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About Us
Our Mission The mission of the Africa Business Initiative (ABI) is to advance bilateral commercial and trade relations between the United States and sub-Saharan African nations and to serve as the premier advocate for American companies doing business in sub-Saharan Africa.
About the Africa Business Initiative ABI is the leading advocacy-driven initiative representing America’s top companies doing business across sub-Sahara. The initiative focuses on market access and trade facilitation, financing, and engagement with the governments of the United States and African nations. ABI works with the U.S. business community to develop legislative policies that foster foreign direct investment in Africa. It also provides tailored guidance to American companies doing business in African nations and introduces U.S. companies to the continent’s vast economic opportunities. Under ABI’s leadership, working groups made up of U.S. corporate representatives engage key members of Congress, the administration, and foreign governments in strategic dialogues to promote private sector engagement.
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Regional Priorities
Regional Integration ABI is the leading champion for an agenda of market opening and market expansion through regional integration. It pushes for regional integration strategies that increase efficiency and accessibility for commerce across borders.
Trade Facilitation Together with partners such as the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the region’s eight American Chambers of Commerce (AmChams), and eight American Business Associations, ABI advances the growth of bilateral trade with a number of African nations.
Intellectual Property Rights The protection of intellectual property (IP) rights and the enforcement of IP rights violations are increasingly necessary across Sub-Sahara. ABI works with like-minded partners to ensure that African governments are equipped with the proper regulatory and enforcement mechanisms to protect both indigenous and foreign products.
Banking and Finance Over the past decade, Africa’s banking sector has seen vast improvements in both scope and sophistication. Leading these changes are a burgeoning middle class, rapid advances in corporate standards, and a renewed interest in foreign direct investment from the rest of the world. These drivers are impacting the shape of banking across all sectors in Africa— retail, commercial, investment, and project financing are all merging with, and in some cases exceeding, international norms. The Banking and Finance Working Group is looking at the rapidly changing landscape of banking and financing in Africa, as well as the new and emerging sources of capital becoming available to companies.
U. S . CHAMBER OF C OMMERCE
Sponsorship Benefits
ABI
sponsors enjoy a wide range of benefits such as guidance and advocacy around strategic issues and invitations to intimate roundtables with high-level U.S. and African officials. Sponsors also receive special consideration in driving ABI’s policy priorities and program of work throughout sub-Sahara.
Specifically, sponsors enjoy these benefits: • Customized, high-level government relations services on their companies’ priority issues (in Washington and across Africa), including access to senior-level African officials. • Priority participation in ABI trade and investment missions. • Reduced costs on sponsorship and marketing opportunities in ABI conferences and forums. • Opportunity for two senior representatives to attend the monthly offthe-record Tea with an Ambassador series meetings and other private roundtables with senior African leaders and U.S. government officials. • Recognition at Tea series and other roundtables as a sponsor and the opportunity to chair roundtable meetings. • Participation in Working Group meetings and access to regular country-specific policy briefings for the following key markets: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania. • Private or medium-scale meetings and events tailored to their companies’ goals for interaction with a particular African official, U.S. government official, non-governmental organization official, or other relevant party. • Regular procurement notifications for projects via the African Development Bank, Millennium Challenge Corporation, other International Financing Institutions, and African governments.
CountrySpecific Priorities
Ghana ABI established the Ghana Working Group to tackle market entry and regulatory issues facing American companies operating in the Ghanaian market. Local content and the development of a strategy around the nascent oil and gas market are major concerns of ABI members.
Kenya The Kenya Working Group, alongside AmCham Kenya, advises the Kenyan government as implementing the new constitution gets under way. The working group is pushing for reform in a number of areas— the rebuilding of a fair and reliable justice system, the establishment of a strong enforcement agency for IP rights violations, and a more transparent and accountable government.
Services
ABI provides three primary services for sponsoring companies: business development and consulting, convening and connecting, and policy advocacy.
Business Development and Consulting ABI offers strategic business development consulting for companies looking at doing business in sub-Sahara for the first time, as well as for those considering expansion of existing operations. ABI regularly meets with the regional and/or business development teams of sponsoring companies to help create market entry or expansion strategies.
Convening and Connecting ABI hosts intimate off-the-record roundtable meetings for its sponsoring companies. These meetings include the Tea with an Ambassador series, which features a different African Ambassador to the United States each month; high-level meetings with U.S. government officials; and visiting African ministers and heads of state. These small group settings provide companies with opportunities to engage directly with government officials who can impact their businesses.
Policy Advocacy ABI routinely engages with the U.S. government—both the administration and Capitol Hill—on issues of importance to sponsoring companies. ABI also works with African officials on policy issues detrimental to a particular industry or sector.
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Key Affiliated Organizations
American Chambers of Commerce Abroad The American Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AmChams) are part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Federation, which includes more than 115 AmChams in 102 countries around the globe. AmChams are accredited members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; currently, there are 8 in sub-Saharan Africa. There are also 8 American business associations that are strengthening and working to attain accreditation. This network of AmChams and American business associations has proven invaluable to American companies doing business in Africa. Visit http://www.uschamber.com/international/africa/links for more information on the AmChams and American business associations operating in Africa.
The Center for International Private Enterprise The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) is a nonprofit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber. CIPE strengthens democracy around the globe through private enterprise and market-oriented reform and is one of the four core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy. CIPE works with business leaders, policymakers, and journalists to build the civic institutions vital to a democratic society. CIPE’s key program areas include anti-corruption, advocacy, business associations, corporate governance, democratic governance, access to information, the informal sector and property rights, and women and youth. CIPE has programs in 11 sub-Saharan African nations. For more information, visit http://www.cipe.org.
U. S . CHAMBER OF C OMMERCE
U.S. Chamber of Commerce 1615 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20062-2000 phone: 202-463-5485 • fax: 202-463-3126 www.uschamber.com
