CCA in the News: Conference will focus on trade with Africa

This article appeared in the New Orleans Times-Picayune

NEW ORLEANS May 9 A daylong conference this week will introduce American companies to opportunities for trade with African companies.

"Into Africa -- New Orleans" will be held Friday at the World Trade Center.

Ambassadors and officials from Angola, Lesotho, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia and the Congo Republic will be represented at the conference. U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, is the keynote speaker at the lunch. Mayor Marc Morial is scheduled to attend.

The New Orleans meeting is the second in a series of conferences organized by the Corporate Council on Africa, a leading private-sector organization that tries to strengthen trade and investment ties between the United States and Africa. Most U.S. investment in sub-Saharan Africa is centered on the petroleum industry.

New Orleans-based oil company McDermott Inc. is active there along with Schaffer International of Baton Rouge, which builds sugar processing plants. U.S. companies with operations in various African nations are sponsoring Friday's conference, including Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., Ocean Energy and Triton Energy.

With passage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act last year, African countries that don't have free trade agreements with the United States will get better access to the U.S. market. The act supports U.S. business by encouraging reform of economic and commercial markets in Africa to make them more effective trading partners for U.S. firms.

The conference will be from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Plimsoll Club, 30th floor of the World Trade Center.

Established in 1992, the nonprofit Corporate Council on Africa has more than 170 companies as members representing nearly 85 percent of total U.S. private sector investment in Africa.

The cost of the conference is $75 and includes breakfast, lunch and handout materials. For information or to register for the event, call the World Trade Center at 529-1601 Ext. 271.

By Ronette King, Business writer/The Times-Picayune. Ronette King can be reached at rking@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3308.

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: