February 17, 2000

Clinton's Africa Policy Scrutinized

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two years ago, President Clinton sat in a conference room in Uganda, chatting with a cluster of leaders from countries he hailed as symbols of Africa's future.

But at this moment, most of those countries are mired in conflict, either with their neighbors or within their borders - even though Clinton has devoted millions of dollars in his budget proposals to resolving African disputes.

Today, Clinton was to address concerns by critics and supporters alike that these problems indicate his Africa policy has gone awry.

In a speech before the National Summit on Africa, the president was defending his Africa policy since that historic 1998 visit, on peacekeeping, conflict resolution and economic revitalization.

The summit, funded by the Carnegie Foundation, Ford Foundation, businesses and others, has been in the making since late 1996. Summit organizers want to unify and strengthen the lobby for Africa in America, improve Africa's image in the states, and change U.S. policy toward Africa.

Regardless of what Clinton was saying today, some critics believe there is little that can be done to fix his Africa policy.

``The record actually is disastrous,'' said American University economics professor George Ayittey. ``Some of us want this administration to stop playing political football with Africa. The solutions to Africa's problems can't be micromanaged from Washington.''

The ambitious trade bill that Clinton promoted during his visit emerged from the Senate weaker than he hoped. It requires, among other things, that imported African fabrics be duty-free only if they are made of American thread.

His calls for debt relief have gone largely unanswered by European allies. Also, his own pledge to forgive $500 million of African debt can hardly make a dent in the billions owed.

In his budget proposals over the past two years, Clinton has devoted more than $100 million to assisting the peacekeeping effort known as ECOMOG, or the Economic Community of West African States. He also has earmarked $120 million a year to building institutions that promote democracy.

Ayittey cited some successes in conflict resolution, in Liberia and Sierra Leone, but said those are eclipsed by the flare-ups between some nations Clinton embraced, such as Eritrea, Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

As for Congo, U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke appealed Tuesday to Congress for support of a new force of peacekeepers - without U.S. troops.

Ayittey said there have been setbacks to democratic rule throughout Africa, and blamed a policy that is too focused on leaders, rather than the people who select them.

``The only bright spot the administration can claim is Nigeria,'' Ayittey said. ``But then, the democratization process in Nigeria is iffy.''

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and a major supplier of U.S. oil, is a linchpin in Clinton's policy, the hope being that it can help radiate stability to the nations around it. On Wednesday, the Clinton administration signed a trade agreement with Nigeria.

But the larger trade package, for Africa and the Caribbean Basin, is still awaiting final passage in Congress, even though Clinton had hoped for passage before the end of last year.

These are the type of halting, incremental steps that have marked Clinton's approach to Africa since he returned from his 1998 tour, the most extensive of any sitting U.S. president.

``My dream for this trip is that together we might do the things so that 100 years from now, your grandchildren and mine will look back and say, 'This is the beginning of a new African renaissance,''' Clinton said upon arrival in Accra, Ghana, on March 23, 1998.

During the trip, Clinton apologized for the slow U.S. response to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and promised ``never again'' would it be that way.

But Mel Foote, head of the advocacy group Constituency for Africa, said the conflict in Sierra Leone drew a similar response ``at the same time we're pouring billions into Kosovo.''

``He showed us he cared about Africa. He doesn't have a lot of people in his administration who can do the follow-up,'' Foote said. ``The biggest thing he achieved was goodwill.''

This week, Clinton's envoy on war crimes is traveling to Tanzania to review an international tribunal's progress on Rwandan genocide cases. Later, the envoy, David Scheffer, was to stop in Sierra Leone to talk with rebel leaders about atrocities there.