continent.

“This summit provides a great opportunity to meet the many
distinguished African officials and to begin positive dialogue that will lead to
more trade with the rich and vast continent,” said Houston Mayor Lee P. Brown.
“Houston prospers when business men and women know that their economic
opportunities are limitless.”

The program will be broadcast live on Rice’s campus cable and
on the Internet at: http://riceinfo.rice.edu/rtv/index.html.

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Editors: For more information about Rice’s Baker Institute see:
http://riceinfo.rice.edu/projects/baker/index.html.