Getting American companies to invest in a continent where political turmoil, ethnic strife, and economic underdevelopment routinely dominate the news is no easy task. Yet despite a backdrop of seemingly never-ending bad news, CCA forges ahead convinced that US companies have a stake in Africa, one that will benefit Americans and Africans alike.

CCA's success in promoting US business interests in Africa can be seen in the fact that its membership includes over 150 companies representing nearly 85 percent of all American private investment in Africa. Member companies range in size from giant Fortune 500 multinationals such as ExxonMobil, General Electric, General Motors, Northrop Grumman, Hewlett Packard, Oracle, Pfizer, and Caterpillar to small businesses employing only a handful of employees. African companies are also on board; they include United Africa Telecom, South African Airways, and United Bank for Africa.

Founded in 1992 by a group of former Bush administration officials interested in continuing and deepening private-sector contacts between the US and Africa, the nonprofit organization pursues its goal through a variety of programs and services. CCA hosts one-on-one meetings, roundtable forums, networking luncheons and dinners - all designed to bring together African and American business leaders. Working groups arranged by CCA engage its members and US and African policy-makers on country-specific topics as well as on regional economic, political, and health issues that affect the business and investment climate in Africa and the US.

The organization's information services include country-specific investment guides on African countries. Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, and South Africa have recently been featured. Comprehensive resource guides to business in Africa also provide overviews and essential contact information for potential investment and business opportunities across the continent. Monthly reports give CCA members up-to-date news on Africa's distinct regional groupings and trading blocks. CCA's high-profile event is a biennial US-Africa Business Summit held on American soil which brings together African heads of state, US government officials, and hundreds of African and American business leaders to promote trade and investment between the US and Africa. The next CCA biennial summit is scheduled for June 24-27, 2003 in Washington.

Overseeing CCA's operations is its president, Stephen Hayes, who has spent nearly all of his adult life in the international arena, beginning with volunteer work in a refugee camp in the Middle East in 1968. Over the years, he worked for the World Alliance of YMCAs in Geneva, Switzerland; served as a consultant on North-South economic relations for the United Nations Development Programme; and was president of the American Center for International Leadership, an organization specializing in off-the-record dialogues between emerging leaders in the US and those of nations with whom Washington's relations were poor or tenuous. He gained experience on African affairs serving as the North American director of Willmington Limited of London, a holding company whose assets include Attock Oil Company, a firm with extensive oil interests in Africa. He also was a projects director for the Washington-based firm of Woods & Cohen, where he worked closely with former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Herman Cohen.

Hayes joined CCA in 1999 where he is assisted by 20 full-time employees and a handful of interns. In his view, the biggest challenge to economic development in Africa is creating entrepreneurs who, in turn, will form the basis of an African middle class. Part of the problem, he says, is that "African banks have not historically invested in their own countries." Interest rates are high, putting the cost of capital out of reach of those who need it to start and expand businesses. Hayes points out that capital flight is widespread in Africa, with $900 billion in Sub-Saharan assets being held outside of Africa. These problems are made worse by the "corruption and lack of transparency" that characterize many African governments. Another problem hindering development is the continent's inadequate infrastructure. Poor roads and lack of electricity and clean drinking water discourage foreign investment, he notes. In this connection, Hayes welcomes the emphasis that the recently concluded World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg placed on the importance of purifying drinking water in poorer countries.

Just as Hayes is candid about the obstacles to doing business in Africa, he is bullish on the opportunities the continent offers. Tourism, he says, is already a $12 billion a year business in Africa. In addition to Africa's spectacular game parks, the continent also has beautiful beaches just waiting for vacationers. Most of the tourists currently flocking to Africa come from Europe and Asia, with Americans largely missing out on a good deal, Hayes notes. CCA recently sponsored its first conference and trade show on tourism in Africa. Held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the event attracted participants from 23 countries, including the ministers of tourism from Mauritius, Nigeria, and Rwanda. Similar events will be held in the future.

Opportunities for investment are not limited to tourism, however. Hayes also believes good returns - 4-5 percent annually - will accrue to those who invest prudently in such sectors as textiles, food processing, and small-scale manufacturing.

An example of the kind of work CCA does can be seen in its West Africa International Business Linkages (WAIBL) program. WAIBL was created in 1998 to address the needs of established small and medium-sized African enterprises seeking partners in the US. As a result of these CCA-sponsored contacts, Dom-Ex, Inc., a Minnesota-based mining and construction equipment supplier, linked up with ETF, a road construction company in Mali. ETF secured a $2.7 million loan (guaranteed by the US Ex-Im Bank) from CCA member Allfirst Bank of Baltimore, Maryland with which it purchased used bulldozers, loaders, road graders, and other construction equipment from Dom-Ex. With this equipment, ETF can now compete for large-scale construction contracts with foreign multinationals. It's the kind of arrangement that not only puts money in the hands of Dom-Ex and ETF, but also addresses the need to improve Africa's infrastructure.

And it's just the kind of success story CCA wants to replicate across Africa in the years to come.