North Carolina Newspapers

The United States and Africa: 1981 Business Weigh s In : By Reed Kramer " NEW , YORK - IAN Several of ,this country's largest- corporations, whose : executives have been among Ronald Reagan's most en thusiastic supporters; have become apprehensive about key elements of the administration's Africa policies. Fearing that potentially profitable ; operations in what is seen as a rapidly expanding market could be jeopardized, these com panies have quietly passed the word in Washington, that vital business interests could be adversely af fected ',by:;- the govern ment's handling of such sensitive issues as in dependence for Namibia, white rule in South Africa, Cuban troops in Angola, and bilateral ' relations with economically impor tant nations such as Zim babwe and Nigeria. The corporate concerns began to solidify as early as January, when business executives at an African American conference in Freetown, Sierra Leone, talked informally about the implications of Reagan administration policies. . Since then, apprehen sion has been conveyed in various, mostly private ways: a letter from David Rockefeller- before he retired in April as chair man of Chase Manhattan Corporation; representations by of ficials from the Bechtel engineering and construc tion company to Defense Secretary , Casper Weinberger, who was Bechtel vice president and general counsel before his nomination to Reagan's Cabinet; high-level meeting such as Vice President George Bush's 8 a.m. session on April 1 with James Lee, president of Gulf Oil, and Melvin J. Hill, president of Gulf Oil Exploration : and Production Com . ' pany; iand &wm?P!&z the March 26 discussions between members of the House Subcommittee on Africa and executives from major mineral, financial and industrial firms. Angola, which was the subject of Rockefeller's letter, is perhaps the clearest example of the Reagan administration's geopolitical strategies coming into direct conflict with the goals of corpora tions whose leadership strongly supported the Reagan candidacy. Despite the lack of diplomatic relations bet ween the United States and Angola, visits by American representatives to Luanda have become routine, and Angolan government officials are . regularly seen in New York corporate offices. Angola's economy "could be poised for a takeoff," says the current issue of Chase Manhat tan's newsletter for cor porate customers and cor respondent banks. Along with the obvious assets of oil and diamonds, "the liberal investment code - and sound economic management policies of . the government are attrac ting increasing numbers of foreign firms," Chase economists report. Many companies doing business in Africa are wor ried that U.S. attempts to destablize the Angola government of Jose Eduardo dos Santos by assisting the dissident movement UNITA, led by Jonas Savimbi may backfire. At stake, they feel, are not only current and potential interests, mostly oil-related, but also interests in nations that have already warned of reprisals against U.S. intervention in the affairs of a soverign African state. "The U.S. attitude toward one problem af fects the African percep tion of the positions the U.S. might take in other areas of Africa,'! Gulf Oil's Melvin Hill told Congress at hearings in April, arguing against repeal of the Clark Amendment, which bans clandestine aid to UNITA. .. Gulf, which is pumping f. W .1 .V i ' i.VV-J. ., " - 1 100,000 barrels a day from the 4 northern : Angolan enclave of Cabinda, ad vocated normal relations between the United States and Angola. V Another illustration' of the diverging perspective of the administration and members of the corporate community came ' last month; During the same two days that three senior State Department officials were in Cape Town talk ing with South African government leaders, a dozen business and foun dation executives were holding unprecedented meetings in New York with Oliver Tarn bo, presi dent of South Africa's oldest annd best know black-led political organization, the outlaw ed African National Con gress. , The ANC's stepped-up guerrilla campaign has been responsible in the past two years for attacks on strategic government installations, including one that caused more than $7 million in damage to a secret heavily-guarded coal gasification plant. According to the ex ecutives, more and more corporations recognize that political change in South Africa is inevitable, and that the issue of change is a sensitive one in the rest of Africa and the world. Companies say they are taking seriously the recommendations of the Study Commission on U.S. Policy Toward South Africa, a panel of business, labor and academic leaders whose $12 million, two-year study for the Rockefeller Foundation produced a report in MMay entitled South Africa: Time Runn ing Out. Rejecting disinvestment and trade embargoes, the commission nevertheless called on U.S. firms in South Africa to "commit themselves to a policy of nonexpansion" and to devpte a generous por trow- of resources to improve the lives of black South Africans." "We're looking at this very closely," said a vice president at Citibank, the nation's largest financial institution and the only American bank with branch operations in South Africa, although many others do bv iness there. Citibank also operates in thirteen other African countries and plans to open a Zimbabwe branch in September. Its involvement in South Africa, including participation in a $250 million loan last year to the government for black schools and hospitals that prompted several church organizations to cut business ties with the bank, has not created pro blems with African governments, bank of ficials maintain. And they believe the controversial loan follows at least the spirit of guidelines pro posed by the Study Com mission for acceptable ex ceptions to the ban on in creased investment or len ding. The turnout for Tamm ' bo is regarded as a signal that the companies involv ed want to be prepared for whatever comes in South Africa. Although invita tions to the June 12 dinner went out less than 48 hours in advance, they at tracted three of the top ten American investors in South Africa Ford, General Motors and General Electric along with three of the largest U.S. banks Citibank, Bank America and Manufacturers Hanover Trust. Foundation presidents Franklin Thomas of Ford, who chaired : the Rockefeller Commission, and Alan Pifer : of Carnegie, a commission member, met with Tambo at a morning, coffee at tended by trustees of the African American In stitute, which also gave the dinner, Financed by corporations, founda tions, and U.S.. govern ment contracts, AAI seeks to promote understanding between' Africa and the United States. The lobbying efforts Editorial SAT.,AUGUST1,1S31 THE CAHCUSA WZZ -15 and the ANC contacts are -signs of a developing cor-, porate consensus - about' what " kinds of Africa policies .: best - serve American economic in terests, according to ex ecutives : interviewed here and in other cities in re cent weeks. ' "Clearly evident today in the business community is a deeper interest and knowledge about Africa than ever before," sayi T. Wayne Fredericks, ForcL Motor Company's ex ecutive director of interna tional government affairs. Fredericks, who was in Freetown and whose own direct Africa experience predates his tenure as deputy assistant secretary of state for Africa in the Kennedy administration , believes "business has moved a long way toward a comprehension of Africa that goes beyond labels and stereotypes. The result has been cor porate actions that would have been unthinkable ' just three years ago." From the Freetown discussions and subse quent conversations and meetings, general agree ment emerged on five policy areas, these ex ecutives say. In addition to the concerns about South Africa and Angola, business leaders believe the United States must continue to accelerate ef forts aimed at an interna tionally acceptable in dependence plan for Namibia and must pursue cordial relations with Zim babwe and Nigeria. Namibia is at the top of the African leadership's agenda, and any percep tion of U.S. complicity in South African foot dragging is seen as creating a potential backlash in countries where American com panies are competing with European and Japanese companies for contracts. The backlash may have already , begun said North Carolina Must Continue To Move Forward With Howard N. Lee having resigned the post of Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Community Development of the State of North Carolina, no black will be left in the cabinet. We credit Governor Jim Hunt with progressive thinking and actions in the significant appointments of blacks he has made in this state. Such have given support to the thesis of some that North Carolina is coming out of the "Dark Ages' MThough it appears that President Reagan is attempting to take the country backward, we would urge Governor Hunt to stand firm, in progress and not to turn back now. As North Carolina proclaims "First In Freedom" on her motor vehicle license tags, she can proclaim progressive consideration, treatment and representation for all of her citizens on all levels and in all endeavors. Joseph W. Grimsley, Secretary of Administration, has replaced Lee and it is rumored that Mrs. Jane Patterson, Deputy Secretary of Ad ministration, will replace Grimsley. To our knowledge, blacks will thus be represented only on the level of Assistant Secretary in the Administration. Qualified and competent blacks CAN be found to fill any post this state has to offer. If Governor Hunt needs help in finding them, this newspaper stands ready and willing to help. We must continue to move forward. Organization of African Unity summit. African leaders singled out the United States for criticism in their Namibia declara tion and said the Reagan policies amounted to an "emerging unholy alliance between Pretoria and Washington." "The American com panies that are interested or involved already in do ing business with Africa surely have to be concern ed by this kind of expres sion of African views," Easum argues, "because if they want to do business in Nigeria or Kenya, the Ivory Coast or Cameroon, or if they are already there, they surely must be alarmed by the fact that the leaders of those coun tries joined in this con demnation of U.S. policy." ' Even those like Chase Manhattan Bank senior vice president Landon Palmer, who says his trip last month to Cameroon, Senegal and the Ivory Coast produced nO evidence , of immediate Palmer. "It will." x In Zimbabwe, corpora tions favor expanded U.S. relations and what one ex ecutive calls "efficient, ac celerated economic assistance." "American policy toward 'Zimbabwe should follow concrete national interests rather than ideological labels," the Zimbabwe trade and in vestment group of the U.S. Chamber of Com merce said in a February statement. "While Zim babwe's leadership espouse certain Marxist ideas, they have pursued policies of friendship with the United States." The group's members include executives from Union Carbide, . Westinghouse, Manufacturers Hanover Trust, and H.J. Heinz. The oldest and largest U.S. investor in the area, Union Carbide, whose pre-independence support for sanctions-violating mineral imports made it the target of boycotts and traveling protests, nas quicKiy seiu- Brothers ed into a comfortable rela tionship with former guer- dedication of new fer rochrome furnaces at Que Que, commended "Zimbabwe's growing political' stability and its democratic society. "Union Carbide," he pledged, "supports your goals." Nigeria, Africa's most populous state and second largest supplier of U.S. oil imports, is also a top cor porate concern. "Carter deserves high marks for opening the door for do ing business in Nigeria, and in many other parts of Africa," says one com pany official an assess ment that probably ex plains why two of. the previous administration's top Africa policymakers were snapped up by bank ing, firms here to advise their clients on African in vestment decisions. Richard Moose, who as assistant secretary of state for Africa visited every sub-Saharan country on the - continent, is busily for Lehman Kuhn Loeb, problems,! believe strongly rpus por. .Donald Easum, president thau government actions- Vuia Pleader w.r2-.-vr,iii9 touwi ruiiciu.iu attect me cumaie tor uo- Mugabe s government. ing business. "You can t Company chairman say foreign policy won't William S. Sneath, who have impact," says recently attended the Institute, pointing to resolutions adopted three weeks ago by the whose clients include oil producing Gabon. And-' -al -FHJik, Africa specialist on Zbigniew Brzezinski's National Security Council staff is a vice president at Banker's "care enough about US. , comportment in Angola, Namibia and ' Sooth Africa to cut off our oil. Under certain market cir cumstances they might well take such action .even it if hurt. I Whether ,1 corporate coaxing on the five areas of concern has produced tangible results is difficult to measure. Business leaders are reluctant to point to successes, although they are dearly pleased by several recent administration actions. The U.S. pledge of a $73 million aid package to Zimbabwe in March, which may have helped smooth the way for Citibank and First Na tional Bank of Boston to open permanent offices in Salisbury, is one example. Approval earlier this month of S85 million in U.S. Export-Import Bank financing for an oil development project in Cabinda, despite vocal ad ministration opposition to Angola's Marxist govern ment, is another. The $160 million project, for which Morgan Guaranty Trust and other banks are also providing credits, is a joint venture of Gulf Oil and the Angolan state oil company Sonangol. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Chester Crocker, who has main tained regular contact with the business com munity, has brought in former Westinghouse ex ecutive David Miller as private sector liaison, and he plans to upgrade the post to deputy assistant secretary level. "You have this ad ministration's pledge that we will work toward creating a more favorable environment in Africa for private sector initiatives," he declared recently before a gathering of American businessmen and African diplomats in Kansas, an event co sponsored by the African American Institute and Senate Africa Subcommit tee Chairman Nancy Lan don Kassebaum (R-Kansas). "We believe that our own Dolicies at revenues, is ready to taice nome ana anroaa wui drastic action for political create the environment in reasons. However, Easum which U.S. business can argues that Nigerians do operate more effectively." Trust. A joint U.SVNigerian agricultural consultative committee established during the Carter ad ministration now includes more than fifty members representing such firms as Allis Chalmers, Borden, -Chase Manhattan,-Control Data, Ford, Interna tional Harvester, Occiden tal Petroleum, Pillsbury, Ralston Purina and Uncle Ben's Agricultural develop ment is top priority for. President Shehu Shagari's government, and the com mittee is designed to stimulate American par ticipation in agricultural, educational, housing, health, and small-scale in dustrial projects poten tially several billion dollars worth of business. Donald Easum, who before he became AAI president in 1979, served for five years as American ambassador in Lagos, worries that the "enormous possibilities" for U.S. business in Nigeria "can be seriously jeopardized" by U.S. ac tions elsewhere on the ( continent. "Southern Africa is the international issue Nigerians care most about," he says, and in that "highly politicized country, where the students are active, the newspapers are active, political parties are active, a U.S. action could pro duce a self-generating reaction that could oblige the government to strike out in some way against American economic in terests no matter how pragmatic the government might wish to be." Ironically, the policies worrying Nigerians the most at the moment are not those of the ad ministration, but of com panies, such as Gulf, who hope to push prices below the current $40 per barrel rate Nigeria says is necessary to avert a major economic downturn. The Nigerian government's determination to uphold prices has already forced it to cut production by at least a third. Few corporate analysts believe, that Nigeria with its dependence on' oil v , t 4 i- MIT iir-m V . X , Sears in SAVE 20 Stzttjltat UndzrytQt, Socks For i tit; Kids i ;-vv : w :-;; " s 9aft T-srtW or brief, ghrtsanty ; vest fces jhtx. pkfl. 3. " 1'... -T.. IIVl tiU J mm!' oy WD crew Wt puii WW juv wrm, v ymm, i ; GifMrankJs,M-KUpkfl.of3pa)r.e3. $2.4. . .m..'.41.? POT fc-tf Ccyi -v fr. : ' Crew?ieTort)tlefttm8.22a4,pk8.or3.1l. M.W ..p ? VnecksNm,pfcg.of 3. Heg. $5.914..... .... ....... 1 I tnrt fiih Mrki. M-XL cfea of 6 f")r. tea S7.99 i f.-OfWtwew-or sport mot-WKK ivww-jwg. ... .fir y f rcr C!r:cwj ' n v :i . -.' vV 1 : Whfct or prmt ttfttfi or vest t&tt 7-14. pkg. of 3. Reg. S4.9t .!.? ? . vKnejtRtuttalUf , ...t ttUtr. 1 Ycu ccri cciotf env Sears I Lay-Away a Closetful of Dresses Now for Back-to-School For Little Girls Regular $8.99 to $9.99 669 to 749 For Bigger Girls Regular $10.99 8 19 School days aren't far away and now's the perfect time to stock up on season-spanning dresses to take her from summer into fall. Choose several from our wide assortment of prints, plaids and solids in little girl's sizes 4 to 6x and bigger girls' 7 to 14. A small deposit will hold your pur chase In Lay-Away until Sept. 15. wars w -3ji ar 0 v mh-r 1 i 1 I I i r U AV ITOOUCK ANO CO Sssctn Gusrerllced . or Ybur hlsnsy Cade , 1 J N.CJ BufNngton, CharKXtt. Concord Durrtam. FaycaeviNe. Gntonts, GokMbonx Gfwrmtxxo. &envrt HWkory. High POM. Raleigh. Rodty Mount. WHirtngton; Wmstorv&Ketiv S.C: CokimbW. Florence. Myrtle Beacn. uocit mw