CNN Interview with CCA President Stephen Hayes

This interview aired on CNN Tonight (Domestic and International), Saturday, May 26

STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Colin Powell is surprising his hosts on day four of his tour of Africa with calls for some leaders to leave their posts. Also on the agenda as the secretary met with Kenya's leader today: the civil war in the Sudan, now in its 18th year. CNN's David Ensor is traveling with Secretary Powell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Kenya after telling an interviewer, African leaders who have been in power too long should know when to retire or step aside. After meeting 22-year veteran President Daniel Arap Moi, Powell said he was sure the Constitution, under which Moi must hold elections and leave power next year, would be respected. But some Moi supporters are calling for him to amend or ignore the Constitution, and Moi deflected the question.

DANIEL ARAP MOI, PRESIDENT OF KENYA: So I don't know what you are worrying.

ENSOR: The 18-year civil war in Sudan was also discussed by Powell and Kenyan officials. Powell said the U.S. will soon appoint a special envoy to try to negotiate peace between the government and Christian rebels in the South.

COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We want to see these peoples find a way to live in peace together in one nation, in a system that they design, and a system that will provide for the needs and aspirations of all the people in the Sudan.

ENSOR: Powell also met behind closed doors with some of the survivors of the 1998 terrorist bomb that destroyed the U.S. embassy here in Nairobi. The secretary noted the U.S. has spent $42 million compensating for the damage, but no U.S. cash has gone to the roughly 5,000 Kenyans who were not embassy employees, but were injured in the blast. Douglas Sidialo, blinded by the explosion, says Kenyan victims desperately need help.

DOUGLAS SIDIALO, KENYAN BOMB VICTIMS GROUP: If we can get a chance to meet Powell, with him as a black man like us who is emotionally connected to Africa, I think will be a better place to talk to him and tell him our message.

ENSOR (on camera): Kenyan bomb blast victims will not be able to meet with Powell, who's busy schedule takes him next to Uganda to see how that country has managed to lower the growth rate of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, something no other African country has been able to do. David Ensor, CNN, Nairobi. (END VIDEOTAPE)

FRAZIER: Joining us now to discuss the significance of the secretary's visit is Stephen Hayes, who is the president of the Corporate Council on Africa; it's the leading private sector, nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening commercial ties between the United States and Africa. Mr. Hayes, thank you for joining us tonight.

STEPHEN HAYES, CORPORATE COUNCIL ON AFRICA: Thank you, Stephen.

FRAZIER: Interesting that you're playing some role in that thing -- the last thing David Ensor talked about there, the control of AIDS. You were telling us that mining companies and oil companies are taking some kind of active role in that. How can they help?

HAYES: Well, The corporate world, Stephen, is really leading, I think, the way on AIDS prevention, AIDS education throughout Africa; and I think that's a little-known fact. The Corporate Council on Africa, which represents 170-some corporations -- and those 170 represent about 80 percent of all U.S. private investment in Africa -- has formed a task force on AIDS in Africa. And what we are looking at is, how do corporations come together, work with others and make a difference on AIDS in Africa...

FRAZIER: And how would a corporation do that within its corporate structure? Would you try to test employees, for example? Make sure that they're getting better medical care?

HAYES: Well, I think that's one area. In fact, some -- several of the corporation are doing that. We're also looking at some very innovative approaches, and that includes working with the local medicine man, shaman, to disseminate information throughout the communities in which our corporations are working. But I think that the corporate world really recognizes they've got to work with governments, they've got to work with villages, and they've got to work with international institutions. And that's where we're headed.

FRAZIER: Must be interesting to hear the secretary call for some leaders to leave. You know, corruption has made it very difficult for corporations to operate in that part of the world.

HAYES: Well, but you have to remember that we have $40 billion worth of business in that part of the world, and that area is growing. And there are corporations that are continuing to enter into Africa and the marketplace. Some of the highest returns in the world, in terms net returns on profits and investment, can be found in Africa. Mozambique is one of the great countries for that. Morieshas (ph), and so forth. So there are some very, very good possibilities for business in Africa.

FRAZIER: Did you have an early heads-up on what the secretary would be doing and saying there, or are you surprised by what he's doing now? HAYES: No. We were actually consulted in some of his remarks before he went, so I wasn't totally surprised. And I think that the -- his visit is most welcome, businesses are very encouraged he's there, and I think the choice of the four countries was an excellent choice.

FRAZIER: Yes, put those in perspective for us, if you would. Why some place as little known to us as Mali?

HAYES: Well Mali -- what you have to remember, that Africa is now coming together on economic groupings. The president of Mali, President Konare is the head of the ECOWAS -- the West Africa Economic and Political Block. We are training troops in Mali so that they can face their own conflicts, such as in Sierra Leone and Liberia more directly. The more African troops that deal with that, the less chance that American troops would have to go to Africa; so Mali's important.

FRAZIER: Now, they talked a little bit today about the Sudan, which is familiar to some Americans, especially missionary groups, because of the children who were soldiers and the slavery that's practiced there, which is largely a tactic of war, I understand. People from the United States have been going over to redeem slaves.

HAYES: That's true. There's very little corporate involvement in Sudan, as you know, I think, that because we are under an embargo on most products with Sudan.

FRAZIER: And yet there was some talk of getting more engaged there diplomatically.

HAYES: Well, that's a diplomatic front, not necessarily a business front. And I think we would support anything that begins to bring people together, creates a more peaceful environment and allows business to prosper.

FRAZIER: Mr. Hayes, thank you for joining us tonight with those insight. Stephen Hayes, president of the Corporate Council on Africa.

HAYES: Thank you, Stephen. FRAZIER: Thank you.

The Corporate Council on Africa 1100 17th Street, N.W., Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: (202) 835-1115 Fax: (202) 835-1117 E-mail: