Comparison Of Hope and AGOA

The choice between the two bills, whose major provisions are contrasted below, will define U.S. economic policy towards Africa for the foreseeable futur
ECONOMIC POLICY: SELF-DETERMINATION OR PATERNALISM?

NAFTA for Africa rejects African nations' right to self-determination by coercing them to adopt the IMF economic development model which has already had devastating consequences in the region.

HOPE for Africa is based on the recognition that African nations have the right to determine their own approach to economic development.

TRADE BENEFITS FOR AFRICA

NAFTA for Africa's meager trade "benefits" (the only benefits for Africa in the entire bill) are either short-lived, illusory or redundant.

HOPE for Africa offers broad market access for African goods.

BENEFITS FOR AFRICAN BUSINESSES, COMMUNITIES AND WORKERS

NAFTA for Africa contains no conditions that African citizens or businesses benefit from the market access provisions.

HOPE for Africa aims to raise living standards and foster capital accumulation in Africa.

DEBT RELIEF

NAFTA for Africa provides no debt relief whatsoever -- despite the fact that Africa's crushing $230 billion debt burden is a massive obstacle to economic and social progress.

HOPE for Africa provides for comprehensive debt cancellation. With upwards of 20 percent of Sub-Saharan nations' export earnings going to debt service, few resources are devoted to development and urgent local needs.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

NAFTA for Africa fails to even restore the budget line item for Africa aid eliminated in 1996 -- even though U.S. assistance is at a historical low of .02 percent of the U.S. GNP and Sub-Saharan Africa is now the only region of the world with no guaranteed annual level of American aid. The bill provides no safeguards to ensure that funds that are allocated will be used to benefit African nations and African economic development instead of U.S. corporations, for instance seeking subsidies or government backing of investment they were planning to undertake anyway.

HOPE for Africa restores aid to Africa and ensures it is used for Africa's benefit.

THE AIDS CRISIS

NAFTA for Africa ignores the AIDS crisis, and fails to even mention the word AIDS, much less allocate any U.S. aid funding to combat the AIDS epidemic currently enveloping the Continent.

HOPE for Africa addresses the AIDS crisis by replenishing and targeting assistance from the Development Fund for Africa for AIDS education and treatment programs; making it U.S. policy to assist Sub-Saharan African countries in efforts to make needed pharmaceuticals and medical technologies widely available; and prohibiting the use of U.S. funds to undermine African intellectual property and competition policies that are designed to increase the availability of medications.

LABOR RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

NAFTA for Africa is silent on these issues.

HOPE for Africa includes strong safeguards to ensure that corporations operating in Africa and accessing the bill's benefits act responsibly with respect to their employees and the local environment.

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