November 20, 2000: Corporate Council Welcomes Six New Member Companies

Over the past month, the Corporate Council on Africa welcomed six new corporations into its membership: Cinergy, Globecomm Systems, Lucent Technologies, Merck and Co., Paine Webber and TeleCommunication Systems. With over 170 American companies, the Corporate Council is rapidly expanding into the telecommunications, health, power and financial services sectors.

Cinergy Corp. was created from the combination of The Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company and PSI Energy, Inc., the largest electric utility in Indiana. Its largest operating companies, The Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company, Union Light, Heat & Power (Kentucky), Lawrenceburg Gas (Indiana), and PSI Energy, Inc. (Indiana), serve more than 1.4 million electric customers and 478,000 gas customers located in a 25,000-square-mile service territory encompassing portions of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. The company's international business unit, Cinergy Global Resources, owns and operates power generation, transmission and distribution assets in the Czech Republic, Spain, the United Kingdom, Zambia, Kenya, South Africa, Estonia and the United States.

Globecomm Systems Inc. designs, assembles and installs satellite ground segment systems and networks which support a wide range of satellite communications applications, including fixed, mobile and direct broadcast services as well as certain military applications. GSI's customers include prime communications infrastructure contractors, government-owned postal, telephone and telegraph providers ("PTTs"), other telecommunications carriers, producers and distributors of news and entertainment content and other corporations. GSI's ground segment systems typically consist of an earth station, which is an integrated system designed to transmit and receive signals to and from satellites, together with ancillary subsystems. Typical ground segment networks are comprised of two or more ground segment systems communicating with a satellite and interconnected with a terrestrial network. Since August 1994, GSI has completed, or is in the process of completing, the installation of 77 ground segment systems and networks in 31 countries.

Lucent Technologies manufacturers the systems, software, silicon and services for telecommunication services providers. The company is focused on a triple play of optical, data and wireless networking technologies with the software and services to support them. With headquarters in Murray Hill, N.J., Lucent has about 125,000 employees worldwide - about one-quarter of them based outside the United States - and has offices or distributors in more than 90 countries and territories around the world. Bell Labs, Lucent's world-renowned research and development arm, has a presence in 32 countries, and has produced 11 Nobel laureates since 1937. Scientists and researchers at Bell Labs receive more than four patents every business day.

Merck & Co., Inc. is a leading research-driven pharmaceutical products and services company. Merck discovers, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of innovative products to improve human and animal health. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Merck & Co., Inc. and the Republic of Botswana recently established the Botswana Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership, a new initiative to improve the overall state of HIV/AIDS care and treatment in Botswana.

PaineWebber is a preeminent full-service securities firm committed to using its formidable resources and financial expertise on behalf of its clients. Founded in 1879, PaineWebber offers quality financial advice and institutional services through specialized investment products, industry expertise and superior technology.

Telecommunication Systems, Inc. was established in 1987 to develop innovative software and systems by enabling convergent technologies. TCS serves Communication Service Providers, Enterprise organizations, and Federal, State and Local Government units.

The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), is a non-profit organization of American corporations and individuals whose goal is to improve the interaction between the US and African private sectors. The Council is committed to working with the governments of Africa and the United States as well as the African private sector, to improve the trade and investment climate in Africa, and to raise the profile of Africa in the U.S. business community.

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: